We all know the Boston Red Sox aren’t going anywhere this season and with the MLB Trade Deadline on Monday at 4 PM ET, Chaim Bloom is going to be taking calls on every Red Sox player, as they are pretty much all available.
And that includes J.D. Martinez, who may opt out of his contract after the 2020 season. After all, it seems like the universal DH is going to come permanent in both leagues–creating 15 more jobs for him.
Martinez is one of the best hitters in all of baseball but he hasn’t been able to use video to analyze his swings during games this year due to the fact that there have been some teams (cough, cough Astros) taking advantage of the allowance of video.
So he hasn’t had a great season which makes for a great opportunity for a contender to buy low on the slugger.
With that said, here are a few teams that are in need of a full-time DH if they want to go far in October.
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros might come as a surprise to people because when you think of the Astros, you think of how many great hitters they have including Jose Altuve, George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Michael Brantley.
But they are without Yordan Alvarez–their usual DH–after he underwent season ending knee surgery.
And their pitching staff is obviously without Gerrit Cole and as of right now are missing their ace Justin Verlander so they’re going to need their offense to step it up and compensate for some of the runs given up by the inexperienced Astros pitching staff.
If Martinez is traded to Houston, it would give him the opportunity to show the world how elite of a hitter he still is once the postseason comes around.
As of now, Dusty Baker is using the DH spot as a day off for his stars and for Kyle Tucker and Taylor Jones to get at-bats.
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals seemed like they were set up well for the DH spot this season because they had Matt Carpenter on the roster, who could’ve benefited from focusing on hitting.
But recently they have still been putting Carpenter at the hot corner and instead using left-handed hitting veteran Brad Miller as their DH.
St. Louis might not want to add Martinez’s contract to their payroll in case he decides to opt-in to the remainder of his contract but I also don’t believe they want to rely on Brad Miller in October if they even get there.
Arizona Diamondbacks
J.D. Martinez going back to the desert feels like a great landing spot for him, as he is already familiar with their chemistry and Torey Lovullo’s lineup doesn’t have a concrete DH.
He has used Kole Calhoun, Alex Young, Christian Walker, and Daulton Varsho as the designated hitter on any given day and their lineup at times has gone quiet so adding Martinez back in between Ketel Marte, David Peralta, and Starling Marte would automatically make the D-Backs a threat in either the 7th or 8th seed in the National League playoff picture.
(Photo: Brian Fluharty/USA Today)
