Full Count
A Furiously Updated Red Sox Blog
WEEI.com Blog Network
RSS
Tigers announce Victor Martinez signing, say he will serve chiefly as DH 11.26.10 at 10:31 am ET
By Alex Speier

The Tigers made their signing of Victor Martinez to a four-year, $50 million deal official in a press release on Friday, with Detroit President, CEO and GM Dave Dombrowski heralding the arrival of “a premier hitter” who will slot into the middle of their lineup.

Interestingly, given the degree to which Martinez’ value is tied to his position, the Tigers have already stated that Martinez will serve primarily as a DH who also catches two to three times a week. From the release:

“We expect Victor to be in our lineup on a daily basis, serving primarily as our club’s designated hitter and catching two to three times a week,” Dombrowski said. “He also has the ability to fill in at first base and his versatility allows us to keep a premier bat in our lineup every day. We’ve discussed this role with Victor and both sides are very pleased with what he brings to the Tigers organization.”

Martinez’ ability to play different roles certainly possesses value. Indeed, it was part of what made him such an appealing and impactful acquisition for the Sox in 2009.

Still, if he is to serve primarily as their DH, he becomes a less valuable asset than he would as an everyday catcher. Finding a designated hitter who can add middle-of-the-order production — hello, Vladimir Guerrero — is a less daunting task than identifying a catcher who can do so. That is part of the reason why David Ortiz is viewed as being overpaid for the 2011 season, when he will be playing on a $12.5 million option. Certainly, Martinez retains some added value over a DH in his part-time catching role, but it is not quite as much value as was the case in 2010, when he was the Sox’ everyday catcher.

Read More: Detroit Tigers, victor martinez, Print  |  Email  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Dano50

    Now I’m more surprised than ever that Victor took this deal. At least so quickly. I really thought he preferred to catch. I like Victor a lot and wish he had re-signed, but I don’t really think he holds that kind of value as a hitter. I will be very curious how this works out for both him and his new team. But he also has to live in Detroit now. That would have to count for something IMO. Not to be overly provincial…

  • http://weei.com/blogs Jared vartiek turcotte

    SHUT UP JASON BAY WE DO NOT NEED V-MART IN BOSTON

  • Mike

    Rumor has the Sox offering Crawford $100 Mil. His stats, save for SB’s and more runs scored, much of which are due to the steals, are identical, yet V-Mart has struck out only half as much. So if the Sox don’t think V-Mart is worth $50 Mil, how can they think Crawford is worth twice that, or $100 Mil? Makes no sense at all.

  • Mike

    Part II, make that identical to V-Mart.

  • tobosox

    Age, speed and defense. Use your head Mike.

  • Hank

    The players read the tea leaves too. Many if not most want to play on a World Series contender. The Sox won’t be that for at least a few years. Beltre won’t come back either. It’s early yet. But remember the year the Sox didn’t act quickly? Damon left town. And we were all winter before he brought Coco Crisp in to play center. Theo is too hung up on young players. Young players are nothing until they prove themselves as big leaguers. An outfield of Ellsbury, Nava, Kalish, McDonald, Cameron and Drew may be great in Pittsburgh but not in Boston.

  • jason bay

    Hank! your really are one guy that’s not drinking the kool-aid. Anybody that thinks this team is better off without Beltre and V-Mart are in denial. Un proven players like Kalish, Nava and whatever other stiffs they bring up seem to be the direction the Sox are going. They are turning into the Royals. They will be a non factor for years to come

  • http://www.gliders-fornursery.com/ gliders for nursery reviews

    some really wondrous work on behalf of the owner of this web site , dead great written content .

Red Sox Box Score
Red Sox Schedule
Baseball Analytics Blog
Red Sox Headlines
Red Sox Minor League News
Red Sox Team Leaders
MLB Headlines
Tips & Feedback

Verify