Fernando Martinez, or F-Mart as he is now called, represented the Mets in yesterday’s MLB Future’s Game. He played centerfield and went 1-2 at the plate.
Martinez was not having a spectacular season, and in fact he has missed a lot of time due to injures, but in 218 at-bats for the B-Mets this season, he was batting .294 with four homeruns, 12 doubles, 32 runs and 21 RBI’s.
At only 19 years old, F-Mart is the prized jewel in the Mets system. he has been often compared to former Texas Ranger, Juan Gonzalez. He was signed as an undrafted free agent at the age of 16 by Mets GM Omar Minaya who said of the signing, "What we saw in Martinez was a 16-year-old kid with power, great ability and great character, above everything else.”
Yesterday, F-Mart was asked which current player he likened himself to. His answer…
"I want to hit like Alex Rodriguez… Like Manny Ramirez… .300, 30 home runs, 100 RBI."
With the recent news that Moises Alou will miss the remainder of the season, many are hoping that F-Mart will make his long anticipated debut for the Mets. In fact, on SNY’s Loud Mouths, Chris Carlin was one of those trumpeting the call for his promotion during a segment on Friday’s broadcast.
Omar Minaya has shot down the idea, but he did say that if F-Mart had not missed any time with the hamstring injury, we may have seen him in September. He left no door open for the possibility of seeing him in the majors before 2009.
I actually agree with Omar on this one. F-Mart may have shown some raw skills and may be loaded with potential, but let him dazzle us in the minors and put in his work before giving him a crash course in the major leagues.
