The New York Yankees entered spring training motivated to prove that they're a better team than they were in 2024, even without Juan Soto. Their attempt to do so has gotten off to a brutal start thanks to injuries to Luis Gil and, more notably, DH Giancarlo Stanton, who is dealing with injuries to both of his elbows and has yet to appear in a spring training game.
Gil going down hurts, obviously, but the Yankees still have one of the best rotations in the American League even without him. Stanton, however, was arguably New York's second-best hitter behind Aaron Judge. Losing him, especially when their internal replacement options are extremely underwhelming, is frustrating, even if a Stanton injury is easy to predict at this point in his career.
While it feels unlikely that Stanton will be ready for Opening Day, manager Aaron Boone has not sounded too concerned that he'll be without his slugger for too long. But the team reportedly being in contact with J.D. Martinez, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post ($), would suggest the opposite.
"There’s been some contact with J.D. Martinez. But it might be hard to figure out how to bring him in as a stopgap player because there’s surely hope and expectation for Stanton to return," Heyman wrote.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Yankees considering J.D. Martinez suggests Giancarlo Stanton is more serious than Aaron Boone would like to believe
When considering ideal Stanton replacements, it's hard to imagine the Yankees can do much better than Martinez, one of the best designated hitters of his era. He might not be the star at the dish he once was, but even with a poor finish to the 2024 campaign, Martinez hit 16 home runs, drove in 69 runs, and had an above-average 106 OPS+ in 120 games with the New York Mets. His opposite-field approach also makes him an ideal fit for Yankee Stadium.
While Martinez makes sense as an ideal Stanton replacement, he isn't the kind of player the Yankees would add if Stanton was only going to miss a couple of weeks, or even one month. Martinez being a DH only means he's only valuable when he's at the plate. Rostering him and Stanton, another DH-only player, at the same time would not make any sense roster-wise.
If Stanton was only going to miss the first couple of weeks of the season, the Yankees would probably prefer to stick with their internal options — as underwhelming as they might be. A longer-term play would hint at Stanton having a lengthy absence ahead due to the injury.