‘I gave everything’: J.D. Martinez knows a trade may be imminent
"It's tough, dude. It feels like we’re fighting for our lives, you know? Fighting to keep the band together."
J.D. Martinez is preparing for the fact that his time with the Red Sox could be coming to an end.
On Thursday, when asked if he expects to be with the team after Tuesday’s trade deadline, Martinez didn’t mince words.
“Not if we don’t start winning. That’s about as simple as I can put it,” Martinez said. “I would understand it. I wouldn’t be upset about it. Of course I want to be here, stay here.”
After Saturday’s 9-4 loss to the Brewers, Martinez echoed those thoughts and reflected on his time with the organization.
“‘I want to be remembered as a professional,” Martinez said, per The Boston Globe‘s Julian McWilliams. “A guy who came through and did what he had to do. I didn’t just take a contract. I played it out. I take a lot of pride in that. I gave everything, my heart and soul to the Red Sox.”
Martinez is currently amid an 0-for-24 slump, and his RBI on a sacrifice fly Saturday was his first since July 11. He’s hitting just .195 with one home run this month and has more strikeouts (21) than hits (15).
It appears likely that the Red Sox will trade him, in large part because he’s in the final season of his five-year, $110 million deal. The Mets and Dodgers, among other teams, have been linked to Martinez.
The Red Sox have lost 13 of their last 16 and are in last place in the American League East. A remarkable turnaround is seeming less and less likely by the day, and reality is starting to hit the players.
“It’s tough, dude,” Martinez said. “It feels like we’re fighting for our lives, you know? Fighting to keep the band together.”
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