The 2019 Red Sox had three players in the top 15 for league OPS+ (Devers was #16). JDM's 140 was good for #8
Not to go all DH on this, but the Red Sox losing anyone in that category solely due to money makes me sick. Per
Forbes, the Red Sox are the 3rd highest valued team in baseball at $3.2B, behind the Yankees ($4.6B) and Dodgers ($3.3B) - this, in a market substantially smaller than the (albeit shared) NYC and LA markets. Don't cry for me, John Henry. From that same article, the Sox exceed both the Yankees and Dodgers in revenue/fan (no one comes close to the Giants).
Betts is a generational player, but JDM is certainly one of the best hitters in baseball - one that protects the hitters before him and clearly increases stress on the pitchers. Put another way, Martinez has adequately filled a huge hole left by the departure of Ortiz and, emotions aside, would any team quibble over extending a 31 year old David Ortiz if they could afford him? In
Papi's own words:
“I’ve got to give it to J.D., man,” Ortiz said. “J.D. is like the center, the mother (hen). He’s the one who everybody is like getting feed(back) from because he’s a psychopath. This dude is in another level of being good and wanting to be better. That’s one thing I enjoy the most when I’m around here: just watch the way he handles himself and the way he helps the rest of the squad. That’s what makes a difference year after year after year."
So sorry, it's not my money, but the Boston fan base pays top dollar (directly and indirectly) for a championship-ready team. 2019 saw a really good lineup that generally featured 8 home-grown players and now there's talk of not being able to afford 2 of the best. Yes, I'm not addressing pitching because my brain can only work one track at a time, but I find it hard to reconcile long term cost impacts for a sport that's constantly growing in revenue and a team whose value grows every year.
If Betts is going to leave the team (which I think is unfortunately a foregone conclusion), losing JDM would be a travesty.