Not trading JD Martinez
Hindsight is 20/20, but Martinez was already struggling before the trade deadline earlier this month.
After hitting .302/.368/.481 in the first half of the season, he’s hitting .188/.256/.268 since the All-Star break, with only two home runs, unheard of for the prolific power hitter. Between 2018-21, he homered 28+ times in each full season. He homered more in the shortened 2020 campaign than he has this year.
While Martinez says he knows why he’s not producing at the plate, the knowledge hasn’t seemed to translate into much improvement. He finally hit his tenth home run of the season over the weekend, after a 143 plate appearance drought, the second longest of his entire career.
For whatever reason, Bloom’s asking price was very high in Martinez trade talks, and teams eventually moved on to other prey. So now, when the season ends, the struggling slugger will reach free agency