Jose

Martinez

Martínez, 37, began his pro career with the White Sox in 2006 and reached the majors 10 years later, hitting .298/.363/.458 with 41 homers in 1,288 plate appearances over four seasons for St. Louis. His big-league career ended in 2020, and he last played in the U.S. in the Mets system in 2021, but he stayed active in Mexico and in Venezuela, where he’s currently hitting .299/.378/.409 through 35 games for Aragua. Baseball Reference credits him with a total of 2,175 hits and a .303 average over 19 seasons of professional baseball.

Martinez enjoyed a fruitful run with the Cardinals between 2016-2019, but he never really found a position defensively and battled a serious knee injury last year in the Mets’ system. He turns 34 years old this July.

As reported earlier on Thursday, the Rays will ship top pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore to St. Louis in the deal. Tampa Bay will also send over young catching prospect Edgardo Rodriguez, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, and the teams will exchange compensatory draft picks for 2020, with the Rays getting a Compensation Round A pick and the Cardinals getting a Compensation Round B selection. Martinez hit .269/.340/.410 with 10 homers in 373 at-bats for St. Louis last year, while Arozarena -- one of the better outfield prospects in the Cards’ system -- impressed with an .891 OPS in his 23 at-bats after a late-season promotion. Martinez will likely rotate between first base and DH for Tampa Bay, possibly with some playing time in the corner outfield. Arozarena figures to begin the 2020 campaign at Triple-A Durham.

Martínez has declined an outright assignment to Triple-A and will head to free agency instead. The 33-year-old veteran slugger did not make an appearance at the major league level after being placed on the 60-day injured list in April. He’ll look to sign with another organization this offseason.

He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. Martinez has been out since spring training due to knee surgery, but he’s finally ready to test himself in game action. He could be a nice weapon off the bench against lefties for the stretch run.

Martinez suffered a torn meniscus in camp and will miss the first two months of the season.

Martinez injured his knee Sunday when he got tangled up with the first base umpire while trying to make a play on a foul ball. The 32-year-old had multiple knee surgeries while in the minors but hasn’t had any issues with his knees in the majors until now. Martinez will hope to contribute to the Mets after the All-Star break.

Martínez twisted his knee in Sunday’s Grapefruit League game and has been sent for tests, though Rojas said that the situation is “not really encouraging.” At the very least, it appears that Opening Day is unrealistic. Martínez had a strong case for a bench job going into the spring.

Martinez will reportedly undergo an MRI on Monday. He picked up the injury after getting tangled up with the first base umpire while trying to make a play on a foul ball. The results of the imaging will go a long way in determining whether Martinez will be ready to return before the start of the season.

Martinez was attempting to reach for a ball in foul territory and got tangled up with the first base umpire. The 32-year-old had to be helped off the field but no further details are known at this time.