Top 3 Landing Spots for Free Agent JD Martinez

Many around major league baseball are scratching their heads as to why JD Martinez remains an unsigned free agent a couple of weeks into the season.

After a successful comeback season in 2023 for the now 37-year-old Martinez, the Los Angeles Dodgers decided not to extend the $20.325M qualifying offer, despite his 33 HR, 103 RBI season. The Mets signed him in 2024 and his numbers took a pretty big dive, with his home run total cut in half. But in two of the last four seasons, he's had elite batting numbers, and was an All-Star in three of those years.

But his DH bat remains available to any team that comes up with a reasonable offer, and these three landing spots top the likely list of destinations:

Seattle Mariners

This is beginning to sound like a broken record, but here we go again: The Mariners need offense! The team did nothing this past offseason to address their glaring need, or to spend any money whatsoever. Martinez is sitting out there with his 331 career home runs, .283 batting average, and .863 OPS. They should be running to sign him.

Minnesota Twins

Another American League team struggling for offense. The Twins are tied for dead last in the majors with just six home runs thus far, and all alone in dead last in OPS. Their most talented hitters spend large chunks of each season on the injured list, and adding a veteran slugger like Martinez, even if he is slowing down at 37, makes all the sense in the world.

San Diego Padres

Over in the National League, Gavin Sheets, with his underwhelming career .233 batting mark and .684 OPS, with a total of 46 home runs in his first four major league seasons, is manning the DH spot. And 40-year-old Yuli Gurriel, with his .105 batting average in 20 plate appearances, is the backup. Yes, Martinez would be a huge improvement.