One of the top rental sluggers is heading west.
The Diamondbacks acquired outfielder J.D. Martinez from the Tigers for three prospects on Tuesday. Detroit has announced the trade, so it's a done deal. Officially official.
The Tigers have acquired INF's Dawel Lugo, Sergio Alcantara & Jose King from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for OF J.D. Martinez.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) July 18, 2017
Martinez was originally in Tuesday night's lineup for the Tigers, which indicates this trade came together fairly quickly. Had the two sides been nearing a deal, Detroit would have held him out of the lineup to avoid a potential injury.
The 29-year-old Martinez missed time with a foot injury earlier this year, but since returning, he's hit .305/.388/.630 (167 OPS+) with 16 home runs in only 57 games. Martinez has averaged 35 home runs per 162 games since joining the Tigers as a free agent for the 2014 season. The D-Backs are assuming the remainder of his contract.
Trade official. No cash in deal. #DBacks assume balance of Martinez’s $11.75M salary.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 18, 2017
Martinez will become a free agent after the season, and because he's been traded, he will not be eligible for the qualifying offer. The D-Backs will not be able to recoup a draft pick should he sign elsewhere over the winter. This is very clearly a win-now move for the 53-39 D-Backs, who are 10 1/2 games back in the NL West but have a six-game lead on a wild-card spot.
With Martinez now on board, Arizona's regular lineup figures to look something like this:
- CF A.J. Pollock
- RF David Peralta
- 1B Paul Goldschmidt
- 3B Jake Lamb
- LF J.D. Martinez
- SS Chris Owings
- 2B Brandon Drury
- C Jeff Mathis
- Pitcher
The top five spots of that lineup are as good as any in the National League. As an added bonus, Martinez's right-handed bat will help against all those NL West lefties like Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Alex Wood, and Kyle Freeland.
Here's how SportsLine sees Martinez's improving Arizona's bottom line:
Wins | Win% | Division Odds | Postseason Odds | |
Before Martinez | 88.8 | 54.8 | 0.7% | 68.2% |
With Martinez | 90.5 | 55.9 | 1.4% | 76.7% |
Impact | +1.7 | +1.1 | +0.7% | +8.5% |
Adding roughly two wins with a two-month rental is a pretty nice addition. The D-Backs already have a nice wild card cushion, but Martinez makes them that much better.
Prior to the trade MLB.com ranked Dawel Lugo as the fourth-best prospect in Arizona's farm system. Sergio Alcantara ranked 15th and Jose King did not rank among the team's top 30 prospects. Here is a snippet of MLB.com scouting report on Lugo:
Lugo has a quick bat and is very direct to the ball. He doesn't walk much, but he rarely strikes out and has a natural ability to hit the ball through the middle of the field and to right-center ... Lugo had been a shortstop for the first several years of his career but made a nice transition to third in 2016. He has a very strong and accurate arm from different angles, showing an ability to make plays on the run ... Lugo looked like a future utility man, but the progress he's made points to a potential everyday job in the big leagues. Some of that might depend on if his bat profiles at the hot corner, but that's seeming more and more like a possibility.
With Martinez now traded, it's only a matter of time until the Tigers unload lefty reliever Justin Wilson. Justin Verlander and Michael Fulmer are trade candidates as well, though the chances of a deal are small for different reasons. Verlander is owed a lot of money and Fulmer is very good and very young. He's someone the Tigers figure to build around going forward.
