Reports yesterday indicated that veteran slugger J.D. Martinez had turned down a contract offer from the Giants earlier this offseason, before the club ultimately landed Jorge Soler on a three-year deal. There have been conflicting reports regarding the nature of the sides breaking off negotiations, with the New York Post’s Jon Heyman suggesting that Martinez simply “didn’t want to go” to San Francisco while Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reported that Martinez made a counteroffer to the Giants that club brass “weren’t comfortable with.”
This morning, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand shed additional light on the situation, reporting that the Giants’ initial offer to Martinez was a one-year deal worth $14MM. The two reports diverge from there, however, with Nightengale indicating that Martinez rejected the contract in pursuit of a two-year deal while Feinsand reports that Martinez was seeking $20MM and declined San Francisco’s offer despite potentially being open to accepting “a little less” than his preferred salary figure.
Of course, it’s possible there’s elements of truth to both reports. Speculatively speaking, it could be the case that Martinez’s preference would be a two-year deal in the range of $20MM annually, though he may be willing to accept a one-year deal at the higher end of that range or a two-year pact for a slightly lower AAV. That would fall in line would fall roughly in line with MLBTR’s prediction for Martinez’s contract, which sat at two years and $40MM. It remains to be seen whether or not Martinez will actually be able to earn that sum, of course. The offseason’s top offensive free agent behind Shohei Ohtani, outfielder Cody Bellinger, settled for a three-year, $80MM deal earlier this morning. It’s possible that Bellinger’s deal clocking in below expectations is a concerning signal for Martinez, though with him off the board Martinez’s biggest rival on the positional market is third baseman Matt Chapman, who figures to have a different set of suitors than the veteran slugger.
Martinez figures to be an impact bat for the club that eventually lands him, even as he enters his age-36 season. After slashing an excellent .292/.363/.526 across 637 games in a Red Sox uniform from 2018 to 2022 en route to four All Star appearances and a top-four finish in AL MVP voting, Martinez took a one-year deal with the Dodgers last winter and revamped his approach in L.A. to generate more power. The changes worked as intended, as he slashed a fantastic .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs in just 479 trips to the plate after hitting just 16 homers in 596 plate appearances the previous season. That incredible power came at the expense of a significant jump in strikeouts, as his 31.1% strikeout rate last year marked the first time he was punched out at a clip over 30% in his career.
With the Giants now assuredly out of the running for Martinez’s services after signing Soler, the veteran slugger could still make sense for a handful of clubs. The Angels and Mets have both been connected to the veteran at various points this offseason, though public indications are that neither team prefers to add a full time DH to its mix. A team like the Cubs or Twins that lacks a full-time DH could at least theoretically accommodate Martinez at the position, though each club sports a crowded positional mix and figures to benefit considerably from having the DH spot available to rest players or work in more playing time for youngsters forcing their way into the lineup. If none of the aforementioned teams are interested to committing to Martinez on a high-dollar or multi-year deal, that could leave the veteran slugger forced to lower his asking price. At that point, any of the aforementioned clubs or even a low-budget club with a clear need for offense such as the Guardians could jump into the mix for Martinez’s services.
Padres weren’t even in the conversation.
Padres are in for a long season.
Get ready, fellow Pads fans for an abysmal season.
2024 brought to you by a post Peter Seidler ownership group more concerned about profit than a winning season.
Do you think with his death they will get sold?
Good possibility
It’s definitely going to be a long season but I understand if they want to reset the luxury tax clock. I think next offseason will be more indicative of their new spending philosophy.
@towinagain, you realize a) the Padres spent so much they broke MLB’s debt service rules, and b) their TV money is gone now, no?
It’s clear they are resetting their luxury tax penalties, and it sucks they raised ticket prices at the same time as all this cost cutting. But they were going to need to throttle back from the financial redlining at some point, and the ticket prices would have gone up whether they kept Soto for one more year or not. Losing your billion dollar TV deal will naturally necessitate some recalibration.
You can accuse the Padres of not getting success for all the money they have spent, but it is 100% not fair to accuse them of not having spent, or putting profits over the product. The silver lining of what they’re doing now is we’ll finally get to see some of the kids play, instead of trading them all away.
I think they should get the Angels out of there mouth to 😉
Padres weren’t even in the conversation.
=============================
A couple of months back, you comment would’ve generated 400 replies about Acee getting it wrong, and that the Padres would spend at least as much as last year.
Sadly, yes.
TV deals are playing a huge part in this. It’s probably the underlying reason why the off season has sucked
All about the Benjamins
The list of ppl who don’t want to be giants keeps growing… back to Stanton and harper atleast.
I respect the guy, but JD will turn 37 in August. What team has $20M/yr in their budget for an aging DH-only player? In a depressed broadcasting market? AZ, CO, and SD don’t even have RSN networks.
Spring training games are well under way. The clock continues to tick and opportunity is drying up……
play in a big yard and cold , anyone see how bad that city is to live??…hell no
Gee, I wonder who advised’ Martinez that he should hold out for $20M?
Boras is getting an education in new economics.
All teams have players they negotiate with that doesn’t ultimately lead to a signing. No big deal…
Well, it’s a little different when you’re a 36-year-old DH-only hitter. It’s not like teams are lining up their pockets to give JD the money he wants. So if he did indeed tell the Giants he’s not interested in playing there then he’s in for a rude awaking.
Teams get turned down all the time for various reasons. You’re right though, he isn’t going to get ‘big’ money when he does sign…
Jon Heyman is a clown and Scott boras’ mouthpiece
I’m wondering if Boris has a few of these writers on his payroll? With Heyman being one of his top paid guys. 😉
You imply a corrupt relationship between “Boris” and “these writers,” and then you slander Heyman. Is there any evidence you can cite? If not, then you owe “Boris,” “these writers,” and Heyman an apology.
@Realsox, it may shock you that political parties plant stories with their favored writers and broadcasters too.
Shut up, Scott.
Realsox, get out of Boris’s butt.
There’s no corruption or slander in anything I wrote. As what Reds said above, there is everyday false propaganda in media everywhere, not just in baseball.
@This one: your comment is neither a shock nor evidence for these scurrilous remarks by @Pluginplay. Beyond that, @This one, your observation implies that since some stories are planted, then any story could be. Should I conclude that your comment has been paid for, that you are somebody’s stooge? No. There’s no evidence to support that either.
Out of everyone’s boots you could lick you chose Scott boras. How sad
Writers don’t make a ton, so it wouldn’t be surprising.
Is it true that Heyman’s favorite song is Suffragette City by David Bowie?
who cares
Why is this even news on MLBTR ? The San Francisco Giants??
We’re talking about a 4th place west coast team that is undeniably irrelevant.
I mean, Who cares if JD didn’t sign there. They’ve been turned down by far better players than JD Martinez
TheBull, thanks for making it such an easy decision to use the Mute option on you.
Some commenters, like “TheBull,” add nothing to the conversation. Pathetic.
That said, The Bull does cook up some fine barbecue in Ashburn Alley.
Bull, you clicked and commented. Engagement is the currency and you spent yours. If you don’t want to see this content, don’t click.
Lots of baseball fans care.
I dunno. After the Giants signed Soler, we were never gonna be in the market for JDM. I doubt we were anyway, TBH, he’s not a good fit. So who cares about the he said, she said? It’s not like Martinez is even a top level FA. IDK maybe its just me
People seem to be a little on edge today. Is it a full moon? Earthquake weather?
Probably didn’t want to dodge feces and needles on the way to Oracle Park.
You’re brainwashed
Such a tired take The Baseball Fan, come visit SF sometime instead of sitting behind your keyboard regurgitating this ridiculous narrative and you will see that SF is stunningly beautiful, while flawed like every big city, it is far from the false narratives being parroted by the likes of you. While you visit SF, also check out the rest of the Bay Area like Atherton (the most expensive zip code in the US), Orinda, Mill Valley, etc and come back and tell me they are horrible, because you can’t.
Tell that to J.D. Martinez. Your cute story didn’t seem to convince him
Ridiculous take..The outskirts of Oracle have nothing to do why he isn’t going there.. It has to do with the fact that it’s extremely tough to hit home runs consistently in that ballpark, period! The same reason Ohtani, Judge and other proven power hitters don’t want to play there..Soler came because nobody else was going to give him a 3 year deal except for the Giants..
The Baseball Fan — Read the original post again, learn something instead of spewing old narratives.
Hmm… hard to hit homers in SF… maybe thats the reason why free agents don’t want to sign in Pittsburgh. Couldn’t be that they have a slim shot of being a winning team let a lone a play off team.
Because they aren’t signing the offensive productive players they need to win games since those players want to put up the individual numbers which they won’t get in that ballpark until the fences are brought in…. Remember nobody wanted to pitch in Baltimore for years..They moved the left field wall back and that starting rotation had its best team ERA in years last season….And now you have the ability to attract real top of the rotation starters like Burnes…Oracle will eventually figure it out if they want a winner there again…
Him not wanting to come probably has more to do with the joke of a roster Farhan puts on the field year in and year out. Sweet rotation this year, with Logan Webb and 4 question marks. Cody Bellinger is better than every single position player on the team, and they couldn’t even beat 3/80. Regardless of the FACT that the city has taken a major downturn in the last decade, it’s the roster building philosophy of the current front office that will keep A level talent from signing in SF.
Wow, the reading comprehension here is really bad. It’s clear from the article that it was all about money and years. JDM didn’t like the Giants’ offer, the Giants didn’t like his asking price, and they couldn’t agree on some something in between..
How dare you simplify reality.
How can the people rant now ?
He might not have many teams making any offers OR the length of the contract(he prefers 2yr) and total guaranteed $. There could be multiple reasons why JDM declined the offer besides team location and $. Hitter friendly vs a Pitchers park(already mentioned) chance at making the postseason and more
Ha ha ha. Or he was asking for too much. You know, like the reports indicate.
They didn’t want Bellinger. They wanted and got Lee. You wanted Bellinger and you don’t count.
I always get a chuckle out of people defending these dumps like San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, etc. Yeah. “Beautiful” cities. If you like high crime, drugs, homelessness and general overall filth.
Congratulations, you’ve described pockets of *all cities* while accurately describing the totality of no cities
@IMInsane,
Consider yourself fortunate that you’re happy with a life consisting of weekly trips to Olive Garden, Buffalo Wild Wings, and monster truck extravaganzas.
Many of us require more complex culinary and intellectual stimulation, and that’s where big cities come into play. It’s not your fault you don’t know any better. You’re a product of your environment. The only thing that matters is your happy with it.
@agnes gooch,
And don’t forget us fine folks in Palo Alto.
Let’s make a deal with the numbskull trolls on this site. If you’re going to take a poke at California, you have to tell us where you’re from so we can laugh at you.
It is just so painfully obviously you’ve never been there if you think those problems exist in South Beach
His market is evaporating, I’m putting him down for 2 years and 25M total.
And even though CLE arguably needs him more than any other team, they wouldn’t even think about paying that much even for the best two years of Babe Ruth’s career.
Heyman spreading false narratives again
Yep. Shockingly, John Heyman has an anti-team excuse for why the deal didn’t happen for a Boras client……
Are you two besmirching the good name of Jon Heyman? For shame!!
I am putting on my Scarlet Letter as we speak. Forgive me, John Heyman!!!!!
Isn’t that Arson Heyman?
They won’t do it, but with the Boras four now looking like at least some of them will take short term offers with opt-outs, the Twins should take a run at Monty or Snell:) We can have pipe dreams right? One more solid SP would make the Twins legit contenders:)
Could still be that he didn’t want to go to SF and put in a counter offer high enough he knew it would be rejected.
Why bother doing that? He was under no obligation to make a counter. If he didn’t want to go, he didn’t need to make a high counter offer. Simply don’t respond.
If he did make a counter, he did so with the intent of going there if the price was met.
It’s not uncommon. It’s used in construction etc. all the time. It’s a job you don’t really want but you put in a high bid with the thoughts of 1: it keeps an open line of future communication, 2: if they accept it, you get paid really well. I have bid way high on jobs I didn’t want and got the job anyway.
A 36 yr old, offensive only player turning up his nose at $14 million. I hope he has to sit out until the all-star break and take $4 million, at best. The arrogance of MLB players is off the charts. I have zero sympathy for any of these guys.
He played for 10 million and one year to be a Dodger. Paying him more is insulting. The Dbacks could still use him, but I would only pay him an incentives based deal that gets it around 15 million if he reaches certain ABs.
Crazy that you can bat .250 and command these numbers. She stinks. Let him sit the season out. I’d prefer Soler long term. JD is way past his prime if he even had one.
It’s silly for him to turn that deal down, but “if he even had one” is an unhinged thing to say about a guy who in 2017-18 hit 88 homers with a .319/.391/.655 slash line. Also he didn’t hit .250 last year, he hit .270…
Dodgers paid him $10M. Giants offered $14M. He said no. So instead they spend $42M to bring in a guy that is a bit worse and doesn’t have the long track record of success. Farhan needs to stick to Playstation games.
Soler is younger, certainly streakier, but the overall recent output is on par with JDM. I think the Giants overpaid at 3 years. But at least the (now reduced) dimensions of Willie Mays park don’t scare Soler
I agree with the sentiment that Heyman is just a Boras mouthpiece. He’s been the one reporting high interest in the Boras 4 when it’s been clearly a dead market. Boras is in shambles with Belli having to take that modest (relatively speaking) deal.
He stinks. No one should sign him
Time for the Reds to counter the Bellinger deal. They need to sign Martinez.
They won’t do that. Besides, they have three guys who are more DHs than anything else as it is.
I don’t think they want a DH only guy because that gives away at bats to their young sluggers who need ML development. That is why Votto is out of a job.
Votto didn’t have 33HR and 100+ RBI last season. Like Martinez did. The Reds need veteran leadership.
If he didn’t want to SF, why does that immediately have to generate all these comments about the city of SF. Martinez has played in big cities like LA and Boston.
Maybe not wanting to play in SF has more to do with the chances of the team to win or the talent on the team.
The issue is his age and the fact that while he’s a good bat, he’s not an elite one anymore. His bat has been more good than great the last few years. 1/14 seems inline with that at his age.
Here’s the latest JD Martinez Giants news, he’s not on the Giants & nobody cares! Pointless story, move on to some actual news.
I liked the story and the information
Dealers in the Tenderloin are making anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 a day. On the high end that’s close to a half million a year.
Smart Player and Agent. They we’re willing to reasonably drop off the ask. Still would have taken the 2/40+ on JD over the 3/40+ on Soler. You get what you pay for fellas.
Maybe not 14 but maybe a counter at one year 17-18 might have got it done. Mark my words he’s not getting two years or even one at 20m. What Bellinger signed for at a significantly age advantage and able to play a high skill outfield position is telling where the market is.
At this point, I’d guess he’d take 1yr/ 8 million guarantee, of there’s 4 million more in AB based incentives..
But only to a team/situation/city he finds suitable.
Haven’t paid much attention, how much of a liability would he be doing at 10-20 games of OF at this point?
He’s very bad defensively, and extra outs are way too important in terms of wins. He’s a DH who is lucky they changed the DH rule.
In sum, the Giants have filled their DH spot with Soler, Bellinger is off the board, and it’s time to get Chapman and Snell!
Rather Monty or Snell. Chapman does not improve over Davis except a bit with the glove. But even there, JD has gotten quite good with the glove.
Chapman is fool’s gold, and every GM knows it. I think he’ll languish on the market into June or July and have to accept a short term deal at a max of $15M/year – maybe 3 years.
Who cares?
You mean it was about the money and not which city his luxury gated community home would be in? Cuz pretty sure yesterday the comments all suggested he didn’t want to live on the streets of San Francisco with all the homeless.
Belli contract apparently hasn’t broken the dam and opened the floodgates for FAs to finally make a deal. Tom Petty sings “the waiting is the hardest part”
Would rather have Soler. Also I know I’ll take heat as a homer but if the Panda makes an mlb roster he could be really good. If he is in shape dude had some of the best hands on a hitter I have ever seen. He looks in great shape
I like the Soler signing, 2 good years and an okay 3rd would be nice to see.
Padres are going to sign him for 4 years, $40 million with an opt out after each year of the deal and a $20 million buyout after year 2. Lol
The Giants offering anything for a 37yo is not a move they should be making when they are barely a .500 team.
They signed Soler because the Giants needed hitting/power. JDM still provides both. If the Giants could have signed him for something cheap, then it absolutely is a move they should be making. It’s the way to improve a .500 team.
Only 3 players over the age of 36 have hit 30+ hrs the past decade and 24 in MLB history!
Clearly the Giants are aware of his age and the probably of regression. That’s why they didn’t offer him a big contract, and that’s why he isn’t on the Giants roster. Not sure the point you’re trying to make here.
This site seems to really want to make this into something that’s not there.
I think it’s more some of the posters who seem to lack reading skills or just like to rant on an old narrative that is true about every major American city.
True about every major city? I lived in Chicago for years, I can assure you that they did not have to hire people to clean up human feces. Cope harder.
J.D. Martinez will sign with Tampa for 2 years, $20M. With an Opt-Out after 2024.
That is my prediction.
Orioles 2 years, $14 mil per. Team buyout option of $3 million after 2024 season.
IMO, Birds need a veteran bat this year to not just help make playoffs but go deep. JD does show up during playoffs.
Os don’t have a DH. They use multiple players who play other positions. JD is the man with probably Rutschman getting time there when resting from catching duties.
Don’t know why this is even a continuing story.
Because he’s a top FA that’s still unsigned, and people are interested in any progress towards, or diversion away from, when and where he signs.
What’s the deal with people, who can see what the article is about from the headline, but still make the effort to go to the comments section just to post that they don’t understand why this is news, or that they don’t care?
Could say the same thing about people up in arms about people caring about things you don’t care about.
Huh? It’s not about caring, or not. It’s about making a point of telling everyone that they don’t care. If someone cares about something I don’t, I leave them to it. If I don’t care about it, I don’t go out of my way just to say that I don’t. My opinion about not caring about something that others do, shouldn’t matter to anyone, and justifiably so, so I’ll keep it to myself.
who cares?
As an aging DH only player JD Martinez is getting some God awful advice if he thinks he’s getting 40M over 2 years. Now most of the teams have spent their budget and JD could end up playing on some ragtag team that has little chance of winning.
Giants are Cheap. Players know this. Fans know this. And they settle for guys that make no sense.
Ha ha. Nope. So much evidence to the contrary. It’s just a hater go to.
Padres are a fit.
But, they would probably have to trade Cronenworth or Ha-seong Kim
to fit him into the reduced payroll scheme
Spin coming out of Boras camp? Inconceivable!
Bottom line Soler is a better player than Martinez. That’s why he is signed and JDM is still sitting.
Martinez will sign a $12mil to $15mil one year deal with someone. It’s all he’s going to get.
Mr. Deeds is straight-up incompetent, even more so than that hack Steve Adams. Any ESL student can recognize that “it’s possible there’s elements” is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. “Elements” is not singular. “There is elements” is what he is saying. What a joke! Fire this kid—he doesn’t understand basic grammar.