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J.D. Martinez

Poll: Where Will J.D. Martinez Sign?

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Last week, a poll of MLBTR readers revealed an overwhelming consensus about who of the remaining hitters left on the market is the best. More than 59% of respondents selected veteran slugger J.D. Martinez as the best hitter still available in free agency, and it’s not difficult to see why. The 37-year-old is a six-time All-Star who’s been an above average hitter in ten consecutive 162-game seasons, and there aren’t many players in baseball who can offer a resume that includes 331 homers and more than 1,700 hits.

Even so, he’s lingered on the free agent market into March for the second consecutive offseason. Much of that could simply be about his position—or, rather, lack thereof. While it’s certainly not unheard of for clubs to employ a full-time DH, the overwhelming majority of clubs prefer to either rotate regulars through the DH slot in the lineup as a form of rest or utilize a player with some ability to play elsewhere on the diamond there. Martinez does not offer that luxury, having last started more than one game in the outfield back in 2021 and last getting into even 50 games as an outfielder back in 2018.

That inherently restricts his market by blocking him from joining clubs who have regulars at DH already, and it also makes it more difficult for Martinez to fit a club in a bench role. While Justin Turner has similarly acted primarily as a DH in recent years, his ability to play first base or even a little third base in a pinch made him a viable addition to the Cubs’ bench to complement Michael Busch at first and act as a secondary DH option on days where Seiya Suzuki is in the outfield. Martinez lacks that sort of flexibility, and it’s all but impossible for a club to justify carrying a pure DH without a clear pathway to at least semi-regular at-bats.

Another concern is Martinez’s weak platform season. 2024 was Martinez’s worst campaign in years, as he hit just .235/.320/.406 (108 wRC+) with a 28.5% strikeout rate and just 16 homers in 495 trips to the plate for the Mets. Martinez’s expected numbers suggest that poor fortune may have played a role in his down season, particularly in a second half where he hit just .199/.282/.340 (79 wRC+) despite similar strikeout and walk numbers to his first half (130 wRC+) and a strong 13% barrel rate. While the underlying numbers suggest a bounceback season is likely for Martinez in 2025, players in their late 30s often face additional scrutiny in free agency and clubs may have reservations about Martinez’s ability to rebound completely at his age.

That’s not to say there should be no market for Martinez’s services, of course. As previously mentioned, the veteran’s underlying numbers suggest he’s still got the tools necessary to be a well-above average regular. What’s more, even simply repeating last year’s lackluster season would be an upgrade for a number of clubs. 15 teams garnered a wRC+ lower than Martinez’s 106 from their DH mix last year, and a handful of clubs still have questions in that corner of the roster. The Yankees have reportedly been in contact with the slugger with incumbent DH Giancarlo Stanton ticketed for a potentially lengthy absence due to elbow soreness. However, Jon Heyman of The New York Post wrote last night that the Yanks seem to have limited desire to spend at this point of the offseason.

They’re the only club to be publicly connected to Martinez amid a quiet offseason for the veteran, but it’s easy to see a fit for the slugger on clubs like the Giants or Padres that lack a regular option at DH. Meanwhile, the Tigers are reportedly pondering playing Kerry Carpenter in the outfield this year and have a need for additional right-handed thump in their lineup, the Reds got the weakest production in all of baseball out of their DH mix last season, and it’s even possible to imagine teams like the Cardinals and Guardians who have young, left-handed bats locked in at DH having interest in Martinez as a right-handed complement to those players.

Where do MLBTR readers think Martinez will ultimately land? Have your say in the poll below:

Yankees Have Had “Some Contact With” J.D. Martinez

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J.D. Martinez is still looking for a new contract as March begins, as the 37-year-old is coming off a decent but unspectacular season with the Mets.  There hadn’t been any public buzz about teams connected to Martinez, yet Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the Yankees have “some contact with” Martinez’s camp, likely in connection to the ongoing uncertainty over Giancarlo Stanton’s status.

There isn’t any indication that the Yankees’ interest is anything more than due diligence at this point, though reaching out to establish some rapport with Martinez could be viewed as a first step in case Stanton ends up missing significant time.  As Heyman notes, it doesn’t seem likely that Martinez would be signed just “as a stopgap player” if Stanton ultimately isn’t out of action for much beyond Opening Day.  Martinez has limited roster utility as a virtual DH-only player at this point in his career, and the Yankees could always opt to rotate players through the DH spot if Stanton has only a limited absence.

Stanton has been battling discomfort in both of his elbows, and it has now been five or six weeks since the veteran slugger has even swung a bat.  Stanton isn’t in camp at all right now, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Heyman and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that Stanton is in New York due to reasons unrelated to his elbow injuries, and it isn’t known when Stanton might be back in Tampa to take part in Spring Training.

Based on the amount of time Stanton has already lost, it seems quite likely he’ll start the season on the injured list, if for no other reason than to give him extra time to fully get healthy and pick up some at-bats during extended Spring Training.  Though hitting is the primary focus since Stanton is also a DH-only player, some overall physical maintenance is necessary given Stanton’s long history of lower-body injuries.  These elbow problems are a new issue for Stanton, adding another unwelcome entry to his checkered injury history.

With all of this in mind, there might be an opening for Martinez in the Bronx, who could basically slide directly into Stanton’s role as the primary designated hitter.  The right-handed hitting Martinez struggled against same-sided pitching in 2024, which could open the door for New York to use a left-handed bat or switch-hitter to spell Martinez against righty pitching.

Martinez hit .235/.320/.406 with 16 home runs over 495 plate appearances for the Mets last season, translating to a 108 wRC+.  A .351 xwOBA that was far above his .318 wOBA indicates that Martinez may have been somewhat unlucky at the plate, as Martinez still made a lot of hard contact and his walk rate was well above the league average.  His 28.5% strikeout rate was quite poor, though strikeouts have long been an issue for Martinez for much of his career.  As noted, Martinez’s chief issue in 2024 was a lack of production against right-handed pitching — he had only a .683 OPS against righties, in comparison to an .836 OPS against southpaws.

It is fair to wonder if Martinez’s late start contributed to these numbers, as he didn’t sign with the Mets until March 23, and he didn’t make his season debut until April 26.  By this standard, Martinez is at least ahead of last year’s schedule in terms of finding his next contract, though missing over two weeks of spring camp has already made for another adjustment to his usual offseason calendar.  In regards to a possible deal with the Yankees, the club is likely to want to gather as much information as possible on Stanton before deciding on a next course of action, so it may yet be a while before the Yankees make a pursuit of Martinez or anyone at all if they opt for external help.

Martinez made a $12MM salary with the Mets last year, in the form of $4.5MM in actual salary and the rest in deferred payments.  The dropoff from his 2023 numbers will mean that Martinez will surely have to settle for less than $12MM wherever he signs, and the Yankees’ luxury tax situation is another possible obstacle to a deal, even if Martinez was available at a relatively inexpensive price.  RosterResource projects New York’s tax number at roughly $305.1MM, already over the highest penalty tier of $301MM, and thus meaning the team will be taxed at a 110 percent rate on every dollar spent beyond $301MM.

Poll: Who’s The Best Hitter Still Available In Free Agency?

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With the end of February upon us, free agency has mostly been resolved for the offseason with only a handful of clearly big-league caliber free agents remaining. Unlike last year, when Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, and Jordan Montgomery were all top-10 free agents in the class who lingered on the open market well beyond the start of Spring Training, this year’s top free agents were almost entirely signed prior to the beginning of camp. At this point, just four of MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents remain unsigned: Jose Quintana, Kyle Gibson, David Robertson, and Spencer Turnbull. Notably, all four of those unsigned players are pitchers.

While that leaves plenty of wiggle room for teams in need of pitching help due to a hole in the roster or a surprise injury to maneuver heading into March, the same can not be said on the hitting side of things. Even extending to the “honorable mentions” section of MLBTR’s list, just one hitter remains available after the Cubs’ recent signing of veteran infielder Justin Turner to a one-year deal. Slim as the pickings may be, however, there are certainly a handful of teams remaining who could use another bat in the lineup at least somewhere on the diamond. For those clubs in need of help on offense, who are the best options still remaining?

J.D. Martinez

The only hitter still available who made the aforementioned “honorable mentions” section of MLBTR’s Top 50, Martinez has an unmatched track record as a hitter but is headed into his age-37 season on the heels of a down season with the Mets. Last year, the veteran slugger managed a slash line of just .235/.320/.406 with a wRC+ of 108. That’s certainly not bad offensive production, but it’s less impressive for a DH-only player and a major step back for a hitter with a career 130 wRC+. Martinez’s strikeout rate (28.5%) and walk rate (9.9%) were both actually better than his 2023 season with the Dodgers, but that improved discipline at the plate came with a severe drop off in power as he hit just 16 homers, less than half of last year’s 33.

Even after last year’s down season, however, Martinez remains a decorated hitter with an excellent track record. He’s been above-average at the plate in each of the past ten 162-game seasons, with a .286/.355/.536 (136 wRC+) slash line overall since the start of 2014. Even last year’s down production was comparable or better than a number of bat-first players around the league who enter 2025 with starting jobs, such as Luis Arraez, Josh Bell, Andrew McCutchen, and Rhys Hoskins. Perhaps most importantly, it’s worth noting that Martinez substantially under-performed his expected numbers last year, and his .351 xwOBA was actually slightly higher than quality bats like Teoscar Hernandez and Seiya Suzuki. That suggests that even a repeat of 2024 could yield significantly stronger production.

Jose Iglesias

Few free agent hitters this year had a stronger platform season than Iglesias, who was worth 2.5 fWAR and 3.1 bWAR in just 85 games with the Mets thanks to an incredible .337/.381/.448 slash line, good for a 137 wRC+. Among second basemen with at least 250 plate appearances last year, that wRC+ is second only to Ketel Marte. Combined with Iglesias’s solid work with the glove around the infield, one would think that offense would make him a very attractive target for teams in need of help on the dirt. That’s not how things have played out so far, however. Iglesias has seemingly gotten little interest from clubs this winter, and a look under the hood helps to explain why.

Iglesias is on the older side, entering his age-35 season this year, and lacks a track record of success at the plate with a wRC+ of just 90 across more than 1,000 games in the majors. That’s not necessarily a death knell, as shown by Jurickson Profar turning last year’s breakout into a strong three-year guarantee with Atlanta, but underlying metrics suggest that Iglesias’s production last year is not anywhere near as sustainable. He was helped by an inflated .382 BABIP that’s nearly 70 points higher than his career .315 figure, and his xwOBA of .314 suggests his underlying performance was more akin to Jake Cronenworth than Francisco Lindor. Even with those potential red flags, however, Iglesias seems like the likely best option for teams in need of help on the infield.

Alex Verdugo

Verdugo won’t turn 29 until May, making him by far the youngest player mentioned on this list. He’s also found solid success at the plate before in his career, as demonstrated by his .289/.343/.435 (108 wRC+) slash line from 2019 to 2022. Those factors work in his favor, but to this point in his free agency he’s been unable to capitalize on them coming off the worst offensive campaign of his career. Verdugo slashed just .233/.291/.356 (83 wRC+) in 149 games for the Yankees last year, a figure that made him one of the ten worst hitters in the sport to qualify for the batting title. That won’t cut it for a bat-first position like left field, even if Verdugo is a quality defender at the position.

Things aren’t entirely grim for the outfielder, however. Verdugo’s .302 xwOBA suggests that his underlying performance was roughly league average last year, and his offensive production could also be improved by limiting his exposure to same-handed pitchers given that he’s a career 79 wRC+ hitter against southpaws who mostly repeated that with a 74 wRC+ last year. It’s also worth noting that Verdugo’s .253 BABIP last season was substantially worse than any other campaign of his career and a full 60 points below his career norm entering the year. While there’s little to like in Verdugo’s 2024 numbers, it would be reasonable to suggest that his youth and upside relative to the rest of the players mentioned here makes him an attractive option.

Anthony Rizzo

Rizzo is entering his age-35 season an arguably the most difficult player to evaluate on this list. He’s played just 191 games over the past two years due to a number of substantial injuries, though none of them are the type of injury that would portend future injury woes: after suffering a concussion in early May of 2023, Rizzo saw his performance decline as he unknowingly played through the injury before being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome ahead of a season-ending trip to the injured list in August of that year. He returned in 2024 but was limited to just 92 games by a fractured forearm and a finger fracture stemming from a collision at first base and a hit-by-pitch, respectively.

Over the past two years, Rizzo has not hit well. The veteran first baseman has slashed just .237/.315/.358 (91 wRC+) since the start of the 2023 campaign, and his expected numbers don’t show clear signs of untapped potential. For a 35-year-old restricted to first base and DH defensively, that could be enough for many teams to dismiss him as a regular option. With that being said, however, Rizzo also sports a track record as one of the most consistent hitters of the decade prior to his injuries with a .268/.368/.486 (131 wRC+) slash line from 2012 to 2022. Rizzo was off to an excellent start in 2023, with a .301/.376/.513 (146 wRC+) slash line in 50 games prior to the concussion. Given his track record of success and the stark drop of production he faced amid the injuries of the past two seasons, perhaps a fully healthy campaign is all it would take to get the veteran’s career back on track.

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The four aforementioned hitters certainly aren’t the only ones remaining in free agency, though the remaining group come with plenty of question marks. David Peralta posted a strong 115 wRC+ with the Padres last year, but did so in only 260 plate appearances, is entering his age-38 campaign, and looked overmatched as a semi-regular player for the Dodgers the year prior. Whit Merrifield is a versatile fielder who posted roughly league average (97 wRC+) production with the Braves down the stretch last year, but did so only after a disastrous (63 wRC+) stint with the Phillies earlier in the season. Nick Senzel is a former top prospect who’s still just 29 years old, but has yet to hit in the majors across parts of six seasons.

Which of free agency’s remaining hitters do MLBTR readers think is the best bet for success in 2025? Have your say in the poll below:

The Best Remaining Free Agent Position Players

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The market for free agents of any note is drying up by the day. In particular, we've seen a run on veteran pitchers. Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, Cal Quantrill, Jakob Junis, John Means, Tyler Alexander, Kenley Jansen, Scott Barlow, John Brebbia, Kendall Graveman, Luke Jackson, Scott Alexander and Lucas Sims have all come off the board in the past ten days. A few bats have signed in that time as well, but typically on smaller-scale deals. Justin Turner's $6MM Cubs deal is the most notable. Each of Michael A. Taylor, Ty France, Paul DeJong and Luis Urias secured guarantees between $1-2MM.

At this stage, there simply aren't many potential big league deals left for free agent position players. That doesn't mean there aren't any, however. There are still four free agent hitters who posted better-than-average offense last year, plus another couple notable names who are looking to bounce back from their first truly poor offensive performance in the past six seasons.

Let's run through some of the remaining free agent position players on the market, with a brief look at their 2024 season, what they bring to the table, and some of the best landing spots left for each.

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J.D. Martinez Planning To Play In 2025

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Designated hitter J.D. Martinez is planning to play in 2025, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. That’s a notable stance for the slugger as he was considering retiring around this time one year ago.

Martinez ended up playing for the Mets in 2024 with a very late signing. The reports of his pact with the Mets emerged on March 21 and the deal became official on March 23. That clearly was a frustrating situation for Martinez, after he hit 33 home runs for the Dodgers in 2023, slashing .271/.321/.572 for a 135 wRC+.

“Here I am, the team’s breaking in five days, and I don’t even have a team yet,” Martinez said in October, just after the Mets had been eliminated from the postseason. “Your brain goes into a weird mode, where you’re like ’Am I playing? Am I not? Am I playing? Am I not? Is this it? Am I retired? … We weren’t asking for anything that, at the time, I feel like other players hadn’t gotten.”

The annoyance was enough for Martinez to consider hanging up his spikes, relaying that he said to a friend: “I think this it. I’m staying home. This is dumb. I’m begging for a job, and I had a .900 OPS last year.”

In the end, he and the Mets got a deal done and he had a decent season. He hit 16 home runs in 495 plate appearances, putting up a .235/.320/.406 batting line and 108 wRC+. Because he missed spring training and then dealt with some general body soreness, he didn’t make his season debut until late April. The late start doesn’t seem to have impacted his performance, as he was actually better in the earlier part of the season. He slashed .263/.349/.457 in the first half and .199/.282/.340 in the second, leading to respective wRC+ tallies of 130 and 79.

Given the irritating nature of his last trip to free agency, he presumably would like to sign a little earlier this time around. Finding a home for an everyday designated hitter is tough these days. Martinez didn’t play the field at all in 2024. His 12 innings in left field in 2023 are the totality of his defensive work over the past three years.

Many clubs have their DH spot clogged up by one key bat already, such as Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers, Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies and others. Some clubs like to keep the slot open so that they can rotate various players through, maximizing flexibility and lessening the workloads of certain individuals. Rebuilding teams like the Marlins or White Sox have playing time available in theory, but they might prefer to give at-bats to young players they are evaluating for future roles.

Of the clubs that are still on the hunt for a big bat, Martinez could be competing with his former teammate Pete Alonso, who is still unsigned as well. It’s possible that Alonso’s situation might impact Martinez, with clubs reluctant to sign Martinez until Alonso makes his choice. The Mets, Blue Jays, Giants, Angels, Red Sox and others have been connected to Alonso recently, so perhaps some of those clubs could consider Martinez a fallback in the coming weeks.

Even though Alonso’s market isn’t shaping up as hoped, Martinez will certainly cost far less. Alonso has reportedly turned down an offer from the Mets in the range of $68 to $70MM over three years. Martinez got a one-year, $12MM deal from the Mets for 2024, though in heavily deferred fashion. He was only paid $4.5MM last year with the rest to be paid out via $1.5MM instalments from 2034 to 2038. Now one year older and coming off a worse platform, he’ll likely have less earning power now.

Justin Turner, Rowdy Tellez, Ty France and Anthony Rizzo are some of the other notable hitters that are still unsigned as well. Like Martinez, each of the guys in that group should be limited to one-year offers based on age and/or recent performance.

Free Agent Faceoff: Justin Turner / J.D. Martinez

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Just before the holidays, the hot stove roared to life for the first base and DH market as a host of players all came off the board over the course of a matter of days. Josh Naylor and Nathaniel Lowe changed hands via trade, while Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, Carlos Santana, Joc Pederson, Andrew McCutchen, and Josh Bell all inked deals in free agency. The boom in this corner of the market even impacted depth pieces such as Darick Hall and Matt Mervis, both of whom found new homes in minor league free agency and via trade respectively. Even after that run of deals coming together, however, plenty of interesting first base and DH options remain available. Pete Alonso is of course the top free agent first baseman available this winter, while Anthony Rizzo and Mark Canha are among the more interesting bounce-back candidates who could still be had on the open market.

Among the most notable options available at this point in the winter for those looking to fill a hole at DH are a pair of aging right-handed bats, both of whom are World Series champions with decorated resumes: Justin Turner and J.D. Martinez. Both players appear to be in the twilight of their careers but managed to put up above-average offensive results last year and are looking to extend their careers in free agency this winter. Those similarities come with noticeable differences in their overall profiles that give each certain advantages over the other, creating an interesting contrast between the pair.

Turner, who celebrated his 40th birthday back in November, is a free agent for the third consecutive offseason. The longtime Dodgers stalwart was among the game’s premier pure hitters during his time in Los Angeles, and in nine seasons with the club he slashed an excellent .296/.375/.490 (136 wRC+). No one should expect that level of production from Turner at this stage of his career, but even though his days of All-Star appearances and top-10 finishes in MVP voting appear to be behind him he’s remained a consistent and solidly above-average hitter in two seasons since departing his longtime club. He’s split time between the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Mariners since leaving the Dodgers, and in that time has slashed .268/.349/.422 with a wRC+ of 116 while accruing 2.2 fWAR.

Digging a little deeper, Turner gets to his production in largely the same way he always has, with a high-contact approach and strong plate discipline. He’s struck out at an identical 17.6% clip in each of the last two seasons, just a hair behind Juan Soto’s 17.5% strikeout rate. In 2024, he paired that with an excellent 10.9% walk rate that placed him alongside Carlos Santana and Yordan Alvarez in a tie for the 27th-highest walk rate among qualified hitters this year. That’s not to say Turner is flawless as a hitter, of course; the veteran has never been much of a power threat, and 2024 saw him hit just 11 homers as his ISO dropped to .124. That was the 16th-lowest figure among qualified hitters last year and is Turner’s worst finish in the category since he arrived in L.A. back in 2014. His 4.6% barrel rate and 32.5% Hard-Hit rate were similarly bottom-16 figures in the majors this year.

As for Martinez, the six-time All-Star spent his peak years in Detroit and Boston with a brief sojourn to Arizona in the middle. From 2014 to 2019, only Mike Trout and Aaron Judge topped Martinez’s 151 wRC+ as he slashed an incredible .307/.373/.581 with 207 homers in 816 games. Of course, those peak years are now long behind him. Since the start of the 2021 season, Martinez has slashed .268/.334/.486 (122 wRC+) with noticeable peaks and valleys in his production based primarily on his power output. The slugger mashed more homers (33) in 2023 than he did in the 2022 and ’24 seasons combined (32), and depending on his power output can oscillate from a roughly replacement-level bat to a slugger still worthy of an All-Star appearance.

With that being said, Martinez’s plate discipline pales in comparison to that of Turner. Over the past two seasons, Martinez has struck out at a hefty 29.8% clip while walking a solid but unspectacular 8.5% of the time. It’s also worth noting that, while he’s three years younger than Turner is, he provides even less defensive value than his 40-year-old contemporary. Turner played in 139 games and started in the field for just 44 of them in 2024 (almost exclusively at first base), but you’d have to go all the way back to 2018 to find a year where Martinez started that many games in a season.

It should also be noted that Martinez’s platform season is far worse than that of Turner’s, as he hit just .235/.320/.406 (108 wRC+) in 120 games with the Mets and started losing playing time to deadline pickup Jesse Winker late in the year. While he posted a strong .417 on-base percentage in a limited role during the club’s postseason run, he hit for surprisingly little power with no extra-base hits. Turner, meanwhile finished strong down the stretch with the Mariners as he hit .264/.363/.403 (126 wRC+) in 48 games after being traded to Seattle over the summer.

On the other hand, Martinez’s underlying numbers suggest a resurgence could be in the cards for 2025. His 14.7% barrel rate last year was just a hair behind those of Austin Riley and Teoscar Hernández, while 45.5% Hard-Hit Rate places him squarely between Elly De La Cruz and Joc Pederson. That contributes to a .356 xwOBA that was nearly 40 points higher than his wOBA last year. Meanwhile, Turner’s profile is more or less maxed out, with his .327 wOBA in 2024 nearly matching his .330 xwOBA and his 2023 production actually outstripping his expected numbers noticeably.

So, if your team needed a DH, which veteran would you rather bring in for 2025? Would you value Turner’s consistency, discipline, and limited ability to play the field? Or are you more drawn to Martinez’s power, upside, and relative youth?

Mets Notes: JDM, Quintana, Manaea

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A season filled with OMGs and Grimace memes came to an end this weekend when the Dodgers toppled the Mets in a 10-5 win that propelled L.A. to a World Series showdown and left the Mets looking ahead to the 2025 campaign. New York’s roster is teeming with veteran free agents, and president of baseball operations David Stearns and his staff will have their work cut out for them in reshaping the roster this offseason. Several outgoing Mets free agents made clear they’d have interest in returning, including some aging vets who are getting into the latter stages of their career.

Designated hitter J.D. Martinez joked “pickleball” when asked what the future held for him (video link via SNY). The 37-year-old slugger said first and foremost, his future includes heading home to be with his new daughter, who he has barely seen since she was born in September. Beyond the family time, Martinez made clear that he hopes to continue his playing career but only if teams take the initiative. “I’m not going to come back because I’m begging to come back,” said Martinez. “I’m going to come back because it makes sense. At the end of the day, time is the most valuable thing.”

Presumably, that means there’s a price point at which Martinez won’t feel compelled to commit to further time away from his growing young family. But the slugger also recently appeared on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast and told host Rob Bradford that frustration over a general lack of interest last offseason led him to ponder retirement.

“I felt like it was just an awkward year,” said Martinez (video link). “Here I am, the team’s breaking in five days, and I don’t even have a team yet. Your brain goes into a weird mode, where you’re like ’Am I playing? Am I not? Am I playing? Am I not? Is this it? Am I retired? … We weren’t asking for anything that, at the time, I feel like other players hadn’t gotten.”

Martinez went on to say that he waited all offseason for offers to materialize and “100%” considered retiring, even telling his best friend: “I think this it. I’m staying home. This is dumb. I’m begging for a job, and I had a .900 OPS last year.”

Heading into the 2024-25 offseason, Martinez won’t be coming off the same type of campaign he enjoyed with the Dodgers in 2023. During his lone year in L.A., he bashed 33 homers and hit .271/.321/.572 in 479 plate appearances. Martinez was still a clearly above-average bat this past season, but a sluggish start after signing late (March 23) and a dismal finish to the season left him with a .235/.320/.406 batting line. That was about eight percent better than average, by measure of wRC+ (108).

An optimist could toss out a slow two weeks to start the season and overlook that finish to see that from mid-May through late August, Martinez hit .251/.336/.459 with 16 homers in 387 plate appearances, but teams won’t be so charitable as to just write those struggles off and focus only on his peak in-season production. Martinez did note that he’s encouraged by his batted-ball metrics even though the ultimate production wasn’t in line with his best work, and to his credit, he maintained excellent marks in terms of exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit rate. He also cut back on his career-worst 2023 strikeout rate and improved his walk rate to its highest level since 2019.

Teammate Jose Quintana was more direct and more straightforward in his intentions to return next year. The 35-year-old lefty told reporters (link via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers): “I’m healthy. I feel good. I want to try one more time to win a championship. This was the closest I’ve been in my career. One day I’m going to get the opportunity.”

Quintana, 36 in January, pitched 170 1/3 innings of 3.75 ERA ball for the Mets in 2024 — the second season of a two-year, $26MM free agent deal. His 18.8% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate don’t necessarily support that level of success, but Quintana was a reliable source of innings and has a lengthy track record of quality rotation work in the majors. Starting pitching is always in demand, and he has a good chance at commanding another eight-figure salary on a one-year deal — if not potential to find a similar two-year deal to the one he just completed.

Age considerations aren’t as prominent for 32-year-old Sean Manaea, who’s all but a lock to decline a $13.5MM player option in search of a multi-year deal in free agency. Manaea has signed back-to-back “prove it” deals, so to speak, signing consecutive two-year deals with opt-out opportunities. He opted out of his deal with the Giants following the 2023 season, will opt out of his Mets deal next month, and is now finally in position to command the type of lengthier multi-year deal that’s eluded him to this point in free agency. The Mets will very likely make him a qualifying offer, but even with draft compensation attached to his name, Manaea could command a three-year pact this time around.

The left-hander pitched a career-high 181 2/3 innings, plus another 19 in the postseason. His regular season ended with a 3.47 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. He was hit hard in his final start — the one that ended the Mets’ season — but held opponents to five runs in 17 innings across his first three postseason starts (2.65 ERA).

Time will tell whether Manaea is back in New York, but the southpaw emphasized how much he loved his time with the organization and called the 2024 campaign the best season of his career (link via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com). “I love my time here,” said Manaea. “I love New York. I love the organization. I love all the people here. Definitely give it a couple of days, let the body rest and then we’ll go from there.”

In addition to the trio of Martinez, Manaea and Quintana, the Mets will also see Pete Alonso, Luis Severino, Harrison Bader, Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino, Jesse Winker, Jose Iglesias, Drew Smith and Ryne Stanek all become free agents after the World Series.

Mets Designate Zack Short For Assignment

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The Mets announced that outfielder J.D. Martinez has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, with infielder Zack Short designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Martinez, 36, signed a one-year deal with the club last month. That deal came about very late in the offseason, not being made official until March 23, when Spring Training was effectively done. Players with at least five years of service time cannot be optioned to the minors without their consent, but Martinez agreed to be sent down since he missed the spring and needed to get some at-bats.

His return should bolster the Mets lineup, as he is a .287/.350/.524 hitter in his career and is coming off a strong season with the Dodgers. He seemed to be selling out for power last year, as his 31.1% strikeout rate was a career high by four points, but he also hit 33 home runs and slashed .271/.321/.572. Manager Carlos Mendoza indicated earlier this week that the club was planning to activate Martinez today, which was now come to fruition.

Martinez was already on the 40-man roster but the Mets had limited options in terms of getting him onto the active roster. The only optionable position players currently on the squad are Brett Baty and DJ Stewart. Baty has been the club’s everyday third baseman this year while Stewart has been great at the plate. Going back to his time with the club last year, he’s hit 14 home runs in 240 plate appearances. He has struck out at a hefty 28.7% clip but also drawn walks 10.4% of the time.

That left the Mets having to cut someone who is out of options and they decided on Short. The infielder, who turns 29 next month, was claimed off waivers from the Tigers in November. He took 12 plate appearances with the Mets this year and produced a line of just .111/.273/.111 in that time.

He spent the past three years with the Tigers and has a career batting line of .172/.266/.304 in 462 plate appearances. He’s been better in Triple-A, having slashed .226/.361/.397 since the start of 2021 while drawing walks in 16.2% of his appearances at that level. Since he’s played all three outfield spots and the three infield positions to the left of first base, he could be a solid utility piece if his major league offense were a bit more like his minor league work.

The Mets will have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. In his absence, Joey Wendle will be the backup infielder, with a regular alignment of Baty, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso on the dirt.

NL East Notes: Martinez, Ruiz, Strider

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The Mets are hoping that veteran slugger J.D. Martinez can join the big league club to make his debut on Friday, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). In the meantime, DiComo adds that Martinez will move his rehab assignment up to Triple-A Syracuse while he works toward being ready to return to the big leagues. Martinez, 36, signed with the Mets on a one-year deal just before Opening Day. Thanks to the slugger missing the entirety of Spring Training, he began the season in the minor leagues in order to build up for his debut with the big league Mets.

That process hit almost an immediate snag after Martinez found himself sidelined by “general body soreness” just two games into his rehab process. It was initially expected that Martinez would only need a few days off, but he hasn’t appeared in any games during the two weeks since then. That’s now set to change, however, with Martinez scheduled to get his final reps in at the Triple-A level before finally making his debut in Queens against the Cardinals, assuming things go smoothly from here. Should Martinez indeed be ready to come up on Friday, it would provide a boost to a Mets club that has already won six straight and ten of their last twelve to place themselves just 2.5 games back of Atlanta for the lead in the NL East.

The addition of Martinez, a six-time All Star and three-time Silver Slugger award winner, to the club’s lineup should help to further bolster a lineup that has already delivered a solid 109 wRC+ that ranks ninth among all MLB clubs this season. He’ll be particularly valuable for his power output; while the Mets currently rank middle of the pack with an ISO of just .141 and 22 home runs as a team, Martinez sports an incredible .237 ISO for his career and crushed 33 homers in just 113 games with the Dodgers last year.

More from around the NL East…

  • When Nationals backstop Keibert Ruiz was placed on the 10-day injured list because of the flu last week, it was a bit of an unusual diagnosis as illnesses rarely keep players out for more than a couple of days. Spencer Nusbaum of the Washington Post reported this afternoon that Ruiz’s case was severe enough that he’s lost between 18 and 20 pounds due to the illness, which has sidelined him since April 9. Fortunately, the young catcher seems to be doing better at this point, as Nusbaum adds that Ruiz is expected to head out for a rehab assignment in the coming days. Ruiz got off to a tough start at the plate with a slash line of just .194/.265/.290 in 34 plate appearances this year but nonetheless figures to take over regular catching duties for the Nats upon his return, where Riley Adams and Drew Millas have split time in Ruiz’s absence.
  • Braves right-hander Spencer Strider won’t pitch again this season after undergoing an internal brace procedure on his UCL earlier this month, but he told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) earlier this week that he hadn’t actually torn his UCL. Instead, Strider noted that imaging revealed that a bone fragment had formed inside his UCL in the years since he first underwent surgery on the elbow back in 2019. Strider also revealed that he had been nursing discomfort in his elbow dating back to Spring Training, though at the time he attempted to pitch through it as it hadn’t impacted his velocity. The 25-year-old has emerged as one of the league’s most talented starters in recent years, posting a 3.36 ERA and 2.43 FIP in 318 1/3 innings of work between the 2022 and ’23 seasons. Atlanta has turned to right-hander Darius Vines to fill Strider’s spot in the rotation for the time being, though it’s possible another arm such as Bryce Elder or AJ Smith-Shawver could enter the mix for Strider’s starts at some point this season.

New York Notes: Belt, Martinez, Cole

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Veteran slugger Brandon Belt’s free agency has surprisingly dragged into the regular season, with the soon to be 36-year-old reportedly “baffled” by the lack of offers he’s received to this point. The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly provided additional details on Belt’s free agency recently, noting that the Mets were the only club to offer Belt a guaranteed contract this winter, though he added that the deal was “almost entirely” incentives-based.

Belt is coming off an excellent season with the Blue Jays that saw him slash .254/.369/.490 with 404 trips to the plate. That included a fantastic 146 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, the eleventh-best figure among all qualified hitters last year which trailed only Shohei Ohtani among this winter’s free agents. The performance was more or less par for the course for Belt, who’s hit .258/.369/.503 since the start of the 2020 season and is a career .261/.357/.460 hitter for his career. That type of production certainly would’ve made sense for the Mets, though the club ultimately landed slugger J.D. Martinez on a one-year deal to plug the hole in the lineup at DH.

With that said, it’s somewhat surprising that the Mets were the only club to offer Belt a big league deal this winter. The only player on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 free agents list still unsigned, Belt was predicted for a one-year, $15MM deal this winter. That would’ve been a small bump over the one-year, $9.3MM deal he landed with Toronto prior to 2023 on the heels of a below-average showing at the plate during his final season with the Giants. Belt recently indicated that he still hopes to play in 2024, but also noted that he doesn’t want to settle for a minor league contract after his strong season last year.

More from the New York teams…

  • Sticking with the Mets, Martinez was expected to make his debut with the club during this week’s series against the Braves, but that plan appears to have been scuttled. As relayed by MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters that Martinez is dealing with “general body soreness” and is not yet ready for his big league debut. Now, DiComo reports that the plan is for Martinez to take the next two days off and return to minor league action on Tuesday, with Friday as the earliest Martinez could make his big league Mets debut. The 36-year-old slugger slashed an impressive .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs in 113 games with the Dodgers last year and figures to provide a major boost to the big league lineup, which ranks 28th in the majors with a 64 wRC+ so far in the young 2024 campaign.
  • Looking toward the Bronx, Yankees fans received positive news regarding ace right-hander Gerrit Cole this morning, as manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Greg Joyce of the New York Post) that Cole is nearing the beginnings of a throwing program. Cole started the season on the injured list while rehabbing nerve inflammation on his elbow, and now is expected to begin playing catch as soon as tomorrow. Cole, 33, is the reigning AL Cy Young award winner and a six-time All Star who pitched to a sterling 2.63 ERA with a 27% strikeout rate in 209 innings of work. If the right-hander can make a relatively speedy return from his rehab, it would surely provide a major boost to the Yankees as they look to return to the postseason.
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