Detroit Tigers 2014 Grades: Victor Martinez

Victor Martinez had an MVP-caliber season and while he most likely will not continue the Detroit Tigers recent dominance of the MVP trophy, he certainly was the team’s MVP. If he’s the team MVP, who else could possibly deserve a grade of A+?

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Playing in a contract year, it is perhaps not surprising that V-Mart had a tremendous year, but that he did that at the age of 35 is even more impressive.

Entering the season, one of the big areas of concerns for the team was its lack of power. With Prince Fielder, Omar Infante, and Jhonny Peralta all seeking employment elsewhere, that took a lot of power out of the lineup.

When Brad Ausmus decided to use Martinez at clean-up, some scratched their head. The clean-up spot is traditionally reserved for the player with the most power, and many fans had sniped about Fielder holding that role for the two years he was here. It should be Miguel Cabrera, right?

Funny thing about Miggy, while battling a bone spur in his right ankle, his power dipped and the cleanup man made up for it. In fact Victor started the season off in style with a 4-for-4 performance on Opening Day, including his first of many 2014 homers.

V-Mart belted 32 homers, nine more than his career high set in 2009, he collected 103 RBIs and hit a career-high .335. His OPS was an astronomical .974. Defensively, Martinez played well at first when Miggy needed a day off from the field and even caught a couple of games.

Everyone is well aware that Victor Martinez is a free agent. While Dave Dombrowski was mum about his plan with free agents in his press conference yesterday, he’d be a fool to not attempt to resign Victor. After all, he is giving them the first crack at signing him.

Here’s hoping Victor is in a Tigers’ uniform in 2015 and beyond.