3 Mets trade candidates who would fetch a disappointing return

2) J.D. Martinez

J.D. Martinez could hit .300 and have a nice chunk of home runs at the trade deadline and even then the Mets won’t be able to get a whole lot in return for him. Health concerns for the aging DH had the Mets steering clear of him in the past. Plenty of ball clubs passed up on signing him again in the offseason. Martinez has in consecutive winters accepted a lesser one-year contract just to play baseball for a team he believed would be competitive. 

Martinez has hit well for the Mets and should have some of the more appealing numbers by the trade deadline among candidates potentially moved. He’s well behind where we’d like him to be with certain numbers because of the late start. However, even numbers like OPS which don’t require a large sample size to look good are coming up a bit short.

The .812 OPS is matching closer to his later Boston Red Sox days. It dropped to a low-point of .790 in 2022—not bad for an average player but for someone like Martinez who is at .872 for his career, it’s a noticeable difference.

The Red Sox never did manage to find someone to accept him in a trade back in 2022. Martinez is striking out at a higher rate this season and not getting on base nearly as much. It’s going to be a disappointing return for him even if things get a lot better.