Opinion: F-Mart not ready for pros
I wrote a post on the Mets’ upcoming trade deadline decisions and outfield situation today at SNY.tv that goes into much further detail, but I’m hoping to get Mets fans to think about whether Fernando Martinez is really ready for the bigs. An excerpt:
The Teenage Hurting Hitting Machine is batting .294 with a pedestrian .338 on-base percentage in Double-A. People have pointed to the midseason callups of David Wright and Jose Reyes, but there are very few similarities between those and F-Mart’s current situation.
Both players were older than Martinez when they joined the big-league club, and both had proven themselves at higher Minor League levels than Martinez has. Reyes hadn’t done a ton to earn his promotion, but he plays shortstop — a position at which less-than-stellar offensive production is justifiable. Left field, not so much. And neither Wright nor Reyes was thrust into an environment anything like the pressure-cooker the Mets are currently steaming in. If they absolutely must promote F-Mart, they should start by moving him to Triple-A and work from there.
Don’t get me wrong: I like Martinez and I think he’s going to be a good player. Heck, for all I know he’s a Hall of Famer. The sky’s the limit. After all, he’s only 19 years old and he’s the third-best hitter on his Double-A team. On the other hand, he’s only 19 years old and he’s the third-best hitter on his Double-A team. He’s struck out 48 times this year against only 13 walks. If big-league scouts got the book on him, F-Mart would whiff enough to make Adam Dunn look like Tony Gwynn.
Again, not trying to hate on the guy — he’s very advanced for his age. I just get the feeling that a lot of Mets fans are hoping he can provide a lot more in 2008 than he’s currently capable of.
