Mets sign slugger JD Martinez with deferred payments through 2038
JD Martinez has a new home, agreeing to a $12m, one-year contract with the New York Mets on Thursday.
Martinez will receive a $2.5m signing bonus, $2m this year and $7.5m in deferred money, payable in $1.5m installments each 15 January beginning in 2023 and ending in 2038, sources told the Associated Press. The deferred payments will allow the Mets to reduce their luxury-tax hit from the signing. The Mets are projected to have the second-highest payroll in MLB for the second successive season.
Martinez hit .271 with 33 homers and 103 RBIs in just 113 games last year for the Los Angeles Dodgers, providing solid value on the one-year, $10m contract he signed before the season. Back and groin problems limited his availability but he added a National League All-Star selection to the five times he made it in the AL with Detroit and Boston.
The 36-year-old slugger was one of the top free agents left on the market.
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery – another Scott Boras client – is still looking for a new team in the final days of spring training.
Martinez slots into the middle of the Mets’ lineup and gives them another power hitter to pair with Pete Alonso. Both can become free agents after this season.
The new president of baseball operations, David Stearns, had said the Mets wanted to give youngsters Mark Vientos and Brett Baty plenty of at-bats this season rather than bring in a veteran at DH or third base. But now Martinez becomes the primary DH instead of Vientos, who could still share playing time at third with Baty, getting chances against left-handed pitching in particular.
Martinez has played the corner outfield spots only sparingly the past two seasons, but he has given every indication he can be a productive DH. Last season was the first time in Dodgers history the team had four players with 100 RBIs, with Martinez joining Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy. The 33 home runs for Martinez were his most since 2019, and his OPS of .893 also represented his highest since that year.
Martinez began his career with Houston but blossomed after being released by the Astros and picked up by the Tigers in 2014. He hit a career-high 45 homers for Detroit and Arizona in 2017, then joined the Red Sox and hit 43 the following year, when Boston won its most recent World Series title.