MLB free agency: One player each team should sign

MLB free agency: One free agent each team should sign

CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 24: Kansas City Royals First base Eric Hosmer (35) during the game between the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox on September 24, 2017 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois.(Photo by Jerome Lynch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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PHOENIX, AZ – SEPTEMBER 27: J.D. Martinez #28 of the Arizona Diamondbacks celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the ninth inning of the MLB game against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field on September 27, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

Boston Red Sox: J.D. Martinez

Surprisingly, the Red Sox have been the least powerful team in the American League in 2017. The drop in home runs and slugging in the first year after the retirement of DH David Ortiz has been precipitous and completely unexpected for such a dynamic young core. The Red Sox are still one of the best contact hitting teams in baseball and they rarely strike out.

Boston is a middle-of-the-road team offensively even with the presence of Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. A large heaping of the blame can be placed on Hanley Ramirez. Signing Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval before the 2015 season will go down in MLB history as the worst pair of free-agent acquisitions ever. Ramirez’s slash line this year of .239/.318/.421 is just ugly, and he is under contract for one more year with no defensive value at first base. It would be surprising to see the Red Sox eat the final year of his contract, but not completely out of the question.

J.D. Ramirez is the best power bat on the market this year and has a swing tailor made for the comfy dimensions of Fenway Park. He hits for power to all fields as well as any hitter in the league and would also fit in well with a Red Sox lineup that keeps the line moving.

The only problem with Ramirez as a potential fit for Boston is finding somewhere for him to play. Incumbent first baseman Mitch Moreland is also a free agent at the end of the year, and should be viewed as more of a platoon player than an everyday starter. Top prospect Sam Travis does not offer the same upside as Martinez with the bat. The only question is whether or not Martinez has the ability to pick up first base given an entire offseason to work on it.

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