Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
December 30, 2004
Big Deal In the Bronx?

It's been rumored for a while and talked about for days, but it looks like the Yankees have finally done it. Tino Martinez is returning to the Bronx. I love the opening of the article:

The Yankees won four titles with Tino Martinez manning first base from 1996-2001. They haven't won a ring, however, since Martinez left the Bronx after the 2001 season.

Interestingly enough, Tino's best year was 1997, the year the Yankees got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. He was a solid player for NY, but he hasn't had a 20 win share season since he left the big apple. He's also showing the classic sign of aging; his walks are going up as he tries to compensate for lack of bat speed by being more selective. It won't be long before pitchers realize what's going on and start taking advantage of it.

If the Yankees are hiring him as a late inning defensive replacement/part time first baseman, that's fine. If they believe he can contribute a lot as an everyday player, I doubt it. For the life of me, I can't understand why every team in the majors doesn't have a young big bopper at first in AAA just for these situations. I'd much rather pay a 22-year-old $300,000 to be below average than $2 million to an old vet.

Oh, and by the way, it looks like the Randy Johnson deal will get done, also. :-)


Posted by David Pinto at 11:25 PM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I have to disagree with you, David - Tino's BB have not really increased in compensation for his decreased bat speed, at leat not significantly. His OPS+ has been over 100 the past 4 years, and in fact it's been over 100 in 12 of his last 13 years, which is every season that he was a fulltime player. It was 117 last year, and 108 and 106 in 2002 and 2003. Not bad for a backup 1B. It's a definate upgrade to Tony Clark (OPS+ 97) and John Olerud (OPS+ 98).

Posted by: shawn at December 31, 2004 01:46 PM

cmon david, didn't you know that tino just Knows How To Win???!!!

Posted by: lisa gray at January 2, 2005 08:59 PM
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