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Inside The Mets

Mets Hire Former Player as Special Advisor

J.D. Martinez is returning to the Mets as a special advisor to baseball operations.
Logan VanDine|
May 13, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets designated hitter JD Martinez (28) runs out a double against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fifth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
May 13, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets designated hitter JD Martinez (28) runs out a double against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fifth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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New York Mets

A familiar face is returning to the New York Mets.

Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday that the Mets have hired J.D. Martinez as a special advisor to baseball operations. Healey added that it will be a similar role to Carlos Beltran's current front-office position with the team, as he will be around the players in the clubhouse and on the field.

Martinez last played in the major leagues in 2024 when he signed a one-year, $12 million deal with New York, less than a week before the start of the regular season, to be their primary designated hitter.

The 38-year-old began the 2024 season with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets due to not appearing in any spring training games, as well as nursing a back injury. After a few weeks ramping up in Triple-A, the Mets called up Martinez on April 26.

Martinez's lone season with the Mets was filled with highs and lows. The highs perhaps include hitting his first career walk-off home run on June 13 against the Miami Marlins, which earned the veteran slugger the NL Player of the Week award on June 17.

The lows of Martinez's 2024 season were when he hit a bit of a dry spell during the second half of the year. He particularly struggled in August and September, which was coincidentally after the Mets acquired Jesse Winker at the trade deadline to assume the full-time DH duties. Martinez batted just .217 in 26 games during the month of August, followed by a dismal .109 in 16 games in September.

In 120 games during the regular season, Martinez slashed .235/.320/.406 with 16 home runs, 69 RBI and an OPS of .726. Martinez also went 4-for-18 (.222) with three RBI in eight postseason games for the Mets.

While Martinez has not officially hung up his cleats yet, he will now return to the Mets in a front office role to pair along with Beltran. The latter is an incoming Hall of Fame inductee, while his jersey number is also set to be retired by the Mets this season.

In 14 seasons with six different teams, Martinez has 331 career home runs, 1,071 RBI and an .864 OPS. Martinez is also a six-time All-Star (2015, 2018, 2019, 2021-2023), a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner (2015, 2018x2), a recipient of the AL Hank Aaron Award (2018) and a World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox during the 2018 season.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan VanDine is a contributing writer for On SI's Mets. Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work at On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports. Give him a follow on X: @VandineLogan

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