Just saw that Adam Rubin from The New York Daily News ran a piece suggesting that the Mets temporarily held Fernando Martinez out of winter league action while they contemplated trading him. Rubin’s friend in the Dominican Republic, where Fernandez is now playing, provided this morsel of inconclusive drivel:
A person close to the Escogido [the Mets D.R. team] told me that the reason why the Mets delayed Martinez was because they were talking about trading him in the offseason. Mario Emilio Guerrero, Escogido’s press chief, was asked about the situation early last week and he didn't want to confirm the rumor, but he didn't deny it, either. As you know, like Guerrero, an Escogido employee, didn't want to confirm the rumors, neither did Escogido´general manager, former Mets player Moisés Alou.
Believe it or not, there are two take-home points in there. First, there is obviously nothing interesting coming out of the Mets camp. Bill Madden, also from the The New York Daily News, recently wrote:
According to sources with first-hand knowledge of the MLB profit-and-loss sheets, the Mets were "right in the middle" of the teams that made money in 2009. However, their initial revenue projections for 2010 are said to be not so good, and that could be not so good news for Mets fans who expect the Wilpons to do Yankees-like splurging in the free-agent market this winter.
Madden estimates that New York will have about $20 million to spend and that leftfield and starting pitching are must-haves in order for the team to compete. Sounds like bargain shopping to me. Might be a long winter for Mets fans.
The second take-home point is that Fernando Martinez, coming off an injury, is not a serious contender for a spot in the Mets outfield and may end up getting a fresh start somewhere else. This begs the question, if Martinez gets an opportunity to log major playing time next season, is he worth a flyer?
Before he tore his meniscus in July, he struggled mightily with he big club, batting just .176 with a measly 7 extra-base hits in 91 at-bats. While his Triple-A stats were decent on the surface, last season, our Bill Root took a deeper look at Fernando upon being recalled in late May. In his analysis for RotoExperts, let's just say Root didn't like what he saw:
I admit it; I’ve always thought this kid was nothing more than a product of New York media hype, even though he was playing at advanced levels for his age. Well, with Ryan Church on the disabled list, Martinez made his major league debut on Tuesday. His promotion won't change my mind. Martinez was hitting .294, with 7 HRs, and a .341 OBP at Triple-A. Not bad. But his walk-to-strikeout rate is 0.38 and has consistently been below 0.40 in his minor-league career. The young outfielder needs to learn how to take a walk or major league pitchers are going to abuse him. Further, Martinez doesn't steal bases and has inconsistent power at best. Finally, Martinez has never hit above .300 in a full minor-league season. He doesn't do anything that’ll help win you a fantasy championship. I see a kid being rushed to justify his contract and the hype.
Needless to say, MLBFP advises our readers to avoid Fernando Martinez no matter where is playing. Of course, that assumes he even gets back to the bigs this coming season. His prospect status is waning, friends.
