JD Martinez solidified the core of the Dodgers' batting order on a one-year, $10 million deal. Unable to search out the larger payday he sought, Martinez is certainly one of a number of Scott Boras purchasers who settled for smaller offers till spring coaching. Martinez agreed to phrases with the Mets for $12 million in a single 12 months, in order multiplicity experiences.
Jon Heyman of the New York Publish he was the first to report the pact.
Martinez signed with the Dodgers in December to be a full-time designated hitter, a departure from how the group unfold all begins on the place within the earlier two years that the Nationwide League used a common DH. The timing of the deal, with Martinez coming from the Pink Sox and Justin Turner agreeing to phrases with Boston on the identical weekend, made this a commerce though all of it occurred in free company.
It got here after Martinez accomplished a five-year, $110 million contract in Boston. His agent Scott Boras instructed Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic in December 2022 that Martinez took much less cash to signal with the Dodgers:
“He needed to win and he needed to (optimize his potential). He felt that the Dodgers have been the perfect group to assist him obtain these objectives. He totally knew that he has each intention of taking part in properly and in search of his true worth within the seasons to come back
Martinez's plan labored fairly properly on the entrance finish, hitting 33 dwelling runs in his age-35 season, greater than double his complete with the Pink Sox a 12 months earlier. The righty hit .271/.321/.572 with a 135 wRC+, the latter his highest since 2019.
However the payoff on the again finish by no means actually got here, which is why it took Martinez till every week earlier than opening day to signal.
Any ideas of Martinez returning to the Dodgers ended when Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year take care of Los Angeles on Dec. 11, locking up the designated hitter function.
Martinez with the Dodgers drove in 103 runs regardless of taking part in in solely 113 video games, as he missed time with again tightness for just a few weeks in April and Could, then was restricted by groin tightness and muscular tissues for many of August and September. With Martinez batting cleanup, he joined teammates Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy as the primary Dodgers quartet in any unit to hit 100 runs, main the primary Los Angeles Dodgers offense to attain 900 runs in a season
He hit the Dodgers' solely dwelling run within the Nationwide League Division Sequence, a solo shot by Zac Gallen in Recreation 2 at Dodger Stadium.
In the course of the 2023 season, Martinez reached milestones for 300 dwelling runs and 1,000 RBI. The six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger Award winner is a profession .287/.350/.524 hitter with 315 dwelling runs, 366 doubles, 1,002 RBI and 132 wRC+.
