Common knowledge to the baseball world, J.D. Martinez has opted into his contract with the Boston Red Sox for 2020. Unfortunately for Boston, that stretches payroll very thin. With Martinez’s salary counting towards the payroll, that is $23.75 million more that the Chaim Bloom will have to shave to get under the luxury tax payroll.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, that could mean dealing away Mookie Betts, who is set to make close to $27 million in 2020, per MLB Trade Rumors. But, what if there was another option? If Martinez chose free agency instead of opting in, there would surely be teams interested in his services.