I don't think MikeM is wildly off base in his characterization of the conversation over the offseason, although he may be conflating JDM conversations with conversations about dealing Bradley for Kyle Schwarber.
I know I said that signing JDM for a large contract *as an outfielder* would be a mistake, because he’s nearly as bad a defender as he projected to be a good hitter. This is how he turned 120 games of a 141 wRC+ into 2.2 fWAR his last full season in Detroit.
Now, since those conversations, JDM signed for ~65% of what I expected him to get, and then stayed mostly healthy while posting his third consecutive half-season above a 1.000 OPS. In the meantime, Hanley has been DFA'd, opening up more DH PAs, and keeping Martinez out of the outfield, where he has been, as anticipated, awful. And Bradley didn't hit his weight for the first two months of the season, although he has a 93 wRC+ for the last month...