J.D. Martinez will return to Red Sox in 2022

Nov. 8—J.D. Martinez will return to the Red Sox to play out the final year of his contract.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom confirmed Sunday that Martinez has declined the opt out provision of his contract that would have allowed him to become a free agent. As a result, he will be paid $19.35 million for the upcoming 2022 season and should retain his role as Boston's starting designated hitter.

The Red Sox also picked up catcher Christian Vazquez's $7 million club option and declined the club options for Martin Perez and Garrett Richards, who would have been paid $6 million and $10 million respectively, making the two pitchers free agents. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Chris Cotillo of MassLive were first to report those moves.

In addition, the club announced it has extended a qualifying offer to free agent lefty Eduardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez now has until Nov. 17 to decide whether or not he will accept the one-year, $18.4 million deal. If he does not and winds up signing with another team, the Red Sox would receive draft compensation.

Martinez's decision to return will most likely signify the departure of Kyle Schwarber, who declined his $11.5 mutual option earlier this week and is expected to command a big long-term deal on the open market. The Red Sox can afford to bring back Schwarber if they want, but the team often had difficulty fitting both players in the lineup without resorting to awkward defensive alignments this past season.

That being said, Bloom isn't ruling out the possibility of a reunion.

"We've been engaged with Kyle and we'll stay engaged," said Bloom. "Obviously knowing that J.D. is here changes how we look at the lineup and our position player group generally, but as I said after the season, we played some of our best baseball with both of those guys. They certainly both fit, it just gives us more clarity going forward as to which path we might take as we reshape and put together this position player group for 2022."

Though Martinez will be 34-years-old next year, he has continued to produce at a high level. After struggling during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, Martinez got back to form by batting .286 with 28 home runs, 99 RBI, an .867 OPS and a 3.0 wins above replacement mark.

Overall he has batted .297 with 114 home runs, 361 RBI and a .917 OPS with three all-star appearances in four seasons since joining the Red Sox on a five-year, $110 million contract prior to the 2018 season.

Sox prospect involved in brawlRed Sox prospect Josh Winckowski found himself in the thick of a benches clearing brawl during an Arizona Fall League game on Saturday, which broke out after Winckowski hit Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Canaan Smith-Njigba with a pitch.

After being hit by the pitch, Smith-Njigba charged the mound and took Winckowski to the ground before both teams rushed in to try and separate the pair. According to Baseball America, Smith-Njigba was upset because another one of his Peoria Javelina teammates had been hit by a pitch the day before as well. Both players were subsequently ejected from the game.

Entering Sunday Winckowski had a 6.55 ERA in 11.0 innings with the Scottsdale Scorpions. The top performing Red Sox prospect this fall has been first baseman Triston Casas, who's batting .322 with an .868 OPS in 15 games.

White ranked No. 4Phillips Academy Andover lefty Thomas White remains one of the nation's top prospects according to Baseball America's latest rankings. The Rowley resident was ranked the No. 4 high school prospect in the Class of 2023 and the top overall pitcher in his class.

"White isn't just the best pitching prospect in the 2023 class, he's one of the best lefties his age to come around in years," his bio reads. "When he's throwing strikes he has the look of a potential high first-round pick."

White stands at 6-foot-5 and boasts a fastball that reaches 97 mph. He also throws a curveball, slider and changeup and this past spring posted a 1.08 ERA with 36 strikeouts in only 16.2 innings during Phillips' pandemic-shortened season.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.