Report: Mets sign J.D. Martínez to one-year deal

After waiting deep into the offseason, New York has finally acquired their DH.

After months of pleas, the Mets have finally gone out there and gotten their veteran designated hitter.

New York has reportedly agreed to terms with J.D. Martínez on a one-year, $12 million contract, according to Jon Heyman. The Mets will only pay Martínez $4.5 million this season, according to Andy Martino, with $1.5 million a year deferred from 2034-38. This allows the club the reduce the impact this signing has on their overall luxury tax penalty.

This move comes as a pleasant surprise to those who have been pounding the table for the organization to go out there and acquire a true DH – I may or may not have written some newsletters about the very topic – and now they have in inking the veteran right-handed hitter.

In 113 games with the Dodgers last season, the 35-year-old hit .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs, 27 doubles, 103 RBI and a 134 OPS+ (his highest mark since the 2019 season). Not only does the addition of Martínez offer some major pop, it also establishes true lineup protection for Pete Alonso who has not seen much of that in the early course of his career. When firing at all cylinders, a three-four punch of Alonso and Martínez could look pretty scary for opposing pitchers.

What the signing of Martínez also does is provide a major shot in the arm of this lineup against left-handed pitching. This has been an area this organization has struggled with at unfathomable levels over the last several seasons, specifically during 2023. Last season, New York had a 91 OPS+ vs lefties and was a league-worst 18-25 in games started by left-handers. Martínez would help these numbers in a major way as he mashed against lefties last season, hitting .274/.343/.581 with nine home runs, nine doubles, 27 RBI and a .925 OPS against them.

It’s unclear if the 35-year-old Martínez will be ready for Opening Day considering that it’s just eight days away and the DH hasn’t participated in normal Spring Training activities, but the veteran was working in the cage with Driveline earlier this month according to the company’s social media accounts.

While the organization has sung the praises of Mark Vientos throughout this spring, there are still major questions surrounding the Mets young infielder. While he does appear to have legitimate power, many are unsure if he has enough tools outside of that to become a feasible player at the major league level. Though he does lead the club in home runs this spring with four, Vientos is only hitting .212/.241/.481 with 17 strikeouts in 17 games.

This is not necessarily the end for Vientos, who could easily make his way back into the big leagues with an injury or if the club falls out of it and deals Martínez by the trading deadline, but it may mean that he starts the season at Triple-A Syracuse if the organization would prefer for him to get regular at-bats.

Another interesting impact the Martínez signing has is on the status of Jiman Choi and Luke Voit, both of whom have can opt-out of their contracts with the Mets as soon as Monday. One of Choi and Voit had the potential to make the Opening Day roster if the club was in need of a backup first baseman and bat that could fill in occasionally at the DH spot. The signing of Martínez certainly complicates that, though it is possible that the club may want to keep one of the two to be their backup first baseman.

Steve Cohen and David Stearns have been saying all season that they expect this club to be better than people think and compete for a playoff spot. A move like this, even as late as March 21st, certainly helps back up that confidence. On the whole, it’s pretty much the perfect win-win move for this team – either Martínez helps vault the Mets into unexpected contention in 2024, or they can move him for some sort of return come July if they’re out of it.

All-in-all, this is a win for the New York Mets. The season can’t start soon enough.