Analysis: What the J.D. Martinez signing means for others on the Red Sox roster

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Big free-agent signings – even ones with a ridiculously long gestation period – don’t take place without creating a ripple effect.

So it is with the Red Sox reaching agreement on a five-year, $110 million contract with J.D. Martinez.

As welcome as the signing might be for the Sox, others on the roster will be impacted by his arrival. A look at some of the fallout to come:

1) Hanley Ramirez/Mitch Moreland

As recently as 4 p.m. Monday afternoon, Ramirez was the team’s primary DH with Moreland expected to get the lion’s share of playing time at first base.

No longer.

The imminent arrival of Martinez disturbs that plan. He’s here to hit, and to hit on this team, Martinez becomes the team’s No. 1 DH. He’ll occasionally get some time in left field – perhaps when Jackie Bradley Jr. needs a day and Andrew Benintendi slides over from left to handle center in Bradley’s absence.

But again, Martinez isn’t here to play the outfield, where even on his best day, he’s merely adequate. He’s here to mash, and mash he shall, from the DH spot.

Now the Sox have to figure out how to handle first base.

Initially, Moreland was scheduled to play first base against righties, with Ramirez filling the DH role on those days, then taking over the position against lefties. But it doesn’t make sense to have Moreland play more than Ramirez, so that plan is discarded.

Figure that, assuming his shoulder holds up, Ramirez will play regularly at first, with Moreland available to serve as a lefty bat off the bench, as well as serving as a late-inning defensive replacement for Ramirez.

Moreland is signed to an affordable two-year, $13 million deal. The Red Sox won’t fret if he’s not a regular. But he can be a useful role player, improving the team’s overall depth and flexibility.

As for Ramirez’s vesting option, set to trigger with 497 appearances, the Red Sox can play that by ear. If Ramirez is producing and playing first base as well as he did in 2016, they won’t worry about being on the hook for $22 million in 2019. And if he’s not, he’ll forfeit playing time to Moreland, and won’t come close to compiling the number of plate appearances necessary to vest.

In the meantime, lifting him in late innings in favor of Moreland will serve as a natural drag on Ramirez's plate appearances.

2) The rest of the bench

The presence of Martinez means the roster is nearly set, barring an unforseen development.

Again, here’s the breakdown: four outfielders (Martinez, Benintendi, Bradley, and Mookie Betts ); three catchers (Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart); and five infielders (Moreland, Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez).

That leaves exactly one spot for the likes of Bryce Brentz, Brock Holt and Marco Hernandez.

Brentz had been projected as the fourth outfielder, able to play the corner spots and provide some right-handed sock off the bench. But now that Martinez is here, Brentz's grip on a job is far more tenuous.

And it’s no less bleak for infield candidates Holt and Hernandez. Only a week ago, they were in competition for the (temporary) starting second base job, as Dustin Pedroia recovers from surgery. Now, they’re on the proverbial outside looking in.

There are some alternatives. The Sox could deal either Leon or Swihart, opening up an additional spot, since few teams carry three catchers. The Red Sox were prepared to do so in order to hold onto Swihart, who is out of options. But now, they may not have that luxury.

3) The possibility of opening the season with an 11-man pitching staff

Baseball executives are like politicians, eager for an opportunity to kick the can – or a problem – down the road.

Thanks to three off-days in the first 12 days of the 2018 schedule, the Sox could probably get away with starting the season with 11 pitchers instead of a 12-man staff.

This, in turn, would enable them to keep another position player on board, which might come in handy during a two-game interleague series in Miami. It behooves AL teams to have additional roster flexibility against NL opponents, allowing for double switches and the like.

In less than two weeks, the Sox will eventually have to go back to a 12-man staff and risk exposing a player like Swihart to waivers.

But again, another 12 days postpones a tough decision and buys additional evaluation time, or time to make a deal. Don’t bet against this scenario.