The Baltimore Orioles Must Avoid This Player ‘At All Costs’ in Free Agency

The Baltimore Orioles do not need to bring this player in.

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles are set to begin the offseason after being swept in the Wild Card by the Kansas City Royals, failing to win a game in the postseason after making it for the second year in a row and now without a playoff win in over a decade.

As the team gets ready to re-tool this winter and try to put themselves in a better spot for 2025, there are some big decisions to be made both with players in-house who will be hitting free agency as well as who to spend money on to bring in from outside the organization. When it comes to searching for talent, there is at least one player who the Birds should avoid 'at all costs.'

In a recent article, Christopher Kline of FanSided wrote that Baltimore should not go anywhere near Mets DH and grizzled veteran J.D. Martinez due to age and injury concerns as well as the fact that his production declined rapidly in New York this season after he was brought in on a 1-year deal.

"It's not like Martinez has been a total bust — .235/.320/.406 with 16 home runs in 434 ABs — but it turns out the age factor was quite significant," Kline wrote. "Martinez has dealt with injuries and the pop he once specialized in hasn't been there. He hasn't seen an unnatural uptick in K's or a decrease in walks; he's just not finding the gaps or rocketing it over the fence like he once could."

By next August, hopefully when the Orioles are making a run at the AL East, Martinez will be turning 38. He proved in 2024 that he still has at least something left in the tank and will likely have suitors due to a career full of production as well as a strong veteran presence in the locker room, but Baltimore must not get into a bidding war for an aging DH whose production is going down.

Martinez did have a very solid 2023 season with the Dodgers after his numbers in Boston were beginning to plummet. But after struggling through injuries in 2024 and not nearly able to match the same production, time has run out on Martinez as a valued commodity in free agency.