Edgar Martinez to Announce Retirement

[Bruiser Chong 0]

As some of you've already heard, Edgar Martinez will announce his immediate retirement in about a half hour. This is obviously something that's been a long time coming, especially with his poor offensive year. His reduced playing time in recent weeks seems to be what's sealed the deal.

 

Additionally, Corey Lidle has been traded to the Phillies for three players. Something had to be done with the Phils' starting pitching, but I don't know if Corey's the answer.

 

Also, Pat Burrell is done for the season, as he'll undergo surgery for his wrist. A definite blow to the already fading Phillies, even though he still hadn't matched his numbers of a couple of seasons ago.

[MrRant 0]

It will be sad to see him retire. I've watched him his whole career from A ball for Bellingham Mariners (my hometown and before they moved it to Everett to be the AquaSox) on up to the M's. It was a good run and nice to see someone play his entire career and end it with one team in this age.

[The Man in Blak 0]

What a disastrous season for the Mariners. Edgar has been synonymous with the Mariners for the better part of two decades and it's a pretty firm indictment of the state of the franchise (or the locker room, with Olerud gone) that Edgar wasn't even willing to stay around to tutor Bucky Jacobsen. Despite that, I tip my cap to a class act who had a great, if quiet, career.

 

The Burrell announcement is a shock, as I had no idea that his wrist was even close to being surgery-worthy. And trading for Lidle ain't going to solve the rotation, though the upcoming return of Vicente Padilla might help matters.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I guess they're saying now that Edgar will stick around until the end of the season.

[the max 0]

He deserves that much. I'd hate to see him not get his proper respect in his final season.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

and the money question is: can a DH be a Hall of Famer?

[Guest Anglesault]

As a Yankee fan, thank fucking God.

 

Edgar's numbers against us look like someone's really good year.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'm not overly surprised with Martinez's retirement. His numbers slipped noticeably this season, and its time for him to retire with his dignity intact. He was one of the best hitters of the last decade, and he was a pleasure to watch.

 

As for Lidle, he (hopefully) replaces Paul Abbott in the rotation. Even his 5.34 ERA is nearly a full run better than Abbott.

[Guest Smues]

The Phillies replaced Abbot? Damn that does not help my Braves.

[phoenixrising 0]

Edgar's been one of my favorite players for years and I'm hoping he goes out with a bang. At least he is going to step out when he knows he's losing it rather than trying to stick around long past his time to go. I suppose the only question now is if he'll go into the Hall of Fame.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I say no, because if he was a DH for so many years, he only played half the game of baseball. I think we need a Keltner List.

[Guest Brian]

It'd be interesting to see how much a player like Edgar's career has been extended by batting as a DH.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Well Edgar started DHing at Age 32 in 1995 and played until 2004(Age 41) primarily DHing. I think the DH helped Edgar out a ton in terms of his hitting otherwise I would expect him to have retired around 36 or so if he continued to play 3B.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

I think Edgar's main problem is not that he played DH, but that he wasn't a full time major leaguer untill he was 27, so his stats look low.

 

if I remember right, which is unlikely, Edgar was at least an average third baseman for several years.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

That's true. The Mariners management had their heads planted firmly up their asses for a long time.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

By the way, I'm planning on doing a Keltner List on Martinez, but I'm holding off until my next column.