White Sox: JD Martinez is no longer an option for Chicago
The Chicago White Sox looked like they might be in on J.D. Martinez if he became available but he decided not to opt-out and remain in Boston.
It came out on Monday afternoon that J.D. Martinez was not opting out of his current contract with the Boston Red Sox. More people actually believed that he was going to do so because a year after winning the World Series, the Red Sox missed the playoffs with the highest payroll in Major League Baseball. There are people that believed the Chicago White Sox would be in on him if he did opt-out. He is still a really good player with a lot to give to a winning team so he has to hope that Boston is able to rebound in 2020. They might be a slightly better team than the White Sox next year but they also might not.
Martnez is definitely worth the money he makes as he had a really good year on the mediocre Red Sox. He slashed .304/.383/.557 and had 36 home runs, 105 RBIs, and 98 runs scored. That bat inserted into the White Sox lineup would be amazing and those numbers might even improve if Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, and Eloy Jimenez were all there and hitting well. But, it is all for not as he will spend another year with Boston trying to win his second World Series in three years with them.
The White Sox are still looking for someone who can be their designated hitter in 2020. There are plenty of other options out there for the White Sox to look at. They haven’t been strong at the DH position in a long time and getting a solid bat to fill that role would go a long way. They are going to be active this offseason to try and find the right fit. They just now know that it isn’t going to be J.D. Martinez.
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There is always the option for the Red Sox to trade Martinez but that seems unlikely. He also could opt-out of his deal after the 2020 season if he so chooses. That might all depend on how Boston does next season which could go many different ways. Either way, the White Sox are going to continue their search to find the perfect DH for the 2020 season and possibly beyond.