Victor Martinez Should Not Be In The Yankees Plans

News broke on Friday that Victor Martinez is looking for a four year deal in free agency. Martinez is coming off an awesome season, hitting .335 with 32 homers and 103 RBI and leading the AL in OPS. He would be a huge addition to any lineup. The problem is, for the Yankees, is that signing him wouldn’t be a good fit.

Martinez can catch every so often and play first every so often, but he’s basically a full time DH now due to injuries and the fact he isn’t the best fielder. The Yankees cannot afford to carry a full-time DH.

Alex Rodriguez is going to need time there. Carlos Beltran is going to need days there. Mark Teixeira is going to need days there. The Yankees are old enough as it is.

The Yankees need to get younger and more athletic and Martinez fits neither one of those categories.

Is Martinez better at this point than those players? Probably. But part of what has gotten the Yankees into trouble over the past few years is giving big contracts to older players and seeing those players break down. What’s Martinez going to be in two years? What’s he going to be at 38 or 39 years old? It’ll be paying another player due to past performance and that’s what gotten this team in trouble over and over.

If the Yankees were to sign V-Mart it would be putting a square peg in a round hole. If the Yankees didn’t have guys like Beltran and A-Rod I’d say go for it. But for 2015 and moving forward it makes no sense.