Tigers Re-Acquire Francisco Martinez from Seattle, Cement Victory in Doug Fister Trade

Martinez (left) saw serious regression during his time in Seattle and will attempt to right the ship with his original organization. Image: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Tigers acquired third baseman/outfielder Francisco Martinez from the Seattle Mariners on Sunday in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Martinez had been designated for assignment last week in a move made by the Mariners to clear roster space for Nick Franklin.

On it’s face, this is not a significant move. Guys DFA’d while hitting .206 at Double-A aren’t frequently newsworthy and Martinez himself may not be either, but the circumstances that surround this move are intriguing.

The Mariners got Martinez in July of 2011 when they traded right handers Doug Fister and David Pauley to the Tigers for a package of young players. That package included relievers Charlie Furbush and Chance Ruffin and outfielder Casper Wells, but the deal was centered on the M’s landing Martinez, who was putting up good numbers as a 20-year-old at Double-A Erie at the time.

Martinez continued to have success upon joining the Mariners organization and finished the 2011 season by producing an .807 OPS at Double-A Jackson. The 10 home runs he totaled on the season were a significant step forward and a sign, it was thought, that he was maturing into a more powerful hitter. There were plenty of outlets who seemed to think Martinez had a chance to grow into a 20+ home run guy at the big league level and based solely on a good-but-not-great year at Double-A while facing much older competition, that assessment was understandable.

Things didn’t work out as planned for Martinez and the Mariners, however. He repeated the level in 2012, but instead of excelling, Martinez’s power virtually vanished. and while his walk rate improved considerably, he was a singles-only hitter and posted a pitiful .295 slugging percentage. He has good speed, swiping 55 bags over the 2011-2012 seasons, but with little pop and virtually no on-base skills, Martinez looks like a bust.

Back at Jackson to start 2013, Martinez was even worse (.206/.242/.254) before getting DFA’d. Now, back with the Tigers, Martinez will be assigned to High-A Lakeland and try to get himself back on track.

The deal for the Tigers is an easy one. They give up very little to add a player they once had very high hopes for, and one who is still just 22-years-old. They had to make a roster move of their own and designated the contract of outfielder Quintin Berry for assignment. Berry, who played a significant role for the Tigers in 2012, was hitting .168 at Triple-A Toledo this year. The long-time minor league veteran may well go unclaimed.

As we get further away from the July 2011 trade between these two clubs, it looks better and better for Detroit. With  Martinez gone back to the Tigers and Wells having been DFA’d three times already this year, the Mariners have just two of the four young players still within their organization. Furbush tried and failed as a starter, but has settled into a bullpen role and has performed well for Seattle. Meanwhile, Ruffin, who was fast-tracked to the big leagues as a college reliever picked by the Tigers 48th overall in 2010, hasn’t seen the Show since 2011 and finds himself back in Double-A this season, working as a starter for the first time in his career.

Meanwhile the Tigers have gotten a 23-13 record and 3.02 ERA over 48 starts from Fister thus far and he’s seen his strikeout rate rise from 5.5/9 while in Seattle to nearly eight per nine in Detroit.

I think it’s safe to say the Tigers won that deal.