The Dodgers agreed to a one-year contract with JD MartinezReporting by Robert Murray from FanSided (Twitter link), waiting for the material. John Hyman of the New York Post Reports indicate that Martinez will earn $10 million. Martinez is represented by the Boras Company.
There hasn’t been much public fanfare about Martinez’s trip through free agency, as there was earlier today, Another Heyman report On the possibility that the Red Sox may have an interest in re-signing, the veteran was the first team associated with Martinez since he hit the open market. While Martinez didn’t have many well-known suitors, the Dodgers have been quietly operating, as ESPN’s Jeff Bassan says. Tweets This is Los AngelesMartinez targeted early in free agency.According Fabien Ardaya the athleteThe Dodgers also had an interest in Martinez before the previous summer’s trade deadline.
Martinez will now end up in Los Angeles after all, and is reunited with some familiar faces. Former Red Sox teammate Mookie Pets He is now a fixture in Dodger Stadium, of course, and Martinez It has a long history With Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc. It was Martinez’s work with Van Scoyoc in the 2013-2014 season that helped get his career on track, and Martinez has turned into one of baseball’s best catchers of the last decade.
Since those first fateful sessions with Van Scoyoc and Craig Wallenbrock, Martinez has hit .295/.362/.547 with 258 homers over 4,916 appearances with the Tigers, Diamondbacks and Red Sox. That production led to five All-Star appearances, three Silver Slugger Awards, a lead role on Boston’s 2018 World Series championship team, and one big free agent day payout in the form of Martinez’s five-year, $110 million contract with the Red Sox in 2017-18 offseason.
It was a distant 2020 season for Martinez, as he struggled badly in the shortened season and was open about how COVID-19 dugout protocols interrupted his normal routine. With that year perhaps only a write-off due to unusual circumstances, 2022 marked the first sign of Martinez’s production declining, even if his 119 wRC+ over 596 PA was well above the league average. Martinez still hit .274/.341/.448, but his homers total (16), power-offs number (.174) and slugging percentage were all regulation-volume season lows since 2013. Additionally, Martinez was the hardest-hit declining His percentage fell sharply from his career standards, even if his 41.7% total was still in the 60th percentile for all batters.
On paper, moving from Fenway Park to Dodger Stadium isn’t ideal for a player looking to pick up steam. However, the change of scenery and reunion with Van Scuyuk makes Martinez an interesting running back candidate for 2023. Even if he “just” has another season in the neighborhood 119 wRC+, the Dodgers will happily do this kind of offense. Upgrade within the already lost lineup Tria Turner And the Cody Bellinger for free agency.
2022 marked the first season that Martinez played exclusively as a designated hitter, and this will certainly be his primary role in Los Angeles even if he picks up the gauntlet for the occasional appearance as a cornerback. Martinez doesn’t bring the defensive versatility the Dodgers usually favor, but the club has enough other versatile players that overall roster flexibility won’t be affected much by Martinez getting the bulk of his DH at-bats. Max Muncie It will now mostly switch between second and third base, with Chris Taylor Also capable of playing any position or prospect Miguel Vargas in line for more playing time at third base. Gavin Luxmeanwhile, is slated to move from second base to replace Turner as the daily shortstop.
Martinez’s addition creates an obvious question as to whether or not he is a free agent Justin Turner He played his last game in a Dodger blue. Hey man Tweets That the Dodgers are still interested in Turner, who has also attracted interest from teams like the Marlins and Diamondbacks this winter. If Turner is re-signed, Los Angeles could field Turner at third base, moving Muncy to second base and keeping Taylor primarily as an outfielder. Vargas would be the odd man out in that scenario, though the Dodgers might prefer to either bring him in slowly, or rely on more experienced players as the club chases another World Series ring.
naturally, There was also a feeling That the Dodgers are willing to count more than usual on Vargas and other newcomers in 2023, given how the team might look to fall below the $233 million competitive tax credit threshold. Martinez’s $10 million salary brings the Dodgers’ tax figure to nearly $210.3 million, according to list resource. It still leaves LA with more room to spend, however Trevor BauerHis appeal of his two-year suspension looms, with the ruling expected to rule on the appeal sometime before the end of January. If the Dodgers were to end up paying some or all of the two years of salary that were eliminated due to Bauer’s suspension, it could put them near or above the CBT line again.
To that end, Martinez’s contract is relatively inexpensive enough to not necessarily be a hint either way as to how the Dodgers will feel the referee is going to rule. With that attraction continuing as an X-factor for the rest of the Dodgers’ winter business, they may have felt the investment in Martinez was still worth making, given his charisma and comeback potential.
The one-year length is also somewhat notable, as is the MLBTR projected Martinez to a two-year, $30 million contract. Martinez could have agreed to the shorter deal in order to play for a competitor and reunite with Bates and the Van Squeuke, or he and agent Scott Boras could view this as something of a pillow contract. If and when Martinez bounces back from his 2022 season, that would put Martinez in line for a larger multi-year deal next winter, even as he enters his 36-year-old season. The Dodgers haven’t signed a player to a multi-year deal this winter, like Martinez, Noah SyndergaardAnd the Shelby Millerand re-sign Clayton Kershaw Only signed by the 2023 campaign.
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