Rumors: MLB insider lists SF Giants as 'strong fit' for All-Star slugger
The SF Giants have a difficult task ahead of them this offseason. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has expressed both a desire to get more athletic and better offensively. While ideally, the Giants would be able to acquire top players who are both standout athletes and offensive producers, those players are hard to come by. Instead, San Francisco may have to reshape their roster with several additions looking to address various needs. Free agent designated hitter J.D. Martinez (18th-best free agent), for example, may not be a great athlete, but MLB.com insider Jon Morosi still thinks he is a "strong fit" in San Francisco.
"There's a lot of high-end bats, certainly there's only one Shohei, but there's that next group down where, again, with J.D. it's a shorter-term deal," Morosi said. "I do think the Dodgers are a strong fit, as are the Giants and Mariners. I would put the Mariners with we talked with Jerry Dipoto last week. They need guys who command the strike zone well, know the strike zone, J.D. Martinez certainly does that."
Morosi cited Martinez's excellent understanding of the strike zone as a reason he could be a top target for the Mariners, but it's no secret that the Giants have prioritized approach under Zaidi. Unlike most of the current position players in San Francisco, though, Martinez has long been one of the best power hitters in MLB. He is a six-time All-Star and has reached each of the past five midsummer classics.
Martinez is on the older side for a player, turning 36 in August, but he's showed no signs of slowing down this past season with the Dodgers. He missed a few weeks with a groin and heel issue during the season but finished with 33 home runs and a .271/.321/.572 line in 113 games. More advanced numbers backed up his excellent production as well. Martinez's batted-ball data ranked in the 90th percentile or better in several key stats, like hard-hit rate, xSLG, and xwOBA.
His 2023 production was far from a surprise. Over the past three seasons, Martinez has maintained a .847 OPS, which is slightly down from his career .287/.350/.524 triple-slash. Martinez ranks above every current member of the Giants roster over that span in doubles, home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS. He has also consistently crushed left-handed pitching, an area the Giants offense particularly struggled in this past season.
Of course, Martinez's age is not the only thing limiting his free agent stock. Never a league-average defender in the outfield, Martinez has almost exclusively been a designated hitter for years. The Dodgers and Red Sox occasionally played him in the outfield corners, but the results were far from desirable. Like Joc Pederson, who has been the Giants primary DH over the past two seasons, something has gone wrong if Martinez is forced into the outfield.
The Giants need to upgrade their lineup this offseason. Moreover, Martinez's age and defensive limitations will weaken the competition to sign him. While San Francisco should not let him be the team's biggest addition this offseason, he would undoubtedly upgrade the lineup. With all that in mind, it's easy to see why J.D. Martinez would be a "strong fit" for the SF Giants.
