Martinez to the Dodgers: 1/$10M

J.D. Martinez and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to terms on a one year, $10 million deal per reports.

Martinez, 35, has spent the last five seasons with the Boston Red Sox. He had a monster 2018 season, slashing .330/.402/.629, finishing first in the majors in total bases and RBIs, and finishing fourth in the American League MVP voting, with a career-best 6.7 bWAR. Since then he’s slipped, however, and in 2022 slashed .274/.341/.448 in 596 plate appearances.

$10 million seems light for Martinez on a one year deal, but he suffers from the fact that the market for righthanded power hitters has not been great for several years, as well as the fact that he is has little defensively utility. He played only DH in 2022, and only had 36 games in the outfield in 2021. Even with the universal DH, a being a DH-only guy limits interest somewhat, especially when you’re projected to be a good, but not great, hitter.

With Martinez off the board, that’s one less bat for the Rangers to be pursuing. Michael Conforto, Michael Brantley, Trey Mancini and Jurickson Profar are all still out there, and I suspect Conforto and Brantley are the guys the Rangers are most interested in.