As a teenager Fernando Martinez was an elite prospect, ranking among Baseball America‘s top 30 prospects in 2007, 2008, and 2009, but injuries and mediocre hitting have caused his stock to plummet of late and now the Mets may be shopping the 23-year-old outfielder.
Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that Martinez’s arthritic right “knee has not improved much” since 2009 surgery and says the Mets “seem to be considering unloading him.”
Once upon a time Martinez was linked to just about every juicy trade rumor, but at this point it seems unlikely that the Mets could get back more than a solid regular for him. And even that might be a stretch after Martinez hit just .260 with eight homers and a .746 OPS in 63 games at Triple-A while repeating the level for a third straight season in part because the Mets’ previous regime promoted him so aggressively.
