J.D. Martinez was among those who believed he was getting traded at the 2022 Major League Baseball trade deadline.
The Red Sox designated hitter is on an expiring contract and has had a bit of a down year, but Boston decided to hold on to Martinez. It looked as if the Red Sox were going to be sellers after they traded Christian Vázquez to the Houston Astros, but they then added Tommy Pham, Reese McGuire and Eric Hosmer.
Martinez recently appeared on “The Bradfo Sho” podcast and revealed he thought his fate would be similar to Vázquez’s.
“I think if Christian didn’t get dealt, I think I would’ve said no, I’m staying,” Martinez told WEEI’s Rob Bradford. “But once they dealt Christian, I was like ‘OK, I’m kind of next.’ The whole team kind of pretty much felt that way.
“Then we added Eric and we added Tommy and it was alright, well, we got better in other places, but we lost potentially one of the best catchers in the league to a team that we’re going to have to beat. So it was one of those things that caught everybody off guard.”
Martinez is no stranger to getting traded, and it sounds as if he had prepared himself to pack his bags and catch the next flight to his new team. But it didn’t end up working out that way.
The Red Sox likely won’t make the postseason this year and it’s unclear if Martinez is in Boston’s plans after 2022, but he can at least try to end the season on a high note with 24 games left.
Martinez and company return to action Friday night when they begin a series against the Baltimore Orioles. First pitch from Camden Yards is set for 7:05 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action beginning at 6 p.m. on NESN.
