MLB Rumors: Ex-Red Sox Star Received Free-Agent Offer From AL Team

As MLB contenders scour the trade market for impact acquisitions, a former Boston Red Sox star remains unsigned.

J.D. Martinez is still without a home, but the 37-year-old reportedly received a potential pathway back to the majors. According to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, the Texas Rangers offered Martinez a non-guaranteed deal.

Heyman said Martinez is training in Miami in hopes of receiving an opportunity. It appears the designated hitter won’t take the non-guaranteed contract.

Martinez spent nearly a decade as one of MLB’s fiercest sluggers. From 2014 to 2023, he crushed the fifth-most home runs (291) with a .293/.359/.549 slash line. He delivered a .889 OPS during five seasons in Boston, blasting 43 homers and a career-high 130 RBI before winning the World Series in 2018.

The three-time Silver Slugger kept raking with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he landed his sixth career All-Star nod in 2023. Martinez batted .271/.321/.572 with 33 long balls, but he still found a quiet free-agent market the following offseason.

Martinez waited until late March before signing a one-year, $12 million contract with the New York Mets. The right-handed masher toiled to a .725 OPS in 125 games and went his final 25 games, including the playoffs, without a home run.

This time, Martinez didn’t find a job at the final hour. He’s spent the first half of the 2025 season without a team, but Heyman’s report indicates he’s still searching for the right opportunity.

The Rangers can certainly use a power jolt. They possess MLB’s third-worst OPS (.658), with no player reaching .800.

Texas signed Joc Pederson to fill the DH role, but he batted .131 in 33 games before getting sidelined with a hand injury in late May. Mainstays Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia have underperformed, and the Rangers placed basher Jake Burger on the injured list with a strained left oblique last week.

The AL West squad will at least receive a pitching boost from another ex-Red Sox star, as Nathan Eovaldi is slated to return from a triceps injury on Friday night.