The New York Mets and designated hitter J.D. Martinez are in agreement on a one-year, $12 million contract, a source confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. The deal is pending a physical.
Martinez gives the Mets’ lineup another proven power source behind slugger Pete Alonso one week before Opening Day.
Coming off a frustrating 2022 campaign with the Boston Red Sox, Martinez enjoyed a bounce-back All-Star season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023. He clubbed 33 home runs with 103 RBIs and an .893 OPS while reuniting with his longtime hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc.
Martinez, 36, has a career .287 batting average over 13 seasons with the Dodgers, Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros.
As well as he was playing for the Dodgers last season, the team always preferred just a one-year commitment with Martinez. The plan all along was to pursue Shohei Ohtani in free agency to step in as a DH.
More and more teams have preferred to cycle every-day position players through the designated hitter spot to give them lighter workdays rather than devoting the bulk of the DH plate appearances to one player. But Martinez has proved to be a good enough hitter to hold down the role himself; he did not appear in the outfield in any game in 2022 and had only three games in the outfield last season.
The New York Post first reported Martinez’s agreement with the Mets.
ESPN’s Buster Olney contributed to this report.
