Yankees Rumors: NYY has done 'due diligence' on former tormentor in free agency

The New York Yankees have a DH vacancy for however long Giancarlo Stanton's troublesome elbows and personal matters keep him away from the field.

The most likely solution is to keep the DH spot in the lineup vacant, allowing Aaron Judge and Co. to rotate in and rest as needed. If that's an early-season solution, it's a wise idea to keep aging players fresh. If the Stanton absence lingers, though, the "already-a-bat-short" Yankees should probably import another option or two, even if one ends up clogging the DH role permanently.

Enter JD Martinez, someone whom the Yankees have "been in contact with," per MLB insider Jon Heyman.

At this point, the contact has not gone beyond "due diligence," as the Yankees would obviously prefer to keep the spot flexible in the meantime. However, if Stanton's injury lingers concurrent with Martinez's availability, it wouldn't be shocking to see a few more calls made with a little more purpose behind them.

Yankees have checked in with JD Martinez during Giancarlo Stanton's absence, per Jon Heyman

Wait, "expect" Giancarlo Stanton to return? That would imply there's a possibility he never returns. I certainly had every reason to expect his eventual return, but suddenly I'm having doubts.

Martinez had a to-be-expected down year with the 2024 Mets as he approached the age of 37, but even that diminished version of the ex-Red Sox was effective. He's also just one season removed from mashing 33 home runs/posting a 136 OPS+, in line with his career peaks, with the 2023 Dodgers.

It would be another episode of Yankees Classics to bring in someone who once rang the Green Monster routinely against you for the downside of his career, and it seems unlikely that the Yankees match Martinez's asking price for his regression years. Still, if they're doing due diligence, than we have to as well, even if this reminds us of that other JD.

Boston waiting out Martinez's market in the 2018 offseason after the Yankees landed the splashier slugger in Stanton represented a "sliding doors" moment that year, which culminated in a Red Sox title (and a shaking JA Happ on the mound watching Game 1 slip away as Martinez circled the bases). If the aging ex-Bostonian shows up as an ironic DH solution this year, it likely means things have gone equally wrong in the Bronx.