Tribeinsider @tribeinsider 2m2 minutes ago
INF Michael Martinez traded to Boston for cash this afternoon
INF Michael Martinez traded to Boston for cash this afternoon
Sox acquire Michael Martinez
- Thread starter DeadlySplitter
- Start date
A 33-year-old super-utility guy of whom I have never heard. Had a couple of decent games with Cleveland but got DFA'd in a roster squeeze after that 19-inning game last week. Here's his BBRef: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martimi02.shtml.
EDIT: My guess is that this is about improving on Deven Marrero and Mike Miller as the emergency MI in Pawtucket -- man, they REALLY don't think Marco Hernandez can play SS, do they?
EDIT: My guess is that this is about improving on Deven Marrero and Mike Miller as the emergency MI in Pawtucket -- man, they REALLY don't think Marco Hernandez can play SS, do they?
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Okay, now I really don't know what's going on, but something is definitely up.
Switch-hitting 33 y/o IF/OF with a career .516 OPS in about a season's worth of PA's with the Phillies, Pirates and Indians. Decent numbers in AAA, however. Depth?
(He's weird as a depth option, now that I think about it, because what does he provide that Marco Hernandez or Josh Rutledge don't, apart from 396 ML innings across all three OF positions?)
Switch-hitting 33 y/o IF/OF with a career .516 OPS in about a season's worth of PA's with the Phillies, Pirates and Indians. Decent numbers in AAA, however. Depth?
(He's weird as a depth option, now that I think about it, because what does he provide that Marco Hernandez or Josh Rutledge don't, apart from 396 ML innings across all three OF positions?)
Not sure how much to read into that.......he is nursing a bone bruise. They might just choose to set him out this weekend and give him thru the all-star break to heal.
edit: slower than slow
Is there a spot on the 40? Does he have options?
This is definitely a weird move, but by and large the Red Sox and the Dominican Republic have had a very nice relationship, so I'm all for it.
This is definitely a weird move, but by and large the Red Sox and the Dominican Republic have had a very nice relationship, so I'm all for it.
It's always hard to tell who has options, but if the Indians had to expose him to waivers, I'd say it's a safe bet he doesn't.
Pete Abraham @PeteAbe 2m2 minutes ago
Michael Martinez will be added to the MLB roster of the #RedSox. Not sure if that will be tonight or not
Michael Martinez will be added to the MLB roster of the #RedSox. Not sure if that will be tonight or not
I think the answer is no on both counts. So somebody would appear to be leaving....they have 6 backup infielders on the 40-man right now: Holt, Hill, Hernandez (that sounds like an accounting firm, doesn't it?), Rutledge, Marrero, and now this guy. Seems like a lot.
Is it possible Holt is going on the 60-day because the concussion thing hasn't resolved?
I really don't understand this move unless they are trying to include Hernandez in a deal or want him playing full time instead of getting 5 PA per week with Hill here. I also don't know what he has over the other bevy of util guys the sox have though.
Ah, it's Coyle. How the mighty have fallen. Remember when he was Pedey II?
EDIT: I missed him before, so it's still 6 backup IFs, 10 IFs total (11 counting Papi). That's as compared to 21 pitchers, 4 catchers, and just 4 outfielders. Seems a bit out of balance. Granted, one of the IFs and one of the Cs have played a fair amount of OF as well, but still.....
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Maybe he's just better than Sean Coyle, who they DFA'd to make room.
Or they're gonna trade Pedroia for a pitcher, and Farrell is going to use the Dick Williams method: Four 2Bmen a game and pinch hit for them every time.
That's odd. Seems like if it were a 15 day DL for Shaw, they would be fine with Hernandez for that time.
He's headed to the 25 man from what I can tell, which is a significant difference from Coyle.
Yeah, this is about replacing Marco Hernandez. I suppose Martinez's versatility allows him to be your fifth OF as well as your sixth IF, but I don't really get why that outweighs Hernandez's competence at the plate.
Okay, now this is the first wrinkle
Pete Abraham @PeteAbe 9m9 minutes ago
Martinez will not on the MLB roster tonight, however
That could be they're waiting for Shaw's foot to progress; or even that Martinez can't get to Boston tonight
Pete Abraham @PeteAbe 9m9 minutes ago
Martinez will not on the MLB roster tonight, however
That could be they're waiting for Shaw's foot to progress; or even that Martinez can't get to Boston tonight
True. But its probably not for long. I can't believe he's anything but cannon fodder//filler for a couple of days.
EDIT: Regarding Abrahams tweet....dont guys have 72 hours to report? So can he just be sort of limbo-stashed while they see where Shaw is over the next couple of days?
Scott Lauber @ScottLauber 7m7 minutes ago
FWIW- Martinez played majority of his big-league career for #RedSox first-base coach Ruben Amaro Jr. in Philadelphia from 2011-13.
FWIW- Martinez played majority of his big-league career for #RedSox first-base coach Ruben Amaro Jr. in Philadelphia from 2011-13.
Youth is waisted on Sean Coyle
I don't get this move at all. Even if Coyle can't cover 3B
I'd rather play anyone on the 40 and keep Coyle as an asset no matter how small (pun not intended)
I don't get this move at all. Even if Coyle can't cover 3B
I'd rather play anyone on the 40 and keep Coyle as an asset no matter how small (pun not intended)
Pete Abraham @PeteAbe 3m3 minutes ago
Guessing that #RedSox want Marco Hernandez to play every day and can afford to send him down with Hill here.
Lauber: Martinez, 33, has played 2B (48 games), 3B (41 games), CF (40 games), LF (29 games), SS (24 games), RF (14 games) in his big-league career. Switch-hitter was batting .283/.306/.383 in 32 games for Cleveland. He's a .199 career hitter.
Coyle is 24 and seems to have peaked with his one good season at AA 2 years ago, which seems to be an outlier compared to the rest of his MiLB hitting.
If the spot was needed for Hill I'dhave no problems with it
But 30HR's in 531 ab at any level is better than .299 or whatever MM did in 32 games as a 33 year old. Coyle has some speed too.
24 is still young, we're spoiled with the B Boys
It looks as though it will shake out like this:
Holt will be the semi-permanent left fielder, barring his concussion symptoms returning
Shaw will be the primary third baseman
Hill will get platoon at-bats with Shaw, and will cover when Hanley, Pedroia or Ortiz needs a day off
Martinez moves into Holt's super utility role ... albeit more as a bench player
Hernandez return to AAA to play every day
Holt will be the semi-permanent left fielder, barring his concussion symptoms returning
Shaw will be the primary third baseman
Hill will get platoon at-bats with Shaw, and will cover when Hanley, Pedroia or Ortiz needs a day off
Martinez moves into Holt's super utility role ... albeit more as a bench player
Hernandez return to AAA to play every day
Just Dombrowski getting cheap pieces where he can to free his hands for other moves.
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1. Picking up Hill and Martinez lets them avoid a DL stint for Shaw even if he needs more like a week because they're so close to the break. Shaw might be a worthwhile trade chip but a 15 day DL stint could muddy the waters on that front. So Hill lets them avoid that stint knowing that Shaw could likely pass a trade physical now even with the bone bruise, but he won't get back to peak condition nearly as quickly by playing on it.
2. Marco Hernandez is 23 and has looked like a surprisingly worthwhile MLer in a limited sample. Letting him play every day in AAA instead of getting a handful of ABs a week will help that value, limit his service time accrual, and maybe even allow for further development. Meanwhile he hasn't looked very good in limited OF opportunities while Martinez presumably is a good deal more proficient in that role, something the team needs at the moment.
3. Rutledge is still out and was falling to earth pretty rapidly prior to the DL stint. So the club has, prior to these two moves, been an injury away from starting Marco Hernandez on a daily basis (risky) and another minor injury away from giving Marrero that kind of playing time.
The 40 man roster isn't full of guys you hate to see go either. Sean Coyle had a brief window when he looked like he could be something but has never stayed healthy and never shown enough plate discipline to be even a AAAA guy, as one example. Ryan LeMarre was no big loss. We won't miss Marrero when he's let go either, something likely to occur before the end of this season.
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1. Picking up Hill and Martinez lets them avoid a DL stint for Shaw even if he needs more like a week because they're so close to the break. Shaw might be a worthwhile trade chip but a 15 day DL stint could muddy the waters on that front. So Hill lets them avoid that stint knowing that Shaw could likely pass a trade physical now even with the bone bruise, but he won't get back to peak condition nearly as quickly by playing on it.
2. Marco Hernandez is 23 and has looked like a surprisingly worthwhile MLer in a limited sample. Letting him play every day in AAA instead of getting a handful of ABs a week will help that value, limit his service time accrual, and maybe even allow for further development. Meanwhile he hasn't looked very good in limited OF opportunities while Martinez presumably is a good deal more proficient in that role, something the team needs at the moment.
3. Rutledge is still out and was falling to earth pretty rapidly prior to the DL stint. So the club has, prior to these two moves, been an injury away from starting Marco Hernandez on a daily basis (risky) and another minor injury away from giving Marrero that kind of playing time.
The 40 man roster isn't full of guys you hate to see go either. Sean Coyle had a brief window when he looked like he could be something but has never stayed healthy and never shown enough plate discipline to be even a AAAA guy, as one example. Ryan LeMarre was no big loss. We won't miss Marrero when he's let go either, something likely to occur before the end of this season.
He's organizational filler and will likely get through waivers and return to Pawtucket. And I don't know where you're looking, but he's never hit 30 HRs in a season, his career high is 16.
Another question is whether Martinez is really better than Josh Rutledge. If Rut comes back in two weeks and Holt/Shaw avoid a DL stint, who goes? Obviously Hernandez has options, but I'm not sure about Rutledge.
Either one. Martinez cost them cash. Rutledge was himself a freebie pickup who caught lightning in a bottle for a few weeks. Both are fungible players, just better than giving ML time to one of the AAA Marreros or Sean Coyle.
Anyway, Rutledge needs to get back into baseball activities and once he's actually ready to play can then see a 20 day mL rehab stint before the club needs to make a move. Unless he's suddenly right as rain coming out of the ASB the club can probably avoid the decision until rosters expand.
I think it is more likely that an injury or trade will clear room sooner than Rutledge's return, and we'll see more of Marco or some other AAA'er getting a cup of coffee in the interim.