Why Dodgers should outbid Mets for JD Martinez at trade deadline

The Boston Red Sox have had a freefall that makes every Yankees fan smile. The team has plummeted to the bottom of the AL East and is now better off being sellers at the MLB trade deadline. The Los Angeles Dodgers should be in contact with them the moment the phones open.

The Dodgers and Red Sox are no strangers to making trades with both the Adrian Gonzalez and Mookie Betts deals in the recent past. There’s now another big name that the Dodgers could poach from the Red Sox in right-handed slugger JD Martinez.

Martinez is in the last year of his contract with the Red Sox and, according to Buster Olney, he’s “out on the trade market.” There are teams in the market for Martinez already, with FanSided’s Robert Murray reporting that the New York Mets have been long been viewed as a strong fit for the slugger by rival executives.

That might be the case, but that shouldn’t stop Andrew Friedman as the Dodgers could (and should!) outbid the Mets for the All-Star slugger.

JD Martinez could be a perfect fit for the Dodgers at the trade deadline

3. Dodgers can absolutely construct a better package than Mets

Los Angeles definitely has a group of prospects that will be deemed untouchable that the team will not trade for Martinez. There’s a world in which the Mets get really desperate and way overspend for Martinez, but that likely isn’t going to be the case.

Based on how these deals typically pan out, the Red Sox will most likely get a backend top-100 prospect as well as some other minor league standouts for Martinez. It won’t be a monumental package, but it will bring in at least one top prospect for Boston fans to get excited about.

The Mets do have the top prospect on MLB Pipeline in Francisco Alvarez, but he doesn’t really matter in this regard since New York would never trade him for Martinez. Outside of that, the Dodgers simply have more prospect ammunition at their disposal.

New York has four prospects in the top 100 while the Dodgers have six. LA also has other quick risers in the system, including Gavin Stone, who will undoubtedly be in the top 100 in no time.

With so much depth in the organization, the Dodgers could afford to trade someone like Ryan Pepiot in a package for Martinez knowing that they also have Bobby Miller, Stone, and other promising pitching prospects.

That might seem absurd to some fans, but there’s plenty for the Dodgers to like about Martinez, a proven and dominant hitter.

1. Martinez can slot into the Dodgers’ lineup seamlessly

Martinez might be limited in the fact that he can only DH, but he can still easily slot into the Dodgers’ lineup both against left-handed pitching and right-handed pitching. It will naturally result in someone sitting, but with how some players have performed, many deserve to sit some matchups.

The Dodgers would have several options against left-handed pitching. The team could either start Chris Taylor at second base and the red-hot Trayce Thompson in left field, or, keep Gavin Lux in the lineup at second with Taylor or Thompson in left. Bellinger will stay in the lineup most nights simply because of his elite defense.

Against righties, the Dodgers could get Muncy into the lineup to play third base, which will give either JT or Taylor the night off. And of course, this would be a rotating thing that we have seen the Dodgers utilize in the past. Some nights Muncy will play third, Lux will play second, and Taylor will be in left. Other nights Turner will play third, Muncy will play second, and Lux can play in left (don’t really want that, though).

Heck, some nights Thompson will start and give two of those guys the night off. The important thing is to ride the hot bat, and whoever that is in October should be who plays, regardless of what the name on the back of their jersey is.

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Either way, Martinez will slot into the cleanup spot with the top of the order being Betts, Turner, Freeman, Martinez and Smith. The 6-9 could then be boiled down between Taylor, Lux, Muncy, Turner, Bellinger and Thompson, all depending on what the matchup is.

Seems like a pretty good problem to have, right?