Why didn’t the Miami Marlins sign JDM?

J.D. Martinez is not going to play for the Miami Marlins in 2023. The DH will be playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers instead.

The cost? 1 year, $10 million. Hmmm. That’s not a long-term contract and there’s no logical excuse that the Miami Marlins can’t afford that.  JDM is from Miami and is of Cuban descent, he seemed like a perfect fit. So what happened? Should the fans remain patient as Kim Ng wants at this point?

The Miami Marlins passed on another offensive upgrade.

J.D. Martinez had a pretty good career and already won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2018. Maybe he didn’t think that one was enough, but he could’ve played home instead of with the team that Boston beat to win the World Series that year.

How good is JDM? He batted .330/.402/.629 in 2018, hit 43 home runs and drove in 130 RBI. In 2019 he batted .304/.383/.557 with 36 home runs and 105 RBI. Last season, he batted .286/.349/.518 with 28 home runs and 99 RBI. This production would be perfect for the Miami Marlins.

Of course that’s the past. The present isn’t as rosy. JDM can’t really play in the field anymore and is better suited for DH duties permanently. In fact, for a team that usually likes resting their players in the DH spot, it’s unusual that LA would sign someone like him. There’s also the fact that he batted .213/.291/.389 in the shortened 2020 season, and .274/.341/.448  with 16 home runs and 62 RBI in 139 games and 533 AB in 2022. Considering he’s going to be 36 years old next season, I can see the problem.

There’s also the question of where he would play for the Miami Marlins. The Fish ended 2022 with Garrett Cooper as the DH, but even though it looks as if he’s moving to first base, there’s Jorge Soler to think about. Soler played LF in 2022, but is terrible in the field and has been injury-prone throughout his career. It’s obvious that he needs to be the DH next season.

The Miami Marlins had the money for J.D. Martinez. The Fish were willing to pay more than that this off-season. It seems as if Kim Ng just didn’t want to sign him. This implies that Soler is moving to DH as I expect. I have mixed feelings on not signing JDM, if his decline continues then it was good, if he still has a good season left then we missed out. If Soler was the reason, I get it. I just want upgrades and at this point the patience is wearing thin.