Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez exercised the option on his contract for the 2021 season and will be paid over $19 million. Tommy GIlligan/Associated Press
BOSTON — Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez kept his contract that will pay $19,375,000 in each of the next two seasons rather than opt out Sunday and become a free agent.
The 33-year-old hit a career-low .213 in the pandemic-shortened season with seven homers and 27 RBI, his lowest output since 2013. His salary was cut from $23.75 million to a prorated $8,796,296.
His contract also gives him the ability to opt out after the 2021 World Series.
Boston declined a $6.85 million option on left-hander Martín Pérez and opted to pay a $500,000 buyout to the 29-year-old, who became a free agent. Perez was 3-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 12 starts, striking out 46 and walking 28 in 62 innings in his first season with Boston after leaving Minnesota as a free agent. He had a $6 million salary, reduced to $2,222,222 in prorated pay.
Pérez joined outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo, and right-hander Collin McHugh as Boston players who became free agents.
YANKEES: Giancarlo Stanton is keeping the remaining $218 million and seven guaranteed years in his New York Yankees contract rather than opt out after a pair of injury-decimated seasons.
The slugging designated hitter, who turns 31 on Nov. 8, hit .266 with 38 homers and 100 RBI in his first season with the Yankees in 2018. He batted .288 with three homers and 13 RBI in 2019, when he was limited to 18 games by a left biceps strain that sidelined him from April 1 to June 18 and a right knee strain that kept him out from June 26 to Sept. 18.
He hit .250 with four homers and 11 RBI in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, limited to 23 games by a strained left hamstring that sidelined him from Aug. 9 to Sept. 15. He rebounded to become the Yankees’ best offensive player in the playoffs, hitting .308 (8 for 26) with six homers and 13 RBI in seven games.
A four-time All-Star with Miami, Stanton agreed to a $325 million, 13-year contract with the Marlins in November 2014. He hit .281 in 2017 and led the major leagues with 59 homers and 132 RBIs, then was traded to the Yankees in December 2017 for second baseman Starlin Castro, right-hander Jorge Guzmán and minor league infielder Jose Devers.
Stanton is due $29 million in each of the next two seasons, $32 million annually from 2023-25, $29 million in 2026 and $25 million in 2027. The deal includes a $25 million club option for 2028 with a $10 million buyout.
As part of terms of the trade, because Stanton did not opt out, the Marlins will send the Yankees $30 million to offset part of what remains in his contract: $5 million each on July 1 and Oct. 1 in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
QUALIFYING OFFERS: Houston outfielder George Springer, New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu and Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto were among just six free agents who received $18.9 million qualifying offers on Sunday from their former teams.
Three right-handed pitchers also received the offers, Cincinnati’s Trevor Bauer, the New York Mets’ Marcus Stroman and San Francisco’s Kevin Gausman.
Those six players have until 5 p.m. on Nov. 11 to accept the offers or press ahead as free agents, who could start negotiating contracts with all teams on Sunday night.
They are the only ones subject to compensation among the 181 players who became free agents in a market that also includes pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, outfielder Marcell Ozuna, shortstop Didi Gregorius and designated hitter Nelson Cruz.
A brutal market is expected, with many teams likely to cut payrolls following a regular season played with no fans in the seats due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
If a team makes a qualifying offer to a player who signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former club would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round or at the end of competitive balance round B. The placement depends on whether the new contract is worth $50 million or more and the revenue-sharing and luxury tax status of the team losing the player.
A free agent could be made a qualifying offer only if he had been with the same team continuously since opening day and had never received a qualifying offer before.
Qualifying offers began after the 2012 season, and only five of 90 offers have been accepted: New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker and Philadelphia pitcher Jeremy Hellickson after the 2016 season; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu after the 2018 season and Chicago White Sox first baseman José Abreu last season. Abreu later agreed to a $50 million, three-year contract.
The qualifying offer price started at $13.3 million in 2012 and rose to $14.1 million in 2013, $15.3 million in 2014, $15.8 million in 2015, $17.2 million in 2016 and $17.4 million in 2017.
PADRES: San Diego declined a $3 million option on first baseman Mitch Moreland, which calls for a $500,000 buyout.
Moreland hit .203 with two homers and eight RBI in 69 at-bats for San Diego, which acquired him from Boston on Aug. 30, and was 4 for 8 with an RBI in the playoffs. He batted .328 with eight homers and 21 RBI for the Red Sox, and had $925,926 in prorated pay from a $2.5 million salary.
ORIOLES: Baltimore picked up the $3.5 million club contract option on shortstop José Iglesias, who provided a boost to the team last season despite a series of injuries.
Iglesias batted .373 with three homers and 24 RBI in 39 games in 2019, his first season with the Orioles. The 30-year-old also provided defensive stability in the middle of the infield.
Baltimore faced a $500,000 buyout if it did not exercise the option of extending his contract through 2020.
Iglesias missed time last season with a sore left quadriceps and a bruised left wrist after being hit by a pitch in a September game against Tampa Bay.
Iglesias was signed as a free agent last January after spending one season in Cincinnati. He has also played for Boston and Detroit.
He has a .278 career batting average over nine seasons.
METS: Reliever Dellin Betances exercised his $6 million player option for next season with New York, deciding against taking a $3 million buyout and becoming a free agent.
A 6-foot-8 right-hander who turns 33 on March 23, Betances signed with the Mets last December for a deal that guaranteed $10.5 million: a $5.3 million million signing bonus and a $2.2 million salary plus the option for 2021.
A four-time All-Star during seven seasons with the New York Yankees, Betances slumped to a 7.71 ERA in 15 relief appearances with the Mets, walking 12 and striking out 11 in 11 2/3 innings.
Earlier, Mets reliever Brad Brach exercised his $2,075,000 player option for next season. The 34-year-old right-hander was 1-0 with 5.84 ERA over 14 games in the pandemic-shortened season and earned $314,815 in prorated pay from his $850,000 salary. His option base price was $1.25 million but escalated based on appearances.
New York also said it had made an $18.9 million qualifying offer to right-hander Marcus Stroman, who became a free agent. The 29-year-old right-hander was acquired from Toronto on July 28, 2019, for left-hander Anthony Kay and right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson. Stroman went 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA in 11 starts for the Mets late that season, then opted out of the 2020 season due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
DIAMONDBACKS: Right-hander Merrill Kelly’s $4.25 million option was exercised by Arizona,
The 32-year-old was 3-2 with a 2.55 ERA in five starts during the pandemic-shortened season. He did not pitch after Aug. 19 because of a nerve impingement in his pitching shoulder.
He earned $1,111,111 in prorated pay from a $3 million salary, the second guaranteed season of a $5.5 million, two-year deal.
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