The Boston Red Sox ended up completing a total of five moves ahead of this year’s MLB trade deadline. They did ship off catcher Christian Vazquez to the Houston Astros, and while there was much speculation that the move would then open up the floodgates for Boston to be sellers, this did not come to fruition.

The Red Sox also elected to keep soon-to-be free agent J.D. Martinez on the roster past the Aug. 2 deadline. Even as he was linked with teams such as the New York Mets, the AL East powerhouse decided to not orchestrate a trade involving Martinez, who will be out of a contract later this year.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman provided updates on several players who will become free agents after the ongoing season, including Martinez. He noted that the “odd thing” about Boston opting not to trade Martinez is that the front office “surely won't” issue him a one-year qualifying offer, which could range from $18 million to $19 million. If Boston goes on to not give the five-time All-Star a qualifying offer, it would then not receive a compensatory draft pick if he signs elsewhere in free agency.

Martinez had an opportunity to become a free agent last year, but he decided against exercising the opt-out clause in his contract for the 2022 campaign.

Overall, Martinez may not go on to have a shortage of suitors interested in signing him if he elects to not make a push to return to the Red Sox. While his power numbers are down across the board, he has posted a formidable .344 OBP to go along with 46 RBI recorded so far this season. However, he does boast a 114 OPS+, which, aside from the 2020 shortened campaign, is his lowest such mark since 2013 (79).

For now, the Red Sox are set to open up a three-game road series against the Baltimore Orioles beginning on Friday. They currently sit at 5.0 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the third wild-card spot in the American League. The AL East club is also looking up at multiple other teams in the AL wild-card picture, including the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox.