Mariners Free Agent Miss #2: J.D. Martinez
I remember last offseason when there were reports of J.D. Martinez being seen at a restaurant in Seattle. If memory serves, he even posted something on social media when he was at Pike Place Market and it got fans hearts racing. I was pretty pumped because I was hoping they would sign him to a deal, but then he signed a 1-year deal for $10 million with the Dodgers, Mariners signed A.J. Pollock for $3 million less...
In 2023 J.D. Martinez was a 1.9 WAR player, with a slash line of .271/.321/.572 and an OPS+ of 134. Martinez was an above-average player for the Dodgers. He had 33 homeruns, 103 RBI's, overall he had a solid year for the Dodgers, the only thing that was bad was his 31.1% K rate and his 7.1% walk rate, both below MLB average. Martinez was better than all of the free agents the Mariners brought in and could have helped the Mariners win that 1 extra game they needed to get into the playoffs.