The Mets announce today they have brought in former MLB OF and DH, JD Martinez to join their front office as a special advisor to David Stearns. A bit unusual for the Mets, given their current stance on not bringing back former players but this time around it’s not to play but to provide insight in the front office and help develop the stars on the field.

JD Martinez joins Carlos Beltran and David Wright as former Mets to transition their career into the front office taking the role as special advisor to the general manager. But what exactly is a ‘special advisor’ and how does this make the Mets a better team than they were without JD Martinez.

A special advisor is a postion filled by former big leaguers to offer advise for internal operations for their team’s organization. It is a fluid role used to guide operations, mentor players and asssit with coaching or scouting.

It is a position that isn’t limited to just one role but overseeing everything. So much of baseball operations is men who never really made it in the big leagues or professional baseball in general so it is always good to get a secondary opinion on the sport and how to approach certain players who may be struggling.

Given that JD Martinez had a very successful major league career spread across 14 seasons with the Astros, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets, it makes a lot of sense the Mets trusted him to give him such a versatile role in their organization development.

For his career, JD Martinez is a 6 time all star, 3 time silver slugger, and 2018 World Champion with the Red Sox. Within that, Martinez has collected 1741 hits, 1071 RBIS, 331 homeruns, a career batting average of .283 and a career OPS+ 31% better than league average at 131 OPS+.

These metrics shine great significance on JD Martinez’s career and show why he is all that worth to be part of the Mets staff. However, it is ironic given his age at the time, his statistics with the Mets are an outlier compared to his career statistics.

In 2024, JD Martinez played in 120 games, and had 102 hits, 46 runs, 16 home runs, 69 RBIs, a batting average of .235 and a triple slash line of .320/.406/.725 for an OPS+ of 105.

But it really isn’t what JD provided on the field, but what he did for the Mets off the field. Sometimes a player’s impact on a team goes beyond what the stats may suggest.

After JD Martinez, made his Mets debut on April 26th, 2024, around a month after the 2024 season begun, the Mets went on to win 11 out of 15 games during a hot stretch in May to early June.

With JD as the primary DH, he provided valuable guidance to the players and helped turn the team around after an 0-5 start, eventually reaching the National League Championship Series in a six-game matchup against the Dodgers.

With a revamped squad, the Mets look to return to the playoffs for the first time since their magical 2024 season, relying on an old friend to help steer the ship.