Jul 2, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; A bucket of baseball sits on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images / Rhona Wise-Imagn Images
We should see a lot of movement across Major League Baseball over the next few days.
The Super Bowl will pass on Sunday night and then all eyes will turn to baseball. Spring Training will kick off next week with pitchers and catchers reporting to camps across the league. There still are plenty of free agents looking for new homes who should land deals in the near future.
One player who is still available is former Boston Red Sox All-Star JD Martinez. He spent the 2024 season with the New York Mets and is still a free agent. Where will he go? There hasn't been too much chatter about him recently, but Just Baseball's Eric Treuden floated the Toronto Blue Jays as a potential fit.
"Outside of the weird COVID-shortened 2020 season, Martinez hasn't been a below-average offensive contributor in over a decade," Treuden said. "Even at the age of 36 with the Mets last year, he hit 16 home runs with a .725 OPS and 108 wRC+. Once one of the most fearsome right-handed bats in baseball, Martinez still has "it" as he closes in on 40 years of age. The six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger Award winner showed in 2024 that he's still a lefty killer, just as Canha is.
"The biggest gripe with Martinez is the fact that he cannot, under any circumstances, play a single inning on defense at this point in his career. He's one of the most sluggish outfielders around, but his bat speaks for itself. Last year, Martinez hit .263 with an .836 OPS and 139 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. His signing would go a long way to helping the Blue Jays turn things around against southpaws in the upcoming season."
This is just a hypothetical but it makes sense. The Blue Jays have been trying to add all offseason and recently landed Max Scherzer and also signed Anthony Santander this offseason. Adding someone like Martinez would bring some more pop to the middle of the order at a likely low cost. It would be tough to see him back in the division, though, if this were to happen.