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.




2 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. I 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.

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