The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced the signing of designated hitter J.D. Martinez on a one-year contract worth $10 million dollars for the 2023 season.
In order to make room on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Jake Reed was designated for assignment.
Martinez spent the past five seasons with the Boston Red Sox, where he made four All-Star appearances, won a Silver Slugger award, and finished in the top-four of MVP voting during the 2018 season. In Boston, he hit a combined .292 with 130 homers and 423 RBI.
In 2022, Martinez played in 139 games for the Red Sox, slashing .274/.341/.448 with 43 doubles, 16 homers and 62 RBI. He was selected for his fourth straight All-Star Game in 2022 after hitting .302 with 30 doubles, nine homers and 38 RBI in the first half.
The five-time All-Star has been in the Major Leagues for parts of 12 seasons with the Houston Astros (2011-‘13), Detroit Tigers (2014-‘17), Arizona Diamondbacks (2017) and Red Sox (2018-‘22). He is a career .288/.352/.520 hitter with 339 doubles, 282 homers and 899 RBI in 1,409 career games.
The 35-year-old is 18 home runs shy from becoming the 154th player in MLB history to reach the 300-homer mark and currently ranks 185th all-time on the Major League home run list.
Martinez also has a connection to Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc, who helped Martinez re-work his swing which led to the sluggers’ breakout.
The 2018 World Series Champion was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in the 20th round of the 2009 First Year Player Draft out of Nova Southeastern University.
Reed was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers from the Red Sox in November, which marked his third stint within the organization after spending parts of the 2021 and 2022 seasons in L.A.
The 30-year-old has a career 5.74 ERA, 4.33 FIP and 1.39 WHIP to go along with a 19.2% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate in 26.2 innings across 28 games (one start) with three teams. At the Triple-A level, the Arizona native holds a 3.84 ERA and eight saves over 150 games (two starts).
Brandon Gomes: Dodgers exploring different avenues to upgrade roster
The Dodgers went into the offseason with more than a dozen players reaching free agency, and it has amounted to significant roster turnover thus far.
Among those who signed elsewhere include Tyler Anderson, Cody Bellinger, Andrew Heaney and Trea Turner. Justin Turner reportedly agreed to a deal with the Red Sox, but that has not been officially announced.
While most of the attention has centered around their departures, L.A. did make several moves to improve the roster for the 2023 season. The Dodgers quickly re-signed Clayton Kershaw while bringing in Martinez, Shelby Miller and Noah Syndergaard.
The club figures to continue adding as they still have holes at center field and shortstop, and Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes recently said the front office is looking at numerous ways to upgrade the roster.
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