Moose on the Loose: Mets sign J.D. Martinez
NEW YORK (PIX11) — The Mets have themselves a DH as they come into the 2024 season with muted expectations. Fans question the commitment to win and the vision of new President of Baseball Operations David Stearns.
Last Thursday, news broke that they had signed JD Martinez to a 1-year $12 million deal. Martinez was an All-Star the last three seasons, hitting .271 a year ago in Los Angeles with 33 homers and 103 RBI in 113 games.
He will be 37 in August and would not expect there to be a drastic drop-off this season due to age.
The Mets over/under on the season is 80.5 games. Stearns has made it clear that he wants his team to compete for a playoff spot this season, but the Mets have certainly not gone all-in. It is more of a wait-and-see approach.
As there is always competition for the entertainment dollar in this marketplace, owner Steve Cohen understands there is value to being good when owning a team, and the Martinez price drop was too enticing to pass up. Martinez will provide protection for Alonso in the Mets line-up. A line-up, that when healthy should be pretty good at producing runs and generating offense.
Martinez is entering his 15th season in major league baseball, and there is no reason he should not produce this season. He produced in Houston, Detroit, Arizona, Boston, and Los Angeles. The big market will not be a problem, and he will be motivated given that he will want another contract following this season. Patience paid off for the Mets. They got a bat that they needed that significantly improved their line-up.
For Cohen, he got a great player at a great price. Stearns added a piece that will help this team be competitive in 2024, and the Mets fans cannot start to envision the possibility of this team being a playoff contender in the National League this season.
There are a lot of dominoes after one signing, but it’s all true.
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