On the same day that JD Martinez’s camp made it clear that they’re not going to give the Red Sox any sort of discount this winter and that they’re more than willing to let this thing linger well into spring training, the Red Sox may have been sending signals to Martinez’s camp that they have a Plan B. Top pitching free agent Yu Darvish tweeted out Wednesday night that a mystery team is in the hunt for his services this winter.
I know one more team is in. https://t.co/exxubGP7Qo
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) January 11, 2018
Red Sox fans would not exactly jump for joy if the team signed Darvish considering that a big bat is the ultimate need and starting pitcher is the least of their worries. But if things continue to get messy with Scott Boras, Dave Dombrowski might just throw up his hands and go for the next big fish on the market – in this case, Darvish. Wasserman Media Group, which represents Darvish and also represents Red Sox DH Hanley Ramirez (who would be directly impacted if the Sox signed Martinez), is not nearly as stubborn as Boras. Wasserman agent Joel Wolfe primarily handles Darvish, as well as now-Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton. Wolfe is the agent who said at the time of the Yankees signing Stanton that the Red Sox were “never presented as an option” in regards to the outfielder. He also added that he believes the Red Sox are “prioritizing pitching,” which remains a curious comment.
It wasn’t made public until November, but the Red Sox were interested in making a trade for Darvish at this past July’s MLB trade deadline (according to NBC Sports Boston’s Evan Drellich).
The Yankees enhanced their strength (belting home runs) this offseason in landing Stanton via trade, now the Red Sox could double-down on their strength (pitching) and ink Darvish.
It’s cliché as it gets but it remains true in 2018 – good pitching more often than not beats good hitting. The Red Sox might be ready to go with Plan B.
