The Toronto Blue Jays may have struck silver (if not gold) when they signed Justin Turner to be their primary designated hitter this past winter. Heading into the off-season, the Blue Jays wanted and needed to augment their offense, which was mid last year (below MLB average in total home runs and RBI, above MLB average in batting average, hits, and OPS). And while re-signing Matt Chapman to play third base was an option, his offensive profile was not that enticing (27 home runs in both 2021 and 2022, 17 in 2023, but a slash line of .226/.322/.420 was not what the club needed).

There were four primary DHs available in this past year’s free agent market. The Blue Jays push – and for a few hours (i.e., the length of a flight from Orange County, California to Toronto) the high hopes – for Shohei Ohtani (the gold standard) to join their team fizzled when the best player on the planet elected to sign with the Dodgers. That left three strong possibilities.

Staring at the options, J.D. Martinez, represented by super-agent Scott Boras, may have been viewed as the hardest deal to make. One, he was looking for somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million over two years; and two, Boras likes to keep his players on the market as long as possible to increase his leverage.