The Red Sox need to make re-signing Victor Martinez their top priority this offseason.
Perhaps you missed it among the drama of the Red Sox disappointing 2010 season, but Victor Martinez has proven to be a pretty good player.
When the Red Sox need a hit, more often than not he gets one. He absolutely smashes left handed pitching. He’s a pretty decent catcher who maybe doesn’t feature the strongest throwing arm in the world, but does handle a pitching staff pretty well.
And how many catchers hit for a decent average from both sides of the plate, are good for 20-25 home runs, and are legitimate number-three hitters in an AL East line-up?
Not too many, that’s for sure.
According to the Boston Globe and WEEI, the Red Sox offered Victor Martinez a two-year contract earlier this season. Victor politely turned them down, obviously looking for a longer term contract.
The two-year deal was simply an initial offer. While you shouldn’t expect the Red Sox to throw an eight or nine year whopper at Martinez, one would think a four or five year deal isn’t out of the question.
But the Red Sox need to move quickly.
Martinez is, by far, the best available catcher this offseason. There isn’t another catcher on his level that’s going to be available anytime in the near future.
A few hundred miles south of Boston, there’s a team with a ton of money who currently have a 39 year old starting catcher. The guess here is that, should a player like Victor Martinez become available, that team would more than likely be interested.
And if the Red Sox get into a bidding war with the New York Yankees, well, we all know how that game plays out.
That’s why the Red Sox need to make it their top priority to re-sign Victor Martinez before he hits the free agent market. They need to put on a full court press, remind him how much he loves it here, and hope his agent doesn’t realize exactly how high the Yankees could drive up his client’s price.
David Ortiz is important, but it remains to be seen exactly how interested other teams will be in a 35 year old designated hitter.
Adrian Beltre is important, but there’s no way his agent is going to let him sign before Christmas, and it’ll likely be with another team for a ridiculous amount of money.
Victor Martinez is the most important.
Theo Epstein should eat, sleep, and breathe Victor Martinez until his name is signed on the dotted line. Anything less would be a huge mistake.
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