J.D. Martinez Throws Shade at Red Sox in First Dodgers Interview

For the first time in five years, veteran slugger J.D. Martinez reported to Spring Training camp away from the Boston Red Sox facility. That's because the five-time All-Star signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers this winter.

Martinez' departure didn't quite sting as much as Xander Bogaerts leaving, but the Red Sox lost a number of quality players this offseason.

Martinez recently sat down with SportsNet LA to explain his free agency decision and this explanation turned into some shade thrown Boston's way.

Martinez was asked why he wanted to play for the Dodgers in 2023. "I was at the point in my career where I made my contract, had won a World Series already and been wanting to win another one," said Martinez. "[Los Angeles] is always in the playoffs, they are always in the mix. And that's one of the main reasons I'm here, for the opportunity to win."

This has to be difficult to hear for Red Sox fans, especially considering Martinez and his Boston squad finished with three winning seasons in the five years he spent there. And while the franchise finished in last place during the two losing campaigns, those squads were no more than 12 games under .500.

Martinez also made a pair of ALCS trips and won one World Series during this stay.

The comments stem more from Boston's current state. Most of the projections believe the Red Sox will struggle to either finish in fourth or fifth place this season. And the aging Martinez, who enters his age 35 season, knows the clock on winning more championships is ticking. The Dodgers give him a much better opportunity at that in 2023.

Los Angeles enters the year with +750 odds to win the 2023 World Series while the Red Sox hold just +6000 odds.

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

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