Few offseason predictions have been as easy to make as the Red Sox signing J.D. Martinez. Boston is in desperate need of a power hitter; Martinez was the market’s best available slugger. The Red Sox still have a gaping, David Ortiz-sized hole at designated hitter; Martinez is nominally an outfielder but is better served leaving his glove at home.
While the Red Sox are the defending AL East champions, they’ve spent the winter staring up at the Yankees, who added the game’s premier power hitter in Giancarlo Stanton to an embarrassingly loaded lineup and were poised to snatch the division should Boston fail to upgrade its good but inconsistent offense.