J.D. Martinez Could Be Traded

The Boston Red Sox fell to last place in AL East Tuesday night, trailing the New York Yankees by 17 games for the division lead. With their chance of making the playoffs getting lower as the MLB trade deadline approaches, the team is reportedly considering dealing one of it’s best players.

The Red Sox have put J.D. Martinez in the trade market, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. Boston isn’t expected to become full sellers, but Martinez is considered to be the most likely veteran to get moved.

“I think everybody kind of moved between what happened before the break and what happened this weekend and wrote off this group,” Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom told NESN’s Tom Caron before Tuesday’s loss to the Cleveland Guardians. “We’re not. We’re trying to make the postseason. So, whatever that means — we’re going to explore a lot of stuff. Some of them might be things people expect, some of them might not be. But we want to get this group into the postseason.”

Martinez is in the final year of his contract and unlikely to re-sign with the Red Sox in the offseason, according to Olney. Now that every team has a DH in its lineup, Martinez could have plenty of suitors from both leagues.

Martinez was an All-Star for the fourth time in five seasons with Boston. In 82 games, he’s hitting .299/.367/.477. The veteran only has nine home runs and 38 RBI. Prior to this season, Martinez was averaging 37 home runs per 162 games with the Red Sox.

If Boston trades Martinez, it could look to acquire another DH. 

The Red Sox aren’t expected to trade Xander Bogaerts, who can opt-out of his contract and become a free agent after the 2022 season. Boston is third in the AL in runs scored.

The Kansas City Royals are the only AL team with a worse ERA than the Red Sox. Boston’s pitching staff has fallen apart, throwing an MLB-worst 6.60 ERA over the last month. The Red Sox have a 7-18 record during that span, which has forced the team out of the playoff picture.

Boston’s postseason hopes haven’t been completely dashed, though they face an uphill battle in making the playoffs. The Red Sox are 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the third and final AL wild-card spot. 

The Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox sit in between Tampa Bay and Boston in the wild-card standings.

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