Will Someone Please Sign J.D. Martinez?

In addition to Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, who are still waiting for jobs this offseason, someone needs to sign All-Star J.D. Martinez. How has a guy who had 33 homers and 103 RBI still unsigned? We examine.

Look, this one is an oxymoron, I get it.

I value versatility. One of the best things a baseball player can do is be versatile. Hit from both sides of the plate, play multiple positions, if you've got versatility, you've given yourself a good chance to make it in a space where it's very hard to make it.

Furthermore, teams need to be versatile. Teams need to be flexible. We hear it all the time in other sports, "that NFL offense is multiple, they have so many ways they can beat you." Or, "that basketball team can go with a big lineup or a small lineup, they can beat you any number of ways."

One of the worst things any team can do is be stuck in the mud and unable to adapt. So I'm all for a baseball team that builds itself options and guardrails. Get as many guys that can do as many things as possible seems like a sound strategy. 

All that said, how is J.D. Martinez not yet signed this offseason? He had 33 homers and 103 RBI last year for the Los Angeles Dodgers and made the All-Star team.... again. Any number of offensively-challenged teams could use him, and he doesn't appear to be overly expensive.

So why he is not signed? He's 36, but I don't think it's age. He'll cost $20-30 million for the life of a contract, so that's not insignificant, but I don't think it's money either. My best guess is? Lack of flexibility.

The moment that J.D. Martinez signs, he becomes your designated hitter, and your DH only. Your lineup becomes more rigid and some of your flexibility and options go away, as do some of your matchup advantages. The Seattle Mariners could use him, but they want to create "DH days" for Mitch Haniger. The Boston Red Sox could use him, but they want to hide Masataka Yoshida's defense there as much as possible. You get the picture, teams want to create advantages and they want to utilize the DH position as a way to get guys a day off or a way to get some platoon advantage.

My question is, don't they also want to score runs? Martinez helps do that at an elite level. Let's not forget that too.

He's a six-time All-Star who has played for the Astros, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Red Sox and Dodgers. He starred for Detroit from 2014-2017 before being traded to Arizona at the trade deadline. Lifetime, he's a .287 hitter with 315 homers and 1,002 RBI. He helped Boston win the World Series in 2018.

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