Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

J.D. Martinez

Latest On Mets’, Red Sox’ DH Plans

By | at

Earlier this offseason, the Mets were frequently rumored to be interested in adding a bat to their DH mix after parting ways with Dan Vogelbach at the non-tender deadline back in November. It now appears the club may have other priorities, however. According to a recent report from Will Sammon of The Athletic, the club intends to stick with its internal options at DH rather make a splash on the free agent market for a player such as J.D. Martinez or Jorge Soler, at least without prices falling “dramatically.” Sammon goes on to note that the club did not aggressively pursue deals with outfielder Teoscar Hernandez or first baseman Rhys Hoskins before the duo signed with the Dodgers and Brewers last month.

The news isn’t necessarily a surprise given comments from president of baseball operations David Stearns last month, which indicated that the club wasn’t interested in taking opportunities away from young players with veteran additions this winter. To that end, Sammon indicates that the likeliest use of the DH in Queens this year figures to involve plenty of playing time for 24-year-old slugger Mark Vientos, with DJ Stewart and Starling Marte also getting time at DH in addition to occasional reps in the outfield.

Vientos has struggled to a .205/.255/.354 slash line to this point in his big league career, but has just 274 trips to the plate in the majors under his belt. The youngster crushed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .306/.387/.612 slash line in 61 games at the level last year and owns a career .247/.377/.499 line across six seasons in the minor leagues. The 30-year-old Stewart, meanwhile, spent parts of five seasons in a part-time role with the Orioles to roughly league average results at the plate but showed a bit more promise after joining the Mets on a minor league deal last year. Stewart slashed a solid .244/.333/.506 with 11 homers in just 185 trips to the plate across 58 games with the club last year, though that strong power production came with a hefty 30.3% strikeout rate.

Marte is a much more established hitter at the big league level than the other two likely members of the Mets’ DH mix. The 35-year-old veteran of 12 major league seasons boasts a career slash line of .287/.343/.445 and posted a 134 wRC+ as recently as 2022, but struggled badly in 341 trips to the plate last year amid groin, neck, and migraine issues last year. While Marte figures to be penciled in as the club’s everyday right fielder, the presence of both Stewart and Tyrone Taylor as other corner outfield options figure to give the Mets flexibility to utilize the DH spot for Marte on a semi-regular basis in hopes of keeping him healthier throughout the 2024 campaign.

While the Mets appear to be stepping away from the DH market in favor of internal options, it appears that the Red Sox still have interest in adding a right-handed bat to their lineup to replace the production of Justin Turner, who recently signed with the Blue Jays on a one-year deal. Boston was heavily connected to Hernandez before he signed in L.A. and was reported as a likely landing spot for Adam Duvall last month. More recently, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com opines that a reunion with Duvall still makes for the Red Sox even though his free agency “isn’t as close to a resolution” as those past reports seemed to indicate at the time. Should the 35-year-old slugger ultimately land elsewhere, Cotillo suggests that the likes of Garrett Cooper, C.J. Cron, Donovan Solano, and Randal Grichuk could be potential fallback options for the club. Recent reporting has also linked Boston to veteran outfielder Tommy Pham.

It’s worth noting that each of those suggested options has a defensive home outside of DH. While the presence of Triston Casas at first base leaves the likes of Cooper and Cron likely to spend a majority of their time at DH if either were to sign in Boston, Solano has experience all around the infield and could fill a similar role to that of Turner last year as a right-handed hitter who can fill in at first, second, and third base while also getting regular at-bats out of the DH slot. Duvall and Grichuk, meanwhile, have experience at all three outfield spots and could join Tyler O’Neill as a right-handed complement to the club’s lefty-swinging outfield bats such as Masataka Yoshida, Wilyer Abreu, and Jarren Duran. Pham would likely fill a similar role, though he’s largely confined to the corner outfield spots and DH at this point in his career.

While Cotillo indicates that a bat that fits more around the margins of the club’s roster is the most likely addition for Boston to make to its lineup at this point in the winter, he doesn’t completely rule out a more significant addition. Cotillo cautions that a larger addition to the club’s roster is “unlikely at best” given the club’s recent comments, but nonetheless suggests that Soler could be a fit for the club if the club manages to clear payroll space. Reporting last month indicated that the club has fielded trade interest on both Yoshida and veteran closer Kenley Jansen, though a deal involving Jansen appears more likely than one involving Yoshida as things stand.

If the Red Sox can find a way to fit a Soler signing into their budget, he’d likely provide a major boost to the club’s lineup. The slugging outfielder is coming off a phenomenal season with the Marlins where he slashed .250/.341/.512 with 36 home runs and 24 doubles. That sort of production could be transformative for a Boston lineup that got just a .242/.305/.393 line out of its right-handed hitters last year. That slash line is good for a wRC+ of just 86, a bottom-four figure among major league clubs in 2023. By contrast, Soler posted a 126 wRC+ and owns a cumulative 117 wRC+ dating back to the 2018 season.

One bat of significance the Red Sox have no plans to pursue this winter, Cotillo notes, is Martinez. The veteran slugger slashed a strong .292/.363/.526 during his five-season tenure in Boston and crushed 33 home runs in just 117 games for the Dodgers last year, but Cotillo reports that the Red Sox have no interest in a reunion with their long-time DH. While Martinez’s bat is undeniably valuable, he lacks the ability to play the field demonstrated by other options Boston is reportedly considering and, per Cotillo, the veteran’s approach was not “universally loved” in the Red Sox clubhouse and contrasted with the style of leadership exhibited by Turner that made the 39-year-old so popular among his teammates last year.

The Top Unsigned Designated Hitters

By | at

Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training in about three weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. MLBTR already took a look at the catchers, shortstops, center fielders, first basemen and second basemen still available. We’ll take a look at the top DH options on the market next. Obviously, this is a subjective category. Any player can technically serve as a designated hitter, after all. There are a handful of older and/or defensively limited sluggers who aren’t likely to sign anywhere that doesn’t have substantial DH at-bats available. That’ll be the focus here.

  • Jorge Soler: After opting out of the final year and $13MM on his contract with the Marlins, Soler should be in position for a multi-year deal. The 32-year-old belted 36 home runs with the Fish in 2023 despite the pitcher-friendly nature of their home park, reducing his strikeout rate to 24.3% — the second-lowest of his career. His 11.4% walk rate was the second-best in his career. Soler remained one of the best in the game in terms of strong contact, delivering an excellent 91.3 mph average exit velocity and 48% hard-hit rate. Unlike the others on this list, Soler is both in his early 30s and has a demonstrated history of hitting for top-of-the-scale power in the big leagues. Everyone’s power production was up during the juiced-ball 2019 season, but Soler still paced the American League with 48 homers and finished third in all of baseball that season. The Blue Jays have been most heavily connected to Soler recently. Other suitors like the D-backs (Joc Pederson) and Mariners (Mitch Garver) have signed other DH candidates. Beyond Toronto, the Mets, Giants and Angels have all been more loosely linked to Soler.
  • J.D. Martinez: Martinez had a “down” season by his standards in 2022 when he “only” hit .274/.341/.448 with 16 homers in his final season with the Red Sox. He more than doubled that home run total with the Dodgers in 2023, smashing 33 homers despite tallying just 479 plate appearances. It’s possible that Martinez has begun selling out for power even more than he may already have been at times in the past. Last year’s 31.1% strikeout rate was easily the worst of his career, and his 7.1% walk rate was his lowest since 2014. Even if that’s the case, there’s no getting around the fact that JDM was a legitimate middle-of-the-order presence. He hit .271/.321/.572 overall and posted elite numbers in average exit velocity (93.4 mph) and hard-hit rate (53.4%). He’s entering his age-36 season, but Martinez can still mash.
  • Justin Turner: Turner turned 39 in December but you’d never know it looking at last year’s .276/.345/.455 batting line with the Red Sox. Turner connected on 23 home runs, walked at a respectable 8.1% clip and struck out in 17.6% of his plate appearances — about five percentage points below the league average. Turner embodies the “professional hitter” archetype and can still take the field at any of third base, first base or perhaps even second base in a pinch. Turner hasn’t had a below-average season at the plate since establishing himself as a regular with the Dodgers back in 2014, and there’s little reason to think that’s about to change.
  • Brandon Belt: He’ll turn 36 in April and has battled knee troubles in recent seasons, but Belt can still flat-out mash right-handed pitching. Like Turner, he can still play defense on a part-time basis — Belt logged 29 games at first base last season — but 70% of his games came as the Blue Jays’ designated hitter. Toronto only gave Belt 39 plate appearances against lefties, and he’ll be similarly limited wherever he signs next. But Belt hit .256/.375/.516 against righties as a member of the Jays, and he’s only gotten better in platoon situations as his career has progressed. Since making his MLB debut, he’s a .267/.364/.480 hitter against righties, but those numbers jump to .269/.376/.541 dating back to 2020 (150 wRC+).
  • Mike Ford: The 31-year-old Ford doesn’t have anywhere near the track record of Soler, Martinez or Turner, but he posted eye-popping numbers in a half season with the Mariners last season. The former Yankees farmhand hit 16 homers in just 251 plate appearances. His .228 average was something of an eyesore, but Ford walked at a 9.6% clip and managed to post a .323 OBP while slugging .475. Despite the power production, Ford was non-tendered by the Mariners, who were looking to reduce their strikeout rate and may have worried that Ford’s 32.3% mark in that regard made him a long shot to replicate his success. That he was non-tendered also suggests that the M’s couldn’t find a trade partner for him, even with a modest $1.5MM projected salary. Ford could wind up signing a minor league pact or a very low-cost big league deal. He’s an affordable three-true-outcomes slugger who can be controlled through the 2026 season via arbitration by any team that signs him.

Honorable Mentions: Austin Meadows, C.J. Cron, Daniel Vogelbach

MLBTR Podcast: The Broadcasting Landscape, Josh Hader and the Relief Market

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Does J.D. Martinez make sense for the Angels? (24:30)
  • With the Mets in rebuild/retooling mode and the Mariners in need of another infield bat (and a surplus of controllable young arms), is there a trade there? (27:55)
  • How odd is it that we are this late in January and have several players likely to get multi-year deals? (31:55)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Designated Hitter Possibilities For Diamondbacks

By | at

The defending National League champions were among the most aggressive teams early in the offseason. They acquired Eugenio Suárez to address third base and fortified the rotation via a four-year, $80MM contract with Eduardo Rodríguez. Just before Christmas, they reunited with left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a three-year, $42MM guarantee.

Arizona hasn’t made a major league addition since finalizing their new contract with Gurriel a month ago. They’re not done, however. GM Mike Hazen has said a few times the Snakes are looking for a hitter they can plug in at the DH spot. He reiterated that in a chat with Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic not long after the new year, suggesting at the time they felt they were likelier to add another bat in free agency than through trade. While Arizona was focused primarily on right-handed hitters early in the winter, their deals with Suárez and Gurriel have balanced the lineup. Hazen indicated they’re considering DH options of either handedness at this point.

A few of their reported targets remain on the market. Some potential fits:

Right-Handed Free Agents

  • J.D. Martinez: Martinez, who mashed in a two-month stint for Arizona at the end of the 2017 season, remains one of the more productive hitters in the majors. He’s coming off perhaps his best year since 2019. He blasted 33 home runs in only 479 plate appearances for the Dodgers a season ago. His .271/.321/.572 batting line was stellar and he turned in his highest hard contact rate (54.8%) of the Statcast era. The huge power production partially masks an uptick in whiffs, as he struck out at a career-high 31.1% clip. That’s a bit alarming, but teams would happily live with the strikeouts if they anticipate Martinez hitting for that kind of power again. Arizona was tied to Martinez, who did not receive a qualifying offer from L.A., in early December. The Blue Jays, Angels and Mets have also been tied to his market.
  • Jorge Soler: Soler, 32 next month, drilled 36 homers for the Marlins a season ago. His .250/.341/.512 showing was a huge improvement on the .207/.295/.400 mark he turned in during his first year in Miami. Soler made the easy call to decline a $13MM player option in search of a multi-year pact. The Marlins decided not to issue a QO and, according to the slugger, haven’t shown any interest in a reunion. While Soler is one of the sport’s streakiest hitters, he’s near the top of the league in raw power. He draws plenty of walks and trimmed his strikeouts to a managable 24.3% clip last season. Soler should find at least two guaranteed years and has an argument for a three-year pact. Arizona checked in on his market in early December. They’ve been joined by the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Mariners in that regard (although Seattle is probably out of the mix after signing Mitch Garver and reacquiring Mitch Haniger).
  • Justin Turner: Arizona has been linked to Turner in consecutive offseasons. Even at 39, he continues to produce at the plate. He’s coming off a .276/.345/.455 showing with 23 longballs in 626 trips to the dish for the Red Sox. His is a balanced offensive profile. He walks at an average rate, makes a decent amount of hard contact and remains very difficult to strike out (17.6% strikeout percentage last year). Turner is no longer capable of playing every day at third base, but he can factor in at either corner infield spot while logging the bulk of his at-bats at DH. Toronto, the incumbent Red Sox, and Mets have also been linked to him this winter.
  • Rhys Hoskins: Hoskins is the only player in this group to whom the D-Backs haven’t been connected. Perhaps he’s simply not interested in signing as a full-time designated hitter. With Christian Walker at first base, the Snakes would have to push Hoskins into a bat-only role on most days. If he’s open to that possibility, Hoskins makes sense as one of the more consistent offensive players still on the market. The longtime Phillie missed last year after tearing his ACL in Spring Training. Between 2019-22, he hit .240/.349/.479 in more than 2000 trips to the plate. Philadelphia did not issue him a qualifying offer.

Left-Handed Platoon Bats

  • Brandon Belt: While Arizona hasn’t been tied to Belt this offseason, that’s true of essentially everyone. There haven’t been any public revelations on his market despite his strong 2023 season in a platoon capacity for the Blue Jays. The longtime Giant hit .254/.369/.490 with 19 homers through 404 plate appearances. That came almost entirely against right-handed pitching, but he’s still a productive three-true-outcomes hitter when he holds the platoon advantage.
  • Joc Pederson: Last year wasn’t a great showing for Pederson, who hit .235/.348/.416 with 15 homers across 425 trips for the Giants. That’s not what San Francisco envisioned when extending him a near-$20MM qualifying offer last winter. Pederson won’t come close to that kind of salary this time around. Still, he’s only a year removed from a .274/.353/.521 line. Pederson continues to post hard contact rates near the top of the league and has five 20-homer seasons on his résumé.

Trade Possibilities

While Hazen indicated a free agent pursuit was likelier than a trade, they’re not going to close off the latter market entirely. If they don’t find an agreeable price point with any of their targets on the open market, there are a few speculative possibilities on the trade front.

  • Eloy Jiménez: Jiménez is a right-handed hitter who has flashed 30-homer power upside. His career has been interrupted by frequent injuries, including extended absences in 2021 and ’22 (for a ruptured pectoral tendon and a hamstring tendon tear, respectively). Last year was only the second time in his career that he surpassed 100 games. It was also among his least productive seasons, as he hit .272/.317/.441 with 18 homers through 489 plate appearances. Jiménez will make $13MM next year and is guaranteed a $3MM buyout on the first of two club options for 2025-26. The Sox reportedly haven’t found much interest on the trade market as a result.
  • Harold Ramírez: The Rays have floated Ramírez in trade discussions as a potential sell-high candidate. The 29-year-old had an impressive .313/.353/.460 showing last year. He’s up to a .306/.348/.432 slash in nearly 900 plate appearances since Tampa Bay acquired him on the eve of the 2022 season. That production is built around a batting average on balls in play above .350 as opposed to prototypical DH power. While that and an aggressive offensive approach could give some teams pause, he’s a high-contact righty hitter with gap power and the ability to take the ball to all fields. Ramírez is on track to go to an arbitration hearing with Tampa Bay to determine his 2024 salary. He filed at $4.3MM, while the team countered at $3.8MM. He’ll be eligible for arbitration once more after that.
  • Brent Rooker: Rooker, 29, turned in a career year for the A’s. Claimed off waivers from Kansas City last offseason, he popped 30 homers with a .246/.329/.488 showing in 526 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter posted excellent numbers against southpaws (.279/.354/.519) and acceptable production versus same-handed arms (.230/.316/.472). He struck out in nearly a third of his trips but tapped into the huge raw power that made him the 35th overall pick in the 2017 draft. Rooker is still a year from arbitration and under club control for four seasons. The A’s don’t have any urgency to trade him, but they probably wouldn’t consider him a core piece of their long-term rebuild given his age and defensive limitations.

AL Notes: Angels, Tigers, Yankees

By | at

According to Robert Murray of FanSided, the Angels had interest in center fielders Kevin Kiermaier and Harrison Bader before they signed with the Blue Jays and Mets, respectively. The news isn’t necessarily a surprise given the club’s reported interest in bolstering the club’s outfield mix with the likes of Michael A. Taylor and Adam Duvall. Taylor, in particular, fills a similar role to Bader and Kiermaier as a glove-first outfield option who offers a plus glove in center field and roughly league average offense.

That being said, both Bader and Kiermaier are elite defensive center fielders who have received at least semi-regular playing time throughout their careers. Given their status as regulars best suited for center field, the Angels’ interest in the duo is noteworthy even in spite of the fact that both players have already signed elsewhere, as it could indicate a willingness to move franchise face and future Hall of Famer Mike Trout out of center field. Trout, 32, has logged nearly 93% of his 12207 1/3 career innings on the outfield grass in center, and his glovework has continued to rate well even as he enters his 30s with +3 Outs Above Average in 82 games last year.

Despite his solid defense and lengthy track record at the position, rumors of the Angels moving Trout out of center field have been floated somewhat regularly in recent years, dating back to 2022 when former Angels skipper Joe Maddon told reporters that the club was considering playing Brandon Marsh as the club’s regular center fielder. Moving Trout to a corner or even DH isn’t without logic; after all, he’s seen his star fade somewhat in recent years due to a rash of injuries that left him to play just 237 games in the last three season, or less than half of the Angels’ contests in that time. While Trout appears as capable of handling the position as ever when on the field, it’s possible moving down the defensive spectrum could allow him to stay healthier and remain on the field for the Halos going forward.

More from around the American League…

  • Longtime Tigers slugger J.D. Martinez is currently a free agent after a rebound season with the Dodgers where he crushed 33 home runs in just 113 games. Earlier in his career, Martinez spent three and a half seasons in Detroit and found great success with the club as he slashed .300/.361/.551 with 99 homers in 458 games during his tenure with the Tigers. With Detroit on the rise after finishing second in the AL Central last year, adding a power bat like Martinez to the club’s lineup could make some sense, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand indicates that the club is “believed to have some interest” in a reunion with the veteran slugger. With that said, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press pumped the breaks on a rumored connection between Martinez and the Tigers today, saying the club has not expressed interest in the veteran’s services this offseason with Kerry Carpenter penciled in as the club’s everyday DH.
  • The Yankees have hired Pat Roessler as their newest assistant hitting coach, according to a report from Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media. Roessler has previously served as hitting coach for both the Expos and the Mets, and his stay in Queens coincided with the club’s NL pennant-winning season back in 2015. Roessler’s most recent role was as assistant hitting coach for the Nationals, though the sides parted ways earlier this offseason as the Nats overhauled their coaching staff. Earlier this offseason, the Yankees added James Rowson as their hitting coach and tapped Brad Ausmus to replace new Mets manager Carlos Mendoza as the club’s bench coach.

Free Agent Faceoff: Jorge Soler/J.D. Martinez

By | at

While the current free agent market for position players has generally been seen as one of the weaker ones in recent memory, there is one area where this winter’s crop has notable depth: right-handed sluggers. That market, at which Teoscar Hernandez resides as the clear top option this winter, is typically deepest at the lower levels of free agency. This season’s crop certainly has some depth at that level as well, with the likes of Adam Duvall and Tommy Pham currently available. The middle of the free agent market is where this group stands out, however. Mitch Garver has already landed with the Mariners on a two-year deal, with first baseman Rhys Hoskins and veteran infielder Justin Turner among the other options still available.

Two of the best regarded players in this part of the market are sluggers Jorge Soler and J.D. Martinez. Both are primarily used as designated hitters and are coming off strong platform campaigns that saw them rebound from down performances in the previous three campaigns. Both have flashed 40-homer power in their careers previously, and both project for a similar guarantee this offseason: in our annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, MLBTR projected Soler for three years and $45MM guaranteed while Martinez projected for two years and $40MM.

Martinez sports the stronger platform campaign, having slugged 33 home runs in just 479 trips to the plate while slashing .271/.321/.572 with a wRC+ of 135. The veteran slugger also has the more prestigious track record as a six-time All Star who finished fourth in AL MVP voting back in 2018. Since Martinez broke out as a member of the Tigers back in 2014, he’s slashed an impressive .293/.359/.550 while never posting a below-average wRC+ in a full season. During that time, only Manny Machado, Mike Trout, and Nolan Arenado have slugged more homers than Martinez among active players, and his 140 wRC+ during that time ranks 12th among all active players. By contrast, Soler’s career-high wRC+ falls short of that impressive 140 mark and Soler has often interspersed seasons closer to league average between his All Star-caliber peaks.

That being said, Soler has some notable advantages of his own. Most obviously, he’s entering his age-32 campaign, while Martinez turned 36 back in August. That four year age gap also leaves Soler as less of a risk to suffer age-related decline over the course of his next contract. Teams could be particularly concerned about Martinez’s durability after he missed over a month with back and groin issues in 2023, causing him to appear in just 113 games for the Dodgers last season. On the other hand, of course, Soler missed the entire second half of the 2022 season due to a pelvis injury, though he was largely healthy this past season.

Aside from his relative youth and better health in 2023, Soler is among the most reliable players in the game when it comes to drawing walks, as demonstrated by his 11% walk rate since the start of the 2016 season. In fact, Soler is one of just 13 players to post a walk rate over 10% in each of the past eight seasons. That’s a list that does not include Martinez, who last posted a walk rate at that level back in 2019. That steady demonstration of plate discipline also highlights the fact that Soler’s strikeout rate has steadily improved in recent years, even as Martinez’s has begun to balloon.

While Soler’s career strikeout rate of 26.7% is two points higher than Martinez’s own career mark of 24.7%, they’ve been trending in opposite directions. Soler struck out at a career 27.9% clip through the end of the shortened 2020 season, while Martinez sported a strikeout rate of 24.2%. Over the past three seasons, however, Martinez has actually struck out more often than Soler with a 26% strikeout rate against Soler’s 25.1% figure.

Much of that has to do with the 2023 campaign, where Martinez struck out in a career-high 31.1% of plate appearances while Soler’s own 24.3% rate was the second-lowest of his career. While that shift toward whiffs has allowed Martinez to access more of his previous prodigious power after a down season in 2022 that saw him slug just 16 home runs, it’s fair to wonder if some clubs may prefer Soler’s more balanced approach to Martinez’s pure power profile, even as the veteran slugger outperformed Soler by nine points of wRC+ in 2023.

While that may not be enough to make Soler a more attractive target than Martinez, one elephant in the room that has not yet been addressed is defense. Soler’s glove leaves much to be desired, as demonstrated by his -5 Outs Above Average in right field this year and his -29 figure in the outfield since the start of the 2016 season. While Soler’s defense doesn’t offer much value to teams, it can’t be ignored that he is at least capable of playing a corner outfield spot on a semi-regular basis, something that cannot be said for Martinez.

The veteran slugger last appeared regularly on the grass back in 2017, when he was a member of the Diamondbacks before NL teams had access to the DH. By contrast, Soler has made 182 starts in the outfield corners over the past three seasons, more than half of the games he’s appeared in during that time. Even as Soler is far from a quality defender in the outfield, Martinez lacks the ability to play the outfield on more than an emergency basis at this stage of his career, complicating his fit for teams that already have a player on the roster who receives semi-frequent starts at DH or even simply prefer to use the DH as a way to rest regulars throughout the season.

Given the pair’s many similarities, it’s hardly a surprise that the two sluggers have somewhat overlapping markets this winter. Both have been directly to connected to the Mariners and Diamondbacks this offseason, while the Mets, Angels, and Blue Jays are all also known to have at least some interest in adding a bat-first slugger to their lineups this offseason. Martinez has generally been connected to those latter teams more frequently than Soler, though both players figure to be fits for each of the aforementioned teams this offseason to say nothing of clubs like the Marlins and Brewers who have not yet been connected to this area of the market but would surely benefit from another bat-first player in the lineup.

So, which one do you think teams should prioritize? Is Martinez’s lengthy track record and unparalleled power potential too enticing to pass up, or does Soler’s youth, ability to play defense, and more balanced approach in recent years outweigh those considerations?

Blue Jays Looking To Add Bat-First Players, Have “Strong Interest” In Joc Pederson

By | at

After missing out on both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto despite finishing as finalists for both stars, the Blue Jays have recently pivoted to smaller moves than the blockbusters they were contemplating earlier in the offseason. They’ve re-signed center fielder Kevin Kiermaier and added utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa to their infield mix over the past week and a recent report regarded the club as the leaders for the services of right-hander Yariel Rodriguez. According to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, the club has also continued to be active in the positional market since signing Kiermaier and Kiner-Falefa, showing strong interest in free agent slugger Joc Pederson.

Pederson, who MLBTR’s Leo Morgenstern profiled just this morning, is coming off something of a down season with the Giants in 2023. The 31-year-old got off to a scorching hot start this past season with a .281/.394/.518 (150 wRC+) slash line through June 17, though that stretch accounted for just 137 plate appearances as the slugger battled wrist and hand injuries early in the season. While Pederson managed to avoid the injured list throughout the remainder of the season, his performance declined significantly throughout the remainder of the campaign. In 288 trips to the plate from June 18 onward, Pederson hit a meager .213/.326/.369 (92 wRC+), a performance that dragged his overall season line down to .235/.348/.416 (111 wRC+). While Pederson’s 20.8% strikeout rate and 12.8% walk rate were more or less in line with his earlier production, Pederson’s BABIP shrunk from .317 to just .247 while his power production suffered a simultaneously dip.

After crushing seven home runs in just 36 games early in the season, Pederson’s final 85 appearances saw him hit just eight round-trippers. Interestingly, the disparity in production came with similar peripheral numbers; Pederson had the same groundball percentage of 39.5% both before and after the aforementioned June 17 cutoff, and his soft contact rate actually went down from 12.8% to 10.8% the rest of the way. Given the minimal change in Pederson’s peripherals regarding batted balls and plate discipline, it’s seemingly fair to expect improved performance in 2024, particularly if he moves to a more homer-friendly park outside of San Francisco. That conclusion is further supported by Pederson’s excellent .368 xwOBA, which outstrips his wOBA by 37 points and is a mirror image of the .367 xwOBA he posted during his dominant 2022 campaign.

If Pederson can even come close to replicating his 2022 season, where he slashed an excellent .271/.353/.521 (146 wRC+) en route to his second career All Star campaign, he’d be an excellent fit for a Blue Jays roster short on left-handed bats following the departure of Brandon Belt, who posted a 138 wRC+ in 103 games this year as the club’s primary DH. Though Pederson primarily played DH in 2023 due to an outfield logjam in San Francisco, the slugger could also help to take some pressure off of Daulton Varsho in left field after a difficult 2023 season. The addition of Pederson would go along way to improving a Toronto offense that underperformed somewhat in 2023 and has since lost both Belt and Matt Chapman to free agency.

Of course, it’s important to note that Nicholson-Smith suggests that things are far from a done deal between the two sides, with the Diamondbacks, Angels, Giants, and Cubs all standing as other potential suitors (though the Cubs, Nicholson-Smith notes, may only have interest should they fail to re-sign Cody Bellinger). Likewise, the Blue Jays are interested in plenty of potential bat-first options beyond Pederson, with Nicholson-Smith name-checking each of Rhys Hoskins, J.D. Martinez, Joey Votto, and Justin Turner. Nicholson-Smith goes on to suggest that a deal with Pederson wouldn’t preclude the Jays from adding a second player from that mold, though it’s worth noting that with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. entrenched at first base only Justin Turner has recent experience elsewhere on the diamond, meaning Pederson would likely need to play the outfield on a regular basis in that scenario.

Mets, Angels Interested In J.D. Martinez

By | at

The Mets and Angels are “eyeing” J.D. Martinez, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Heyman had previously floated both clubs as speculative fits for Martinez but this report seems to point to something with a bit more backing.

Martinez, now 36, was also a free agent last winter. He eventually signed with the Dodgers for one year and $10MM, though he later suggested he could have found more money if he held out a bit longer. “This was an offer that came up seeing if it was something I was interested in doing,” Martinez said in March to Rob Bradford of WEEI. “Obviously, it was a little bit of a pay cut, but if I held up maybe I could have gotten more. We were confident about that. But at the same time I wanted a team that was going to be in October, be in the swing of things all year and give me a chance to win.”

It also allowed him to reunite with Robert Van Scoyoc, the Dodgers hitting coach who previously made Martinez into a premium major league hitter. Joining the Dodgers and reuniting with Van Scoyoc went very well, as Martinez ended up having a strong season. He hit 33 home runs and slashed .271/.321/.572 for a wRC+ of 135, with both that home run tally and the wRC+ figure his personal best since 2019.

Despite all of that, a reunion with the Dodgers is not in the cards. The club didn’t issue him a qualifying offer because they wanted to keep their designated hitter slot open for a pursuit of Shohei Ohtani. Now that they have successfully added Ohtani to the roster, there’s no real way to fit Martinez into their plans. He’s capable of playing the outfield on occasion but logged just 12 innings there this year and none at all in 2022.

Martinez will thus be looking for a club that can accommodate a full-time DH. The Blue Jays and Diamondbacks are two clubs that are open to such an addition and both have been connected to Martinez in rumors, but the Angels and Mets are also viable landing spots.

For the Halos, they have been using their DH slot on Ohtani in recent years. Now that he’s heading to the Dodgers, that spot is open for someone new. They will be facing the challenge of trying to build a competitive team without Ohtani, something they weren’t able to do with him. Martinez is one of the few available free agents that can come close to making up for Ohtani’s lost offensive production.

Though there are reasons why he may not be a perfect fit. Having Ohtani locked into the DH spot in recent years has prevented the club from using that role to give other players a breather. They have several players on the roster with injury concerns, such as Anthony Rendon, Mike Trout and Taylor Ward, who could perhaps benefit from more semi rest days. The Angels would have to weigh the value of adding Martinez to the lineup against that loss of flexibility. On top of that, the current squad skews right-handed. Luis Rengifo is a switch-hitter and then Mickey Moniak and Nolan Schanuel are lefties, but the other projected regulars are all righties.

If they did decide to make a play for him, they should have plenty of room in the budget. Their competitive balance tax figure is currently at $168MM for next year, per Roster Resource. That puts them almost $70MM below the lowest tax threshold of $237MM. MLBTR predicted Martinez for a contract of $40MM over two years, an average annual value of $20MM. The Angels also have some work to do in addressing their pitching staff but there’s space for a Martinez deal if they want to do it.

For the Mets, their regular DH this year was Daniel Vogelbach, though he was non-tendered after a somewhat middling campaign. That leaves their best internal option for the DH spot as DJ Stewart, who shouldn’t stand in the way of someone like Martinez. He finished 2023 on a heater, hitting 11 home runs in 58 games after having his contract selected in July. However, he has been inconsistent in his career, having hit .213/.327/.400 prior to 2023 for a wRC+ of 99. He can play the outfield but is considered a poor defender. He had to settle for a minor league deal last winter, though his hot finish to 2023 led the Mets to tender him a $1.38MM contract for 2024. If Martinez were to be brought aboard, Stewart could be nudged into a part-time role as a platoon guy/pinch-hitter.

Since Martinez will be limited to a short-term deal on account of his age, that could fit with the Mets and their current approach. They are treating 2024 as a sort of transition year, with the aim of having a greater chance at contending in 2025 and beyond. That doesn’t mean they are overly concerned about the budget, however. Their CBT figure is currently pegged at $298MM by Roster Resource, already above the fourth tax line of $297MM. They took on money in the Adrian Houser/Tyrone Taylor deal and have given modest guarantees on one-year deals to Luis Severino, Joey Wendle, Jorge López, Austin Adams and Michael Tonkin.

As a third-time payor that is over the final CBT tier, any additional spending from the Mets would come with a massive 110% tax. But the tax bill for the year isn’t calculated until the end of the season. If they end up out of contention again, they may end up selling off pieces prior to the 2024 deadline. Pete Alonso, José Quintana and Severino are impending free agents making eight figures next year, and Martinez could potentially be on that list as well.

The Mets have also shown a willingness to eat money in deadline deals in order to improve the prospect return, doing so in both the Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander trades a few months back. If the club decides Martinez is a good fit for the roster and could perhaps be a nice trade chip by the summer, they would likely fork over the money to get him signed.

Whether that’s something Martinez would be interested in is a different matter. As quoted up top, he chose the Dodgers in part for the chance to be playing in October. Both the Mets and Angels are less clear-cut contenders right now than the Dodgers were a year ago. On the other hand, the Diamondbacks are coming off a World Series appearance while the Jays have made the postseason in three of the past four seasons, giving those clubs stronger cases to pitch to Martinez in terms of competitive chances. Though it’s unknown what kind of financial arrangements each club is willing to consider, which will undoubtedly be a factor in his decision making as well.

Blue Jays Have Interest In J.D. Martinez

By | at

As they look for ways to bolster their lineup this winter, the Blue Jays have some interest in veteran slugger J.D. Martinez, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com wrote this week.

Toronto has a clear opening at designated hitter now that Shohei Ohtani has chosen to sign with the Dodgers, and Martinez would fill that role quite capably. The former Tigers, D-backs, Red Sox and Dodgers slugger is coming off a resurgent .271/.321/.572 batting line with Los Angeles, where he belted 33 home runs in just 479 trips to the plate. Martinez’s rebound in the power department was accompanied by a career-worst 31.3% strikeout rate, which is alarming for a 36-year-old bat-only player, but the 2023 production was undeniably excellent.

Martinez would effectively be replacing Brandon Belt, who enjoyed a productive season as the Jays’ primary designated hitter but comes with greater platoon splits. Belt, as he’s done throughout most of his peak, crushed right-handed pitching but was a non-factor against lefties (.235/.308/.265 in 39 plate appearances). Martinez, meanwhile, tormented both left-handers (.274/.343/.581) and right-handers (.270/.312/.569) alike.

The Jays currently project for a $203MM payroll, per Roster Resource, which clocks in about $11MM shy of their 2023 end-of-season mark. They’ll be in franchise-record payroll territory even if they don’t make any other additions, thanks largely to arbitration increases for Guerrero, Varsho, Jansen and others. That said, the Jays’ pursuits of Ohtani and Juan Soto, plus their reported interest in Yoshinobu Yamamoto and other free agents indicate that ownership is comfortable adding to the payroll. Martinez’s age likely caps him at a two-year deal (if not a one-year pact), which should only increase his appeal to a win-now club like Toronto.

It’s not an ideal fit between the two parties, as Martinez would give the Jays yet another right-handed bat in a lineup that’s already lacking lefty hitters. Daulton Varsho figures to slide over to center field if free agent Kevin Kiermaier signs elsewhere, and the lineup doesn’t have any other everyday players who bat from the left side. Cavan Biggio and outfielder Nathan Lukes could get some looks, as could infield prospect Addison Barger, but the vast majority of the lineup consists of right-handed bats: Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen and Davis Schneider.

The Jays could still sign Martinez and bring in a different left-handed bat to help balance out the lineup. Cody Bellinger is the top free-agent outfield option, but the trade market includes names like Max Kepler and switch-hitter Dylan Carlson (to say nothing of the Giants’ glut of lefty-swinging outfielders that are increasingly redundant following their signing of Jung Hoo Lee). To call the free-agent market for left-handed-hitting infielders “bleak” would be an understatement, but the trade market again poses plenty of alternatives — switch-hitting Jorge Polanco perhaps chief among them. In addition to the Twins, both the Cardinals and Reds have potential infield surpluses from which they could deal.

Latest On J.D. Martinez’s Market

By | at

Among the top free agents on the market his offseason, one could argue that no player has had his market impacted more by the presence of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani than veteran slugger J.D. Martinez. After all, the Dodgers declined to extend Martinez a qualifying offer last month despite interest in a reunion due to the complications that would arise if the club landed both Martinez and Ohtani. With Ohtani now signed in LA on a record-shattering $700MM deal, its hard to imagine the Dodgers-Martinez reunion both sides appeared to have interest in coming together. To that end, Jon Heyman of the New York Post provided an update regarding Martinez’s market, suggesting that the Angels, Mariners, Mets and Diamondbacks could be among the teams in play for his services now that he’s unlikely to return to Chavez Ravine. Among that group, only Arizona had previously been connected to the veteran slugger this winter.

The Angels certainly make plenty of sense as a suitor for Martinez now that they know Ohtani won’t be returning to Anaheim in 2024. After all, the club has made it clear they have no plans to launch a rebuild this offseason as the club dismissed speculation that Ohtani’s impending departure could lead to a trade of Mike Trout this offseason. With Ohtani moving on in 2024 and a 2023 record of just 73-89, the club has a lot of work to do if it hopes to compete for a playoff spot next season.

Of course, improved health from the likes of Trout, Logan O’Hoppe and Anthony Rendon could represent internal avenues toward improvement, but it’s hard to imagine the Angels competing without an external offensive addition to help mitigate the loss of Ohtani. Martinez, who slashed .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs and a 135 wRC+ last season, was outclassed only by Ohtani and Marcell Ozuna among regulars at DH last season and would go a long way toward filling the offensive hole left by Ohtani.

As for the Mariners, the addition of Martinez would surely benefit a lineup that has lost Teoscar Hernandez, Jarred Kelenic, Eugenio Suarez, and Mike Ford this offseason without a clear everyday replacement for any of those bats. What’s more, the club has shed plenty of payroll this offseason and has previously been connected to fellow righty slugger Jorge Soler this offseason. Martinez, 36, posted a stronger offensive season than the 31-year-old Soler in 2023 and could potentially be a more impactful addition to Seattle’s lineup next season.

With that being said, the Mariners have made clear their desire to improve their lineup’s contact skills headed into 2024, and Soler’s 25.7% strikeout rate figures to be much more palatable than Martinez’s 31.4% mark last season. What’s more, while MLBTR projected Soler for a $45MM guarantee that clocks in higher than Martinez’s $40MM figure on our annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, it’s worth noting that Soler’s relative youth could allow him to secure a longer contract than Martinez, which would tamp down the average annual value of the deal and potentially allow the Mariners to more room in their budget for further offensive additions.

The Mets are perhaps the most curious fit for Martinez among the listed teams. While the club received a mediocre 100 wRC+ from their DH slot (the 12th-worst figure in the majors) last season and subsequently parted ways with Daniel Vogelbach at the non-tender deadline last month, it’s worth noting that the club has plenty of young bats such as Mark Vientos and Brett Baty who could command playing time next season and that adding a 36-year-old DH to a club that’s more focused on the future than 2024 may not be the best use of the club’s resources. On the other hand, the only Mets regulars to post above-average seasons by measure of wRC+ last season who will remain with the club in 2024 are Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Brandon Nimmo. Adding the bat of Martinez to the middle of the club’s lineup next season would add some much-needed offensive firepower and help the club compete in what is shaping up to be the final year before Alonso heads into free agency next winter.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top