Jon Heyman of MLB Network first reported the news of Red Sox’s outfielder, J.D. Martinez, choosing to not opt-out of his contract. Martinez signed a five year, 110 million dollar deal in 2018 with the ability to opt-out after the 2019 season and 2020 season.
Martinez ended his 2019 season with a slash line of .304/.383/.557. The outfielder can earn 62.5 million dollars over the next three years should he decide to stay with the team throughout the entirety of his contract.
Marinez’s contract takes up 10.56% of the team’s payroll and with him not opting out, the Red Sox are left in even more of a money crunch than they were before. With the highest payroll in MLB and the club commenting on wanting to shed numbers, there has become a question of who will be leaving in order to bring the final line down.
Mookie Betts and David Price are the only other Red Sox players who take up a double-digit percentage of payroll.
Betts is currently under a one year 27 million dollar contract while Price is still locked up for another two seasons under his blockbuster 217 million dollar contract which has led many to speculate that Mookie Betts would be the first big player on the trading block for the Red Sox.
