Let’s pick a JD. The Mets are reportedly linked to a pair, Martinez and Davis. (JD Drew is 48; there is no word on whether he plans to come out of retirement.)

Martinez hit 33 homers and .271/.321/.572 last season (479 plate appearances) with the Dodgers. He has been in three consecutive All-Star games and six in his career. Per Fangraphs, he projects to hit 22 homers in 504 PAs this year and slash .247/.312/.455. He is 36 years old and played 110 of his 113 games at DH last year.

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He would slot in nicely behind Pete Alonso in a lineup that may struggle to score runs. Also, I have this hang-up that a DH shouldn’t hit below sixth, and at the moment, I’d bat Mark Vientos seventh, and it’s aesthetically unpleasing. But he is older than the other JD. But he will be more expensive. (But it is not my money.)

Davis, 30, hit 18 home runs with San Francisco last season (546 PAs) and batted .248/.325/.413. Fangraphs projects 11 home runs in 350 PAs with a .247/.333/.410 slash line. He played 116 games at third base and 15 at first. But that’s 15 fewer homers than the older JD in 67 more plate appearances. Hmm.

Davis offers more versatility because he can play the field. On the other hand, I also saw him play the field with the Mets from 2019-2022, and I’m not anxious to relive that experience. On the other hand (the third hand?) I have seen Brett Baty and Vientos play third, and oh dear. I should also note that Davis worked on improving his defense, and Baseball Savant had him in the 90th percentile last year at third base.

Davis also gets dinged (perhaps unfairly) for failing to live up to the expectations he set when he hit 22 home runs in 2019, posted a .895 OPS, and never approached those numbers in New York again. He was last seen here hitting four home runs in 2022 and being part of a midseason trade for Darin Ruf. It’s hard to get back into a TV show again after you drop it.

There is also “none of the above,” aka Vientos. Fangraphs projects the 24-year-old 14 home runs and .241/.306/.440 in 315 PAs. He is the youngest and cheapest option, and if this year is about finding out what the Mets have in their young players, then he is the way to go.

But I think New York can compete for a wild card spot despite many question marks. If you zoom out, all the teams projected to be in the Wild Card hunt have holes, some arguably even more than the Mets. Francisco Lindor made a great point last month.

“Nobody was suspecting the Diamondbacks, but I’m sure they were,” he said of the NL champs. “You know, not too many people were expecting the Rangers either, but I’m sure they were as well.”

It’s March, and the madness of college hoops is coming. Baseball, with more playoff teams and short series, has turned October into its own version of madness. The Rangers won the World Series. If you make the playoffs, anything can happen. Get J.D. Martinez.