4) J.D. Martinez
Remember the excitement when the Mets stunned us all by signing J.D. Martinez? The season was days away and we suddenly went from a year of seeing Mark Vientos platoon with DJ Stewart at the DH spot to having a chance to experience one of the best sluggers of his generation to wear a Mets uniform. The thing is, Martinez’s generation peaked in the 2010s. His incredibly powerful year with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023 was left in Hollywood. He wasn’t quite the same for the Mets.
Boos from fans when he started over Winker in the playoffs won’t be the reason why the Mets let him walk away. The insistence on starting Martinez isn’t some sort of déjà vu like it was with Billy Eppler’s instance on starting Daniel Vogelbach. It seems the Mets truly believed he was the better choice over Winker.
Martinez kind of fell into their laps and to insist on bringing him back would be strange. With the way he performed late and the birth of his daughter in September, it wouldn’t be so nuts for him to hang up his cleats entirely. The grind of a 162 season is tough. Try having a newborn around.
TLDR Version: J.D. Martinez should go enjoy being a father and not even entertain swinging a bat professionally in 2025.