Sunday, October 11, 2015
#544 Ted Martinez
Ted, short for Theodoro….light hitting, reserve
infielder who stayed in majors for a surprisingly long time….best body of work was with at the end of his
career in LA (1977-79) after an exile in the minors during 1976….hit .280 in
Dodger blue….started as a Met….fall call up in 1970 after hitting .306 in
AAA…started 1971 in minors but was called up to stay in early July….hit .288
for the New Yorkers….Remained in near regular status 1972-74…had career high 43
RBI’s but the .219 BA in 334 in last season did him in as a Met…had a poor
start after being traded to Cardinals in 1975….acquired by Oakland in their
typical Kelly Girl round up for playoff run….Released and picked up by the Reds
(see 1976 reference above)….Pick up by LA in rule 5 draft….finished American
baseball career in AAA Albuquerque…played 3 season Mexican Leagues…nearly all
his cards with a write up use the word versatile.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wow that's interesting. Never thought about a veteran being eligible for the Rule 5 draft before. Guess as long as he's off the 40-man roster, he's eligible.
ReplyDeleteI don't know all the in's and out's of Rule 5. They seem to change and I've seen exceptions. My general concept is a draftee is often a young (A ball) level player who by rules has to send a full year in the big leagues. Rarely, this works out for the player sits on the bench and is overwhelmed by the competition. Personally I'd avoid as a career move. As for Martinez, I think he was rule 5 eligible because he played in the minors the year before. It worked out for him.
ReplyDelete