Victor Martinez could be the big bat the Red Sox are going to trade for before the deadline. Yesterday Peter Gammons said the Sox rejected the offer to trade Buchholz for Martinez but SI's Jon Heyman points out that there are plenty more players in the Red Sox organization that might satisfy Cleveland and the Tribe is looking to move V-Mart. Ken Rosenthal says the Sox won't go after Martinez but don't listen to him, they can easily flip LaRoche.
Martinez is hitting .291 with an OPS of .846. The Red Sox need a catcher for the future and Tek's bat has cooled off. Martinez fits the Red Sox mold as he is seeing more pitches this year and getting more walks.
9 comments:
OK, he's got a big bat, but how well does he call games, how strong is his arm and defense?
AND... can he catch a knuckleball?!
Who is Ken Rosenthal?
From Baseball Prospectus:
"Everyone knows Martinez is a great hitter, but few talk about the transformation he's undergone defensively. It wasn't so long ago that it was just assumed that Martinez would eventually move to first base because of his deficiencies behind the plate. Now, while he's still not Johnny Bench back there, he's not bad, either. Martinez blocks balls well, has soft hands, and threw out 32 percent of opposing basestealers last year, which was the fourth-best rate in the American League (behind only Joe Mauer, Kenji Johjima, and Gerald Laird). At $17 million for the next three years, Martinez is an absolute bargain."
This is the kind of addition the slumping Sox need. He could also represent part of the answer to their long term catching questions. For now, he could rotate between DH, 1B, and catcher. He would be a solid offensive addition, but we do not yet know what the cost would be.
I say pull the trigger on the Buchholz for Martinez deal. Clay Buchholz is not Josh Beckett and I doubt he will ever be. Why is he always "untouchable" when it comes to trade talk?
The Sox have developed an excellent farm system. They have way too many good players in the silo, they all can't play for the Sox in the bigs. Some of them will *have* to be traded. Buchholz is good, he may be excellent some day, or he could be another Craig Hansen. Can't keep them all. Have to trade some of them, but not all (of the some) at the same time. If the Tribe wants Buchholz for V-Mart, and V-Mart is as good as BP says he is, then send CB. There will be another pitching phenom coming along, Theo will find them. (Where did Bard come from all of a sudden?) In Theo we trust. Yeah, I know he's not perfect, but he's the best GM the Sox has ever had.
But can he catch a knuckleball?
Can any one really catch a knuckleball! Get Martinez, period!
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