J.D. Martinez rips MLB, still believes Red Sox' punishment was too harsh

Share

J.D. Martinez is sticking to his guns.

The Red Sox outfielder was adamant this offseason that Boston would be completely exonerated in Major League Baseball's investigation into its illegal sign-stealing during the 2018 season.

So, even after MLB hit the Red Sox with a relatively light punishment last month -- the loss of a 2020 second-round draft pick and the suspension of the team's video replay system operator, J.T. Watkins -- Martinez still isn't happy with the league's ruling.

Get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App

"If they went to court with that, it would get thrown out. There was nothing there,” Martinez told The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham on Wednesday. “The judge would laugh."

MLB found in its report that while the Red Sox' advantage was "limited in scope and impact," the eventual World Series champions still benefited from Watkins using in-game video to revise the scouting reports of signs he'd given to players.

But Martinez disagrees with those findings and doesn't believe Watkins should have been punished.

"That pissed me off. It wasn’t right,” Martinez said. “They just ruined this guy’s career with no evidence."

In Martinez's mind, the Red Sox were punished because MLB felt it had to take action after Boston was found guilty of (but not punished for) illegally relaying signs using electronic watches in 2017.

"They had to do something," he said. “They really didn’t find anything."

It's very unlikely MLB changes its punishment of the Red Sox, who got off far easier than the 2017 Houston Astros in their sign-stealing scandal. Martinez apparently is intent on convincing the world his team is innocent, though.

Contact Us