“You can’t take a snapshot at the outset of the offseason process,’’ said Sox CEO Larry Lucchino. “You have to have patience to look at the finished product, not the first transaction that takes place. Have caution in that regard. It’s happenstance that this takes place before Thanksgiving in the first major move of the baseball offseason.’’
Martinez’s early departure seemed inevitable after the Sox insulted the catcher with a two-year offer in September. We all knew it was over right then and there. He wound up getting four years and $50 million from the Tigers, and now the Sox are going to sell you Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who hit .167 in 12 big league games last year.
General manager Theo Epstein tried to prepare us for this last week. He said the Sox won’t necessarily have big-name replacements for all of their openings. He said they were comfortable with Young Salty behind the dish every day. Same with Jed Lowrie (maybe) at third and Ryan Kalish (maybe) in left.
Sounds like they’re selling bridges again, no?
Losing Martinez makes little sense. The Sox are willing to pay David Ortiz (who can’t hit lefties) more than $12.5 million to do a job that pays $6 million tops. They’re going to wind up paying Jonathan Papelbon almost $12 million. J.D. Drew is still cashing checks for $14 million. And Martinez — your switch-hitter who crushes the Yankees and Rays — is not worth $12.5 million per year for the next four years?
Why are the Sox acting like they are a small-market team? They sell out every game. They have the second-highest-priced tickets in baseball. Their payroll is exceeded only by the Yankees’. And now they won’t pay the going rate for their starting catcher? How often do the Yankees lose a player they want to keep?
