Dodgers News: JD Martinez Came to LA to Win a Title, Not Rebuild
The Dodgers are heading into another season with World Series aspirations front of mind. And ,it turns out one of the newest Dodger bats is a big fan of that. Outfielder/designated hitter J.D. Martinez agreed to a one year, $10 million deal with LA back in December and officially spoke about it for the first time on Wednesday night.
The veteran was in attendance at Mookie Betts’ first annual 5050 Foundation Celebrity Bowling event in Los Angeles where he chatted with the LA Times and shared why the Dodgers were a top choice.
“I’m in a part of my career where I just want to win, I didn’t want to be on a team that was gonna be rebuilding. I didn’t want to be on a team that was trying to see where [it was] going, [that] didn’t know where we were gonna be. I wanted to be on a team that is going to be in the running, that is gonna be right there come October. That was my main thing. That was literally my main focus. … I’m getting to the back end of my career. And I know this is a really good chance … to try to win another World Series.”
via Jack Harris, LA Times
Martinez teamed with Mookie to win a World Series once before in 2018 with the Red Sox. You might remember that one… But before then, he was a player that has had some links to the Dodgers in the past. In 2017, the club was linked to the All-Star in rumors near the trade deadline before ultimately getting traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. There was a less obvious connection later that winter as the veteran was seeking a mega-deal that he secured with Boston. But for this year, he told Harris that signing with LA was always in the back of his mind.
It’s a partnership that makes sense for the Dodgers and the goals for both sides. You want to win a title? So do we. Let’s do this. Martinez will fill a leadership role left behind by
