The free agent market’s greatest designated hitter this facet of Shohei Ohtani has discovered a brand new house.
After a potent return-to-form final season, J.D. Martinez signed a 1-year, $12-million cope with the New York Mets on Thursday, pending a bodily, league sources mentioned. MLB Community insider Jon Heyman was first to report the information.
With the addition, the Mets had been rewarded for his or her persistence, figuring out the slugger as a goal early within the offseason earlier than ready for his value to drop. Martinez offers an influence risk behind Pete Alonso within the Mets’ lineup that New York has longed for. The Mets entered spring coaching with Mark Vientos, an unproven younger participant, as their DH, however Martinez’s value level turned too good to cross up.
Whereas Alonso spent the majority of his video games batting cleanup final season, the Mets’ No. 5 batters produced .652 OPS, higher solely than the Detroit Tigers (.639) and Oakland A’s (.620). Additionally, the Mets’ DHs generated a feeble .700 OPS; solely 5 groups obtained worse manufacturing from the place.
Martinez, 36, was essentially the most completed hitter on the free agent market. He doesn’t have Ohtani’s all-around sport, or his most up-to-date accomplishments, however he does have three Silver Sluggers and 6 All-Star alternatives, together with the previous three seasons in a row. Since his offensive breakout in 2014, Martinez has performed 10 years with a .908 OPS (which is simply barely larger than the profession OPS marks of Mike Schmidt, Ken Griffey Jr., and Gary Sheffield).
Age and nagging accidents — particularly in his again — have all however eradicated Martinez’s potential to play the sector, however he’s continued to hit into his mid-30s. Final yr with the Los Angeles Dodgers he had an .893 OPS, which might have been Eleventh-best in baseball if he had sufficient at-bats to qualify. His OPS+ (134) and wRC+ (135) final season had been larger than any of this winter’s free brokers aside from Ohtani. The Athletic’s Massive Board ranked him the Twenty fourth-best participant and Eleventh-best place participant available on the market.
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J.D. Martinez brings his hitting evangelism to the Dodgers: ‘Simply gotta preserve doing it’
The Dodgers, who signed Martinez to a one-year, $10-million contract final winter, declined to provide him a qualifying supply this offseason, which means his signing comes with out the lack of a draft decide.
The upside with Martinez is clear. Though his 31.1-percent strikeout fee was the best of his profession — and his 7.1-percent stroll fee the bottom — he continued to mash final season. His hard-hit share, barrel share and common exit velocity had been within the 98th percentile of all huge league hitters, in accordance with Statcast.
The draw back is that Martinez performed solely 113 video games final yr, and the previous two years he’s performed solely 112 innings within the area. He missed time final season with decrease again tightness and a groin damage, which hounded him for weeks earlier than he lastly went on the I.L. in late August. When he returned, he was pretty much as good as ever, hitting eight house runs in his ultimate 21 video games of the season. He homered once more within the Division Collection. The season as a complete was an enormous bounce again from 2022, when Martinez’s nagging again clearly wore on him within the second half and he slugged simply .400 after the All-Star break.
On the time, such a disappointing end at age 35 appeared to counsel Martinez is perhaps on the finish of his elite peak. Largely unheralded as a Twentieth-round draft decide, Martinez was launched by the Houston Astros in March of 2014. On the time, he had an 88 OPS+ by way of three years of underwhelming part-time responsibility within the huge leagues.
In a matter of days, he latched on with the Tigers and virtually instantly proved himself as an offensive drive. An early devotee of the launch angle revolution, Martinez had a .912 OPS his first yr with the Tigers, then made his first All-Star workforce the subsequent yr. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in July 2017 and delivered an epic second half with 29 house runs and a 1.107 OPS in 62 video games.
In 2018, Martinez signed a five-year cope with the Boston Pink Sox and proved to be the ultimate piece of a championship roster. He made the All-Star workforce 4 out of 5 years in Boston earlier than proving himself in Los Angeles, reaching the free-agent market as soon as once more as a significant offensive improve.
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(Prime photograph: Joe Camporeale / USA At the moment)