Marlins Discuss Deal with Free Agent Slugger for 2024 Season
The Miami Marlins will need to score more runs in 2024.
In retrospect, the team's 84-78 record in 2023 was thanks to an overperformance in one-run games (33-14, a .702 winning percentage) instead of outscoring their opponents. No, in fact, Miami scored 57 less runs than their opponents, a run differential that commonly results in a record of 75-87.
And then the team also lost Jorge Soler to free agency, leaving for the San Francisco Giants and taking his 36 homers, 77 runs, and 75 RBIs with him.
Enter J.D. Martinez?
Per MLB Network contributor Craig Mish, the Marlins and the 36-year-old designated hitter recently discussed a free-agent deal.
Martinez, who spent 2023 as the designated hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers but wasn't re-signed after LA added Shohei Ohtani, hit .271/.321/.572 with 33 homers last season in his 113 games.
That came out to a 134 OPS+, which was higher than any Marlins player put up in 2023. Martinez's 33 homers would have been second on the team, while his slugging would have led the 2023 Marlins roster.
But a deal between Miami and Martinez hasn't yet come to fruition, for two reasons:
The first is the roster fit - Miami wants to use the designated hitter spot to give rest days to the pair of Josh Bell and Jake Burger, rotating them through in an effort to keep both of them fresh for a 162-game season.
The second is money - Martinez reportedly wants a two-year deal, and Miami's not interested in any commitment longer than one season, nevermind to a player on the wrong side of 35.
There's a major league slugger out there with 315 career homers that wants to play for you. Right now, you don't want to sign him.
And so we wait to see where the offense is going to come from. Can Jazz stay healthy for a full season and hit more homers? Can Burger and Bell have a power renaissance in Miami with a full season on the roster?
Managing Editor for Blackerby Media, covering the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins Also: Senior Baseball Writer for Auburn Daily, member of both the National College Baseball Writers Association and Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (where he won the 2023 Prospects, Minors, & College Writer of the Year award)