The Red Sox finally have their man.
On Monday, J.D. Martinez and the organization reportedly agreed to a five-year deal with an opt-out after two years, with Martinez making $110 million over the five years. He will likely be the power-hitter the Red Sox lacked last season.
Appearing on Kirk & Callahan Tuesday morning, Chris Sale said he's excited about his new teammate.
"Yes, very excited," he said. "I have hung around him a little bit. He is a great guy from what I have gathered. He is a good teammate and works hard. The baseball stuff speaks for itself."
The Red Sox pitcher told a story about facing him which showed just how good Martinez can be.
"I think it was 2016," Sale said. "It was when he was on the disabled list, he broke his arm running into the outfield wall. The guy was out for [a month and a half], comes back, takes a couple of swings in the on-deck circle. First pitch the guy sees, takes me deep in the furthest part of the park of Detroit — this was when he was with Detroit and I was with Chicago -- into the visiting bullpen."
Against Sale, Martinez has a career average of .237, but three home runs and a .526 slugging percentage.
Martinez had a tremendous second half of the season last year with Arizona when he hit .302 with 29 homers and 65 RBIs in just 62 games.
