If the Red Sox want to sign J.D. Martinez, it sounds as if they are going to have outbid the field by a large margin.

Or trade Jackie Bradley Jr.

That’s because teams in pursuit of the 30-year-old slugger are hearing that Martinez would prefer to sign with a team that has a corner outfield vacancy.

With Andrew Benintendi in left and Mookie Betts in right for the foreseeable future, the Red Sox can only offer Martinez a full-time DH spot with a chance to play a corner outfield spot – most likely left field at home, either spot on the road – on occasion when the matchups are right or a regular needs a day off. Perhaps this development is nothing more than standard pressure-leveraging commonly used in negotiations, but it very well could turn into a sticking point for Martinez wanting to play for the Red Sox or the Red Sox not wanting to be pressured into overpaying.

The Red Sox have informed Martinez that he is their first choice.

Martinez remains open to being a DH so his preference to play defense regularly does not eliminate the Red Sox from signing Martinez. It does, however, put them in a position of having to make an aggressive offer that would distance themselves from competing offers where teams can present a corner outfield position.

Just what defines aggressive is something only Martinez and his agent Scott Boras will ultimately determine.

Last year, Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes signed a four-year deal worth an annual average value of $27.5 million.

It’s not a stretch to imagine Martinez wants a deal bigger than that in both money and length.

A six- to seven-year deal worth somewhere between $28-32 million a year is probably in the ballpark.

The Red Sox have been known for some time to be keen on Martinez, but other competitors have stayed in the shadows. The Sox no doubt are being extremely cautious because they don’t want to bid against themselves.

The Diamondbacks are believed to be trying hard to trade starter Zack Greinke in order to clear room on their payroll for Martinez.

The Giants lost out on trading for Giancarlo Stanton, so they are a candidate, plus the Rockies and maybe even the Dodgers could be in the mix on Martinez.

Even more intriguing is the possibility that the Red Sox face competition from within the AL East.

The Blue Jays have been quiet and are reportedly more interested in middle infield help but with the departure of Jose Bautista, they have a hole.

And if the Orioles are able to trade Manny Machado in the coming days, they can be expected to jump into the Martinez sweepstakes as well.

A rumor about the Red Sox trading Bradley, their center fielder, popped up on day one of the winter meetings but both Dave Dombrowski and Boras, Bradley’s agent, shot down the rumor. A Bradley trade would allow Benintendi to slide over to center field and open a spot in left field for Martinez.

The Red Sox remain interested in signing free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer, another client of Boras, whose allure was heightened with reports on Friday that the Phillies had signed the other elite first baseman free agent Carlos Santana to a three-year contract worth $60 million.