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.
I’d like him to play in Syracuse.
bj – As long as JD sticks with Boras and his inflated demands, a minor league contract could indeed be in his future.
Sorry I have to disagree with Darragh’s belief that JD had a decent season. A .725 OPS for a strictly DH is poor, in fact he had the worst production of all eleven players who DH’ed for a minimum of 400 PA’s.
Good for mr 900 ops going out and proving why teams didn’t want him.
Back to Detroit?
Not unless you want to pay for him. Illitch already spent more than he wanted to this year.
Paychguy is digging into petty cash as you type.
They have guys to fill the DH spot at a fraction of the cost for the same level of production.
It’s the whole fork, done thing. Ahahahahaha!
Wow.
Buster Posey will give him 20 mil.
DDC: Unless I missed something, your comment makes no sense. Buster has done a nice job so far and has no need for Martinez at any cost. They aren’t interested in a DH only player at this point.
330 million for Chapman and Adames isn’t something to brag about.
Martinez said last year he wouldn’t sign with the Giants because in that park he would only hit 20 home runs and be out of the league in a year. LMAO
We all have to be gainfully employed some way or another
Do we?
The days of the strictly DH are all but gone.
I think they will still find work, it’s just a bit tougher because it does mess wirth your flexibility. However, a lot of teams try to get too cute with their “flexibility” and give too many at bats to guys who have no business starting.. I’d rather have a stronger lineup with a strict DH than a weaker but deep lineup where you have to constantly shuffle guys around and play matchups.
Hanging on a bit still. 10 11 or 12. Used to be only 14 or 15 of them for decades! So still double digits ain’t bad!
Ohtani Ozuna Soler McCutchen Schwarber Stanton Suzuki Yoshida Pederson Alvarez Rooker Devers Soto
Texas – I disagree. The game will always have aging players who lose their fielding ability but can still hit well.
And as ridiculously long contracts become more and more common, players such as Soto and Machado will inevitably complete the tail end of their contracts as a DH.
@Fever you have a really good point there.
Yup, just put them at third like the Red Sox
The 2030 Padres will be full of DHs in the field
Pinochle?
dude should probably dedicate himself to learning some first base and trying to stay healthy enough to play at least some semi-regular outfield if he wants to keep getting gigs … a DH-only bat that’s not elite is hard to justify these days
Dude had 900 ops in 2023!!!!
But it’s 2025 and he’s 37 now. And he had a .725 ops last year. Not good enough for a guy who doesn’t play a position and doesn’t have a lot of power anymore.
JD is still a good hitter, but DH only in their mid 30’s isn’t going to get a lot of offers, especially multi-year offers. If he wants to keep playing he is going to have to get used to waiting the market out and playing on one year deals. Patience JD.
Actually, he’s not a good hitter anymore. Age has caught up with him.
I’d take him on the Mariners and eat Haniger’s contract. I know, it’s not my money, but he’s still a threat at the plate. How much would he cost? $10 million? Worth it.
Mariners were the first team to come to mind for me at this point.
5 million might get him at this point. DH 140 games for m’s. Unload haniger, garver, SP Castillo and a back 25 level prospect for 2B Nico. Call it a day. That upgrades our lineup substantially and all we spend is 15 mil as opposed to 23 M+ for Castillo alone.
No one seems to be answering the phone on Haniger’s bad contract, let alone Garver’s. And Hoerner is injured, isn’t he? Might as well keep Garver anyway as a backup catcher. If Haniger’s contract is going to be traded, it’s likelier it’s with half the value in cash and for low level returns. Just sign JD and let it go at that.
$10 million for a designated hitter who can’t hit anymore?
JD’s issue is that he can’t play a full season. After 2 or 3 months he gets tired out and becomes ineffective. Did this with the Mets and Dodgers the past 2 seasons. I would try and sign him mid season for a playoff push. He comes out of the gate hot. His body just can’t hold up 162 games anymore
Heyman trying to pump up another Boras client. I didn’t really subscribe to that argument before, but it’s becoming obvious even to me. JD did OK with Boston a few years ago, but he’s just not that useful anymore, unfortunately.
Pump him up for whom? GM’s couldn’t care less about any of that.
Speaking of another dh, what do you think ozuna’s market will look like next off-season and do you think the braves would bring him back if he has another season like his past two? He’s seemingly put his personal issues behind him and he’s been on a whole other level with his production of late. He’s the second best DH in the NL and possibly the entire league behind only ohtani. Is he looking at a raise from his 16 million dollar salary this year, and will he be stuck signing a 1-2 year deal, or would somebody be willing to go 3 or more? Me personally even with him being a DH only player if this season is as productive as his past two I’d definitely want the braves to bring him back. 40 HR 100 rbi bats don’t just grow on trees. Without his bat in the lineup the braves don’t even sniff the wild card. Plus he even garnered down ballot MVP votes. He will definitely be a big free agency story next off-season and I’d love to have somebody else’s opinion on this!
Isn’t he pretty old now? If he has another season like the last two, I can see the winning bid be 2 years. I don’t think he’ll get 3 tho. If he hits 40 and 100 again, he’ll probably get a top notch AAV. Especially if he accepted a year.
If Ozuna hits like last season his market will be there. He’s not getting a massive contract but 4/$80-100 million is not out of the question
4 might be a bit too long considering his age, but I could see a team offering 3 years. If his AAV pushes past 20 mil per count the braves out.
Due to his off field history, if the Braves make a reasonable offer, he should really consider it. The fans seem to be over it in Atlanta, and that might not be the case elsewhere.
He looked brutal in the second half and playoffs. He was late on everything for 2 months.
JD may plan on playing this season but he needs someone to give him that opportunity. Best odds, go to a team like the Marlins for dirt cheap, hit, and be traded to a contender. If he insists on location and/or playing for a contender than he probably doesn’t get the chance
Not related to his plans for 2025, but while I don’t see JD as HOFer, this dude has kinda low key had a really, really good career. .283 BA with an .863 OPS, and a 131 OPS+ are dope numbers. 330 HR. 30 WAR and 6 all-star games. Hits are kinda low, but he does have 600 walks to make a career .348 OBP. Couple all this together with a WS ring and 150 million in earnings, and I’d say dude has done pretty good for a guy who didn’t get 500 ABs in a season until 27.
I like J.D. I hope he finds a reasonably good fit on a successful team.
I’m sure he wants to play but when you are designated hitter who can’t hit anymore and you’re in your late 30s, the sport will make the decision for you that it’s time to retire.
His bat has slowed….and the league knows it.