Laura Albanese: Mets new special assistant J.D. Martinez can be the key to unlocking Mark Vientos
Former Mets player J.D. Martinez greets Mark Vientos after his solo home run against the Athletics at Citi Field on Aug. 15, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
ST. LOUIS — Grimace remains marooned on the Island of Discarded Sports Mascots — a dejected purple blob with a seat next to the Yankee Dandy and the Diamondbacks’ Luchador. Jose Iglesias is just a singer now. And the 2024 Mets are gone for good, a product of a fever dream season that couldn’t be replicated if you tried.
That’s how it should be. Like a middle-aged man trying to relive his high school glory days, there’s little value — and a lot of danger — in getting too stuck in the past. The Mets wisely embraced that notion last year, though it didn’t work out the way they hoped, and fully committed to it this season by gutting their core and rebuilding this team with just a few cornerstones in place.
But it’s one thing to marinate in former glory, and another to let it logically inform your march toward future success. And Tuesday, the Mets announced one rehash that made almost too much sense: J.D. Martinez is coming back. No, not as a player — but as special assistant to baseball operations.
Martinez is expected to play a role similar to the one occupied by Carlos Beltran, manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday, adding that they’ll likely start seeing him around during the next homestand. What does that mean? Well, the Mets will have a guy who’s been there, done that, and done it exceptionally well. Pivotally, he’s also a guy that knows how to share that experience with others — something he proved when he embraced the elder statesman role in 2024.
“Overall, [it’s a] huge, huge addition,” Mendoza said Tuesday before the Mets were set to take on the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. “Everybody saw what he meant to the team in 2024 when he first [joined the Mets] — not only on the field, but off the field. Great guy in the clubhouse. He’s just super consistent, very knowledgeable and very positive . . . There’s so much information. The value of having [players] talking to a Hall of Famer in Carlos Beltran and now a guy like J.D. Martinez — and the mind [they have] and everything they bring to the table.”
Martinez was a prolific hitter throughout his 14-year career, slashing .283/.348/.516, and an assiduous student of the game. He was a key cog in the Mets’ 2024 turnaround and a present, vocal clubhouse leader. But there’s another element, too: Martinez was good with the “kids.” He was close with guys like Francisco Alvarez, and perhaps most notably, Mark Vientos, who had a career year that season — batting .266 with 27 homers and 71 RBIs, making onlookers believe that maybe, just maybe, the Mets had a future All-Star on their hands.
“If you would ask him, he’d probably say he didn’t help me at all,” Vientos said Tuesday. “But I think just being around him and seeing how he went about his business [helped me]. I sat with him on the plane and would see everything he would do [with his preparation] and I learned so much. I soaked up all that info and it was an honor.”
No one is expecting Martinez to blow into town and fairy godmother Vientos into the 2024 version of himself, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to let him have a crack at it.
Vientos still has considerable upside, but playing time is scarce — he got his first start of the season Tuesday at designated hitter — and had just one at-bat before that, a single. It’s no easy thing, riding the bench and praying you come through in the few opportunities afforded to you.
He also struggled plenty in spring training, going 2-for-35. And though he’s taken a sanguine approach to his slow start, he has to know the pressure is on. This is now his fifth major-league season, and the Mets are still looking to unlock the version of Vientos that can change the game on a consistent basis.
“He definitely had a huge impact on Mark,” Mendoza said. “But not only with Vientos but just in general — not only with the position players but with the pitching staff and how he saw things from the offense and sharing some of the things with pitching staff . . . he was pretty impactful for us.”
Vientos, meanwhile, called Martinez “like an older brother with me . . .
“I feel like it was easy to relate to him . . . We [have a lot] in common. We’re the same type of guy.”
And if Martinez can help Vientos get back to 2024? Well, that’s one retread they’ll happily accept.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
