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Boston Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez declining to opt out of contract

By Connor Grott
Boston Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez can earn $62.5 million over the next three seasons by remaining with the club. File Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI
Boston Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez can earn $62.5 million over the next three seasons by remaining with the club. File Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez will not opt out of his contract and will remain with the club.

League sources told MLB Media and the Boston Globe on Monday that Martinez declined to exercise the opt-out clause in his five-year contract with the Red Sox that will pay him $23.75 million in 2020. By remaining with Boston, he can earn $62.5 million over the next three years.

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Martinez also has the choice to opt out after each of the next two seasons, as long as he avoids a long stint on the injured list.

"J.D. has advised me that his decision is about assuring that he plays for a competitive team and wanting to continue to play in a place where he knows that he can be highly productive," Scott Boras, Martinez's agent, said in a statement.

Over the course of the last three seasons, Martinez leads Major League Baseball in home runs (124) and is second in RBIs (339), batting average (.313), slugging percentage (.619) and OPS (1.007).

Martinez, 32, led the Red Sox in home runs, RBIs and hits during the 2018 campaign, which ended with his first World Series title. He had a .304 batting average with 36 home runs and 105 RBIs in 146 games in 2019.

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