Miami Marlins may not be signing a hometown DH after all

It's not a surprise that the Miami Marlins need a DH to replace the outgoing Jorge Soler. I've been hoping all off-season that The Fish make the move to sign hometown bat in none other then J.D. Martinez. The Miami native that would be perfect batting in the middle of The Fish's batting order. Sadly, it looks like it's not happening...at least for now.

The Miami Marlins need to find a way to sign J.D. Martinez to be the new DH.

J.D. Martinez is 36 years old and is limited to DH duties for the rest of his career. At a time when an increasing number of teams prefer to use the DH spot to rotate and rest players, a full-time DH is not very valuable. This certainly limits Martinez's market, but he supposedly wants a two-year contract, when a one-year deal seems more likely. That would explain why he's still unsigned with Spring Training in full swing.

It isn't yet known how much J.D. Martinez wants on an annual basis. It's possible that it's yet another issue keeping teams from signing him. I assume he probably wants around $16-18 million a year, which is a little much for him to begin with. It sounds as if the length of the deal is the reason why The Fish are holding off on signing the hometown slugger.

The other reason is that The Fish seem to want to rotate the DH spot among multiple players. 3B Jake Burger and 1B Josh Bell are the top candidates to spend time there. Jon Berti would handle third base and Luis Arraez would handle first base depending on whether Burger or Bell plays DH.

J.D. Martinez is coming off a great 2023 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He batted .271/.321/.572, with 33 home runs and 103 RBI, in 113 games and 432 AB. He also had an elite and career-high 93.4 Exit Velocity. At this late stage of Spring Training, it's time for him to look for a one-year deal. I also don't like the idea of the Miami Marlins not adding a big bat to replace Jorge Soler at DH. There has to be a way to make this signing happen.