JD Martinez With March on the way, the 37-year-old is well off the Mets but a good season, still looking for a new contract. The teams associated with Martinez don’t have any public buzz, but the New York Post’s Jon Heyman wrote that the Yankees had “some connections” with Martinez’s camp Giancarlo Stantonstatus.
There is no indication that the Yankees’ interest is more than due diligence, although a rapport with Martinez can be the first step in case Stanton ends up missing a lot of time. As Heyman points out, if Stanton ends up in too many actions outside of opening day, Martinez seems unlikely to be signed “as a car-order player.” Martinez has a limited roster as a virtual DH player at this point in his career, and the Yankees always choose to spin DH players if Stanton is limited in absence.
Stanton has been fighting his two elbows and it’s been five to six weeks now, five to six weeks since the experienced Slugger even wields the bat. Yankees manager, Stanton is not at the camp at all now Aaron Boone Telling reporters (including Heyman and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that Stanton is in New York for reasons not related to his elbow injury, it’s unclear when Stanton might return to Tampa for spring training.
According to the time Stanton has wasted, it seems likely that he will start the season on the injury roster if for other reasons, in addition to giving him extra time to become completely healthy and pick up some bats in extended spring training. Although Stanton is also a DH-only player, batting is the main focus, but considering Stanton’s longer history of low-body injury, some overall physical maintenance is required. These elbow issues are a new issue for Stanton, adding another unpopular entry to his history of square damage.
With all this in mind, there might be a vacancy in the Bronx’s Martinez who can basically slide straight into Stanton’s role as the main designated hitter. The right-handed hit Martinez fights the same side pitch in 2024, which could open the door for New York to spell Martinez with Righty Pitching using a left-handed bat or rev batsman.
Martinez’s Mets hit .235/.320/.406 last season with 16 home runs in 495 sets, converting to 108 WRC+. A .351 Xwoba is well above his .318 Woba, which suggests that Martinez may be a bit unfortunate on the plate, as Martinez still makes a lot of close contact and he walks well above the league average. His 3-point shooting percentage is 28.5%, although strikeouts have long been a problem for most of Martinez’s career. As mentioned earlier, Martinez’s main problem in 2024 is the lack of production for right-hand pitching – his OPS on the right is only .683 OPS compared to the .836 OPS on Southpaws.
It is worth wondering if Martinez’s lateness contributed to these numbers, as he didn’t sign with the Mets until March 23, and he didn’t sign with the Mets until April 26. By that standard, Martinez has achieved a critical juncture at least last year’s next contract, despite his disappearance at the spring camp, which has once again adjusted his usual offseason date. Regarding possible deals with the Yankees, the club may want to collect as much information as possible in Stanton before deciding on the next move, so it may take the Yankees a while before they can pursue Martinez or anyone if the Yankees choose external help.
Last year, Martinez was paid $12mm, and the actual salary was 4.5mm, while the rest was deferred. His 2023 figure decline will mean that no matter where he signed it, Martinez will certainly have to settle down for less than 12mm, and the Yankees’ luxury tax situation is another possible obstacle to the deal, even if Martinez won Martinez at a relatively cheap price. RosterResource expects New York tax numbers to be around 305.1mm, which has exceeded the highest penalty level of 301mm, so that means that the team’s spending per dollar will be taxed at a rate of 110% at a price of over 301mm.
