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- Date of Birth: August 21, 1987
- 2017 Line: .303/.376/.690
- 2017 Value: 3.8fWAR, 4.1bWAR
- 2017 Salary: 11.75 Million
- 2017 Snakepit Rating: 9.73
2017 Analysis:
When I signed up to do this review, I though it would basically write itself, but what I’m realizing is what can I say that hasn’t already been said? We all know he is one of the best trade deadline acquisitions in Diamondbacks history, and even one of the best by any team.
It might be a bit of hyperbole to say that the Diamondbacks wouldn’t have made the playoffs without his assistance. They had a fairly commanding lead over the third place Wild Card spot when it was all said and done. However, it isn’t hyperbole to say he was hands down the best hitter on the team while he was here, and that without him, it would have made for a much harder trek to the postseason.
And the dingerz. Who could forget the dingerz. Twenty nine of them total as a Diamondback. 16 of them came in the month of September, tying an NL record that stood since 1949. He also set a Diamondbacks record for RBI’s in the same month with 36, beating Gonzo’s record of 35. ALSO, according to ESPN’s Stats and Records, he became only the seventh MLB player to hit 45 home runs in his first 116 games (remember he missed the first six weeks of the season) and the first since Barry Bonds and His Trusty Syringe did it in 2001.
For the cherry on top, he did this too:
.@JDMartinez14 makes history. #JustDingers pic.twitter.com/vyRqYQvjkY
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 5, 2017
2018 Outlook
J.D. Martinez is a free agent as of right now. It would be really cool if he came back to the Diamondbacks, and it does seem like there are some reasons he would want to. I mean, he really really seemed to like playing in Chase Field, for starters.
However, there’s a lot of reasons he might want to play somewhere else. One of those reasons is that he switched agents to Scott Boras. Then there are 210 million others. Not to mention after the great Ohtani and Stanton fiasco is all figured out, there will be 28 teams that missed out on both of those players and will be looking to make up for it.
Every day that separates me from the endorphin rush of being in the post season makes it seem that much more unlikely that Martinez returns to the desert. But if he doesn’t, he leaves an unforgettable mark, and maybe it’s better that way.
***
Nah, screw it. Make it happen, Hazen.