Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Vaya Con Dios, Victor


Photo by Me

The news broke when I was at work. Victor Martinez signed with the Detroit Tigers today. A four year $50 million dollar contract. Apparently the Red Sox offered him a 3 or 4 year deal at al lower price. I've read some things saying that Victor was looking for more longevity in his deal, which I can understand. He's a guy with a family and kids, and the less you have to uproot them especially when they are school aged the better. As with any news of a major player leaving the Sox, some people are flipping out.

Yes, Victor was fantastic at the plate after he came back from injury this past season. His bat will definitely be missed in the line up and it's a void that will need to be filled. But defensively? A lot of noise was made when V-Mart came on board about what a big defensive improvement he was over Jason Varitek. I love Tek, so I am a bit biased. But I didn't see that big of a difference in defensive prowess between the two. Especially earlier in the season when Victor couldn't throw Johnny Pesky out at second base.

I'm interested to see what happens. Varitek wasn't offered arbitration. I hope it's Theo's way of trying to get a lower contract price for him, but you never know what is going to happen with a client of Scott Boras. Tek would be a great mentor for Saltalamacchia. All in all, I think the Sox made the right move. Now. On to Adrian Beltre.

That being sad? They need to keep Little Victor on the short list of players to draft in a few years. Check out that swing!




2 comments:

  1. Alexis, I was sad to hear he was leaving but I think they did the right thing; the offer they made was fair and I'm happy VMart is going to get paid. He'll do well in Detroit playing with Cabrera.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was bummed about it too, Ted. But I realized that a lot of that came from me liking V-mart the player and the teammate. His bat will be missed in the lineup, but I think they made the right move given his defensive abilities and the price he ended up going for.

    ReplyDelete