The Marlins and free agent slugger have had recent talks, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. The slugger has been seeking a two-year deal. Mish notes that the Marlins have been planning to keep the DH spot open and rotate , and others through that spot. There doesnt appear to be a fit between the two parties at the moment, he adds, though one would imagine thats in part due to Martinezs asking price. Even if theres no current fit, the conversations are of note. It shows at least some willingne s from Miami to spend further in free agency, and it adds a new entrant to the Martinez mix, should his price drop to a certain point. Presumably, if the price fell to the point where a typically low-spending club like Miami was comfortable, other teams currently not in the mix for Martinez would also show interest. The 36-year-old Martinez just wrapped up a strong rebound season with the Dodgers, wherein he slashed .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs. Last years 7.1 Forrest Wall Jersey % walk rate was Martinezs lowest since establishing himself as a big league regular, however, while his 31.1% strikeout rate was a career-high. That could suggest an aging hitter whos selling out for more power at the expense of his once better-than-average contact skills, but even if thats the case, the results are hard to argue with. The question moving forward is whether that approach is conducive to further succe s particularly over a multi-year deal. Martinez posted off-the-charts batted ball data in 2023. His 93.4 mph average exit velocity, 17% barrel rate and 54.8% hard-hit rate all ranked in the 98th percentile of MLB hitters. When Martinez did make contact, there was practically no one who did so with more authority. , , , and are the only qualified hitters in baseball with a higher average exit velocity than Martinezs 2023 mark. Only Judge, Chapman, Acuna, Olson and hit a higher percentage of their batted balls at 95 mph or more. In Miami, Martinez would effectively be replacing , who opted out of the final year and $13MM on his contract and eventually signed a three-year, $42MM deal with the Giants. Martinez, in some ways, is an older version of that same skill set: hes a right fielder whose dwindling defensive prowe s makes him best-suited for DH work, and his batted-ball data and production against left-handed pitching are elite, as is the case with Soler. Martinez has more even platoon splits than Soler, but he also struck out far more often last season than Soler. The Marlins made practically no attempt to re-sign Soler, so its surprising to see them checking in with Martinez. Perhaps its simply a matter of trying to land a bargain upgrade for the lineup late in the year as the asking price on many free agents drop. But the Marlins probably do have enough money left to make a deal for Martinez work, even if his price hasnt bottomed out. at a projected $101.6MM Opening Day payroll about $8.4MM shy of last seasons end-of-year mark. Even if theyre not willing to stretch beyond last years payroll level which probably would rule out getting Martinez on a one-year deal the Fish could probably offer Martinez a backloaded two-year arrangement. The only contracts on the Marlins books in 2025 are ($12MM) and ($17MM). Theyll also owe Garcia a $5MM buyout on a 2026 option. That number will spike, as Miami has a huge arbitration cla s headlined by , , , , and (with several other role players also mixed in). Even still, there ought to be enough room for the Fish to creatively structure a deal to bring Martinez into the fold if owner Bruce Sherman green-lights that type of expenditure. Whether hell do so remains an open question. Miami sat out free agency for the entire offseason before signing to a one-year, $5MM contract recently. The team has shown little appetite for free agent spending in recent years and has frequently been burned when choosing to do so (Garcia, , ). David Justice Jersey