Reports: J.D. Martinez’s agent has met twice with D-backs’ owner

It remains to be seen how the Arizona Diamondbacks could re-sign J.D. Martinez, even though it appears only the Boston Red Sox remain a challenger to sign the free agent outfielder.

But even those most involved in Martinez’s stalled free agency wonder if Arizona can find a way to make it work.

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Martinez’s agent, Scott Boras, has remained in contact with the D-backs. Twice, he has met with team owner Ken Kendrick, most recently in the past week.

Scott Boras met with #DBacks owner Ken Kendrick on J.D. Martinez within past week, sources tell The Athletic. Two sides fond of each other, but still real question on whether they can find common ground on deal. Boras, Kendrick also met earlier this off-season, per @JonHeyman.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 12, 2018

It was revealed a week ago that Arizona remains heavily in the mix to retain Martinez, who hit .303 with 45 home runs and 104 RBI between the D-backs and Detroit Tigers last season.

Martinez and Boras began free agency asking for, reportedly, around $200 million for a multi-year deal.

The market hasn’t come close to matching that price tag, but the Red Sox’s offer of more than $100 million over five years is well above what the D-backs can offer, assuming they don’t make any significant deals to free up spending money.

Where Arizona finds a way to bring Martinez back remains unclear.

But as the process drags on, what’s not unclear is that Martinez — and even his high-profile agent well-known for getting his clients huge deals — remain interested in a reunion with the Diamondbacks.

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