By Raymond Bennett
Tuesday January 17, 2012
In 2011, Victor Martinez was an important piece to a Detroit Tigers team that won the AL Central and went all the way to the American League Championship Series. However, a serious injury may have impacted the Tigers chances of repeating as division champions.
Reports surfaced on Tuesday that Martinez, 33, tore his left anterior cruciate ligament during an offseason conditioning session at the Tigers spring training facility in Lakeland, FL. The injury will require surgery, which may result in Martinez missing a large portion or the entire 2012 MLB season.
Martinez was a contributing factor, along with AL Cy Young and MVP pitcher Justin Verlander and power-hitting first baseman Miguel Cabrera, in bringing the Tigers their first division championship in 24 years last season. In his first year in a Tigers uniform, the nearly full-time designated hitter had a career-high in batting average with .330, 12 home runs and 103 RBI. He also had a league-leading .394 average with runners in scoring position.
The loss of the 11-year veteran, who has also played for the Indians and Red Sox, couldn't come at a worse time for the Tigers as they have had a quiet offseason. So far this offseason, the Tigers have resigned IF Ramon Santiago, signed veteran relief pitcher Octavio Dotel and just agreed to deals with outfielder Delmon Young, and pitchers Rick Porcello and Phil Coke during salary arbitration.
Once news broke of Martinez's possible season-ending injury, rumors of available free agents the Tigers could sign as short-term replacements began to heat up. Among those names that have come up since the story broke include former Brewers 1B Prince Fielder, veteran OF/DH and one-time Tiger Johnny Damon, and former Yankees and A's DH Hideki Matsui among others. The Tigers are also one of six preferred teams of free agent Cuban-defect OF Yoennis Cespedes.
If the Tigers end up signing Cespedes, one of their players on the 25 man roster would have to move to the now vacant DH-slot. The most logical choice would be Young, who hit 8 of his 12 home runs last season after his acquisition from Minnesota late in the 2011 season. Young also has been known to be a below average, error prone outfielder, leading the Majors last year in errors among regular left fielders (7). A switch to DH might solve both problems for Young and the Tigers.
