Martinez back in the swing in Los Angeles

J.D. Martinez turns 36 next month and the clock is ticking on his career. But not too loudly. After what for him was a down season with the Red Sox in 2022, Martinez accepted a one-year, $10 million deal with the Dodgers knowing he might have been able to get more with another team.

But Martinez valued the idea of being able to work closely with Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc. As a private hitting coach, Van Scoyoc had turned Martinez’s career around after the 2013 season.

Martinez also understood the benefits of teaming up again with fellow cage rat Mookie Betts.

“Going to the Dodgers gave me the best chance to get back to being me,” Martinez said. “I knew I wasn’t as old and washed up as some people said. I felt like I still had a lot of J.D. left in me.”

It also made sense from a family perspective. Martinez is close with his sister Mayra, a periodontist with a practice in the Los Angeles area. Being a Dodger means he can spend more time with his two nieces and nephew.

“A chance of scenery was good for me,” Martinez said. “That — and a chance to win.”

The Dodgers were conservative with their free agent spending during the offseason, retaining budget space for what the industry assumes will be a huge offer to Shohei Ohtani once he becomes a free agent. But Betts and Van Scoyoc were determined advocates for Martinez, whom they believed could be a centerpiece of the lineup.

“J.D. and I are friends beyond baseball,” Betts said. “But from a baseball standpoint, I knew it would be good for us to be around each other again.”

Martinez had an .867 OPS, 23 home runs, and 69 RBIs through 79 games for the Dodgers. His batting average (.260) and on-base percentage (.309) were unusually low, but Martinez had a 1.040 OPS with runners in scoring position and the Dodgers were third in the majors in scoring.

“For me, being around Mookie again and giving each other feedback has been so valuable,” Martinez said. “We’ve had a good relationship since I first got to Boston. It’s been fun.”

Martinez said he was open to staying with the Sox. But they turned to former Dodger Justin Turner instead.

“Chaim [Bloom] said they were interested but never reached back out,” Martinez said. “We were just waiting and then we got wind of the thing with Turner.

“I didn’t want to get stuck. The Dodgers gave me a chance to win and be in the mix. That was important to me at this stage of my career.”

Turner’s one-year, $15 million deal has worked out well for the Sox. Martinez has been a little better offensively, but Turner has given the Sox parts of 43 games in the field. Martinez has played only 12 innings in the outfield.

Martinez wants to play “a couple of more years” before going back to Florida and his fishing boat.

“Two or three years maybe,” he said. “I still feel like I have something to contribute. I want to get back to the World Series and the Dodgers gave me that chance.”