Four years for Victor Martinez makes sense for 'win now' Tigers
Victor Martinez had himself one tremendous year in 2014. He hit an absurd .335/.409/.565 (168 OPS+) with a career-high 32 home runs in addition to 70 walks and only 42 strikeouts. That performance earned him a spot among the three finalists for the AL MVP award.
All of that came in his contract year as well. Martinez became a free agent after the season and, as Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com has confirmed, he's about to re-sign with Detroit on a new four-year contract that is reportedly worth $68 million. That's $17 million per season, if you can wrap your head around that.
In a vacuum, re-signing Martinez makes sense. He was one of the best hitters in baseball this year and that's a guy you try to bring back. In the real world, this is really bad! The Tigers are about to give a soon-to-be 36-year-old DH -- Martinez turns 36 in December -- a four-year contract. In all likelihood he won't repeat his 2014 performance and that deal has the potential to get ugly in a hurry.
But, in the Tigers' world, signing Martinez to a four-year contract is a smart move. They are baseball's ultimate 'win now' team and they can see their window closing. Justin Verlander is no longer an ace, Miguel Cabrera was very good in 2014 but not who he was from 2010-13, Max Scherzer is likely to leave as a free agent this winter, and David Price could do the same next winter. That's a lot of talent either on the decline or walking out the door.
The Tigers already know the future is going to be ugly. The not-too-distant future too. They could devolve into the Phillies as soon as 2016, with huge contracts for unproductive players dragging them down. That future is almost guaranteed at this point. So, GM Dave Dombrowski has simply decided to keep the party going as long as possible. Their best chance to win is in 2015, and Martinez improves those chances. Who cares if he drags them down in 2017-18 if they win in 2015?
Tigers owner Mike Ilitch turned 85 in July and he's made it no secret that he wants to see the team win a World Series before he passes away. That is kind of uncomfortable to write about, but he's been very open about it. He's opened his wallet and used his personal wealth to allow Dombrowski to sign free agents and important players to extensions even though the franchise has reportedly been operating at a loss for the last several years. Ilitch wants to win right now.
At some point in the near future, the Tigers are going to be really bad. I feel like I've been saying this for four or five years now, but 2014 was the first time we could start to see the cracks in the dam -- Verlander's decline and Miggy's drop in performance -- without having to squint. It would have made zero sense for most teams in the league to give Martinez a four-year contract, but Detroit is not most teams. Their goal is to win right now and he helps them do that.
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