In a way, the Los Angeles Dodgers of the Major League Baseball (MLB) carried out a recruitment that went against the trend of modern baseball. However, considering the team situation, there are parts that can be understood.
John Heyman of the New York Post, an American media outlet, reported on the 18th (Korean time), “The Dodgers have signed a one-year contract with JD Martinez (35).” The annual salary is known to be 10 million dollars (approximately 13.1 billion won).
Martinez has been a league-leading right-handed hitter for years. Debuting in the major leagues in 2011, he exploded his potential after moving to Detroit in 2014. In his first season after moving from Arizona to Boston in 2018, he recorded 43 home runs and 130 RBIs, creating a rare scene in which he won the Silver Slugger in both outfield and designated hitter divisions.
Martinez, who is in his mid-30s, played in 139 games this year, recording a batting average of 0.274, 16 homers, 62 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.790. He played well with a batting average of 0.363 until May, but his batting average dropped to 0.236 by the end of the season. Aging is suspected.
And for the first time since his debut, Martinez hasn’t fielded a single ⅓ inning this year. He hadn’t worn the glove many times before, but at least he would go to 30 games as a corner outfielder. This is where you can see that he has made the perfect transition to being a full-time designated hitter.
Recently, there are not many things in baseball where the designated hitter is fixed. Most of them are used as seats for arranging the physical strength of beasts. Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels), who doubles as a pitcher and hitter, is an example of a designated hitter who rarely plays in the fielder position.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers boldly decided to recruit Martinez. According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Dodgers have been salivating over Martinez since the trade deadline last summer and the early free agent market this year. 토토
This year, the Dodgers started 10 players as designated hitters. Justin Turner (38), who came out the most, had 61 games, and did not exceed half of the total. Now, it looks like Martinez will monopolize this spot.
Even without Martinez on defense, the Dodgers already have a lot of utility players. MLB Trade Rumors said, “Max Muncy will switch between second and third base, and Chris Taylor will play more at third base. Gavin Lux plans to switch from second base to shortstop to replace Trey Turner.”
In addition, the media analyzed that the Dodgers had many options, saying, “If you renew the contract with Turner, you can have Turner at third base and move Muncy to second base.