Hot Stove Lunch: J.D. Martinez digs in his heels against the Sox; Blue Jays in balancing act and more

This is a daily BSJ off-season feature that will arrive in time for your lunch, Monday-Friday.

A spin around the leagues with the latest news, notes, and rumors around Major League Baseball

RED SOX

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, free agent slugger J.D. Martinez is "fed up'' with the Red Sox' refusal to meet his asking price and would prefer signing elsewhere.

The Sox reportedly have had a five-year, $125 million deal on the table for Martinez, but absent any competing offers, have refused to sweeten it.

But why would the Red Sox bid against themselves? It seems patently obvious that Martinez doesn't have a better offer than the one put forth by the Sox, so increasing their own offer would make little sense.

To put the offer into context --  if Martinez took the current deal, only six players would make more on an annual average basis: Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez and Albert Pujols.

There still seems room for compromise here, either with the Sox offering a vesting sixth year, or competition from elsewhere leading the Sox to tweak their offer.

But for now, the stare-down continues and the clock is ticking.

AL EAST

David Robertson is ready for any role in the Yankee bullpen

After avoiding arbitration with Jonathan Schoop, can the Orioles get him signed long-term?

The Rays made a move to help their bullpen depth

Toronto is trying to balance winning now and building for the future.

AL CENTRAL

Paul Hoynes takes a look at the growing conflict between players and owners.

A top Tigers pitching prospect may need Tommy John surgery

A look at possible destinations for Mike Moustakas

Ervin Santana will be out until May after undergoing a procedure on his finger

AL WEST

A look at the A's catching situation.

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the 2018 Mariners.

The Rangers have a top outfield prospect

NL

Mets first baseman Dominic Smith has re-made his body this off-season

TAKE I MAY REGRET IN A MONTH

The rift between the Players Association and the owners/commissioner seems to be growing by the day, and that's not good for the game.

Tuesday saw dueling press releases between the two sides, with the Players Association bemoaning the long list of unsigned players and the practice of "tanking'' while Rob Manfred noted that many of the unsigned players have rejected nine-figure offers.

Manfred has a salient point: if collusion exists -- as some agents and players have suggested -- then why would owners have made the sort of offers they have? Wouldn't the players be without any offers at all?

I'm all for players getting what they can get on the open market. But sometimes, a variety of factors contribute to the market changing. This appears to be one of those times.

Either way, this animosity doesn't bode well. The current CBA has four more years to go and already there are signs of serious labor strife.