J.D. Martinez Is Making Giancarlo Stanton and the Yankees Look Bad
By Henry McKenna
J.D. Martinez has been better than Giancarlo Stanton. Much better.
With 45 games for the Boston Red Sox, Martinez has 60 hits, 15 home runs, 12 doubles and 41 RBI in 45 games. He’s got 50 strikeouts, which puts him on pace for an alarming 180, if he played all 162 games. But Martinez is also on pace to rake 54 homers. His slash-line is an absurd mix of efficiency and power with .343/.397/.680/1.077. With career-high numbers, he is exceeding expectations, even after a season when he came in 14th in MVP voting. And he’s working toward being in the top 10 again with the 18th highest WAR in baseball (2.25). His plate discipline has been solid (swinging at just 32.6 percent of pitches outside the zone, which is lower than his career average), and he’s making contact on 72.9 percent of his pitches, per fangraphs.com. He has even helped out in the field, playing defense in 22 games.
And then there’s Stanton. In 44 games with the New York Yankees, he has 60 strikeouts, 45 hits, 27 RBI and 11 homers. His slash-line is .263/.345/.526/.871. His batting average is slightly below his career clip (.268). He’s swinging at 33 percent of pitches outside the strikezone, which is the highest percentage for him since 2012, per fangraphs.com. He’s making contact on just 64.3 percent of his pitches, the lowest he’s had in the majors. That’s surely contributing to his 30.9 strikeout percentage, the highest he’s ever had in the majors.
It’s an ugly season for Stanton, who is swinging for homers and getting little else.
Martinez’s bat is better in every way. But that’s not the only reason why the Sox can be pleased with their decision to add the slugger. After all, Boston is paying less for Martinez. Right now, the difference is marginal. Martinez makes $23.6 million in 2018 while Stanton makes $25 million. But the Sox are paying big for Martinez’s prime, and then his pay starts to decrease with just $19.3 million in 2021. Stanton, on the other hand, is due $29 million in 2021 and $32 million in 2022. And finally, Martinez is due $110 million in total — the Yankees will pay Stanton a monstrous sum: $295 million.
What’s more, the Sox paid nothing but money to get Martinez after the Yankees gave up Starlin Castro and two prospects to get Stanton.
The season is young. Hell, the two players’ careers are young. Stanton, 28, is set to play with the Yankees for 10 seasons after 2018. Martinez, 30, is inked for four more years with the Sox. But Boston has started ahead in the very early stages of this acquisition comparison. And perhaps the Sox deal will look even better when the Sox part ways with Martinez and the Yankees are left to figure how to manage Stanton’s endless contract.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
During the offseason — before Martinez had even signed — the Red Sox might have felt like they missed out on Stanton. A few months later, they landed Martinez. And things seem to be working out just fine without Stanton. In fact, the Sox may come away from this deal looking like robbers while continuing to make the Yankees look foolish.