Martinez, Crawford and Trumbo: Injury Update

Victor Martinez

Martinez torn his ACL on Tuesday and will likely be done for the season. The true nature of his injury, and therefore his return time, will not be known until he has surgery on his knee. He looks to be basically useless for the upcoming fantasy season. If a some owner has the option to drop him as a keeper, go ahead and let him go. There is no reason to keep a 34-year-old DH/C/1B for the entire season on the DL when some other player, that can contribute, could be kept. I could see him be drafted in all leagues and then stashed on the DL. With most fantasy teams, these DL spots will fill up with players that plan on returning rather quickly, so he may end up back on the waiver wire early in the season.

As for Martinez’s replacement, I would wait a few weeks to see what Detroit is going to do to fill the void. First, Detroit will want to find out the true extent of the injury. After finding out the exact details of the injury, they should begin to to find a replacement. Try not to speculate too much or quickly on who will fill his role. Detroit will eventually state their plans and then begin to adjust your fantasy draft rankings.

Carl Crawford

In 2012, Crawford was planning on rebounding from a disappointing 2011 season. It looks like the start of his season will be delayed a bit. On Tuesday, he had surgery on his wrist and is trying to be ready for the season’ start. Usually it takes longer to come back from an injury than originally stated, so I would plan on him missing a month, maybe two.

He was already dropping quite a ways in mock drafts compared to where he was picked in 2011. At mockdraftcentral.com, they have his 2012 ADP at 40.3. In 2011 ESPN drafts, his ADP was 4.1. Even though they are two separate draft websites, it does show how far his stock has fallen in one year. I expect him to fall further.

For owners of him in keeper leagues, it may be time to cut bait with him depending on his costs. Reports out of Boston have Darnell McDonald and/or Mike Aviles as his possible replacement. Both could be used as a fill in until he returns. Like the situation with V-Mart, time will help determine who will play where and for how long. Most drafts/auctions are a ways off, so continue to monitor the situation to see Boston’s plans.

Mark Trumbo

Trumbo’s injury has flown a little under the radar, but he is having problems returning from a stress fracture in his right foot. As reported earlier this month, his rehabilitation has taken a set back. With quite a bit of competition at 1B and DH (Pujols, Morales and Abreu), he needed to have a good spring training to get a leg up for playing time. Also, the Angels were planning on trying him at 3B. That move will now be delayed. When spring training is all done, he may be out of any starting job or position on the MLB roster. Without being traded to another team, I would be leery of picking him up unless it is at the end of a draft or only for a few auction dollars.





Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.

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Daniel
12 years ago

Isn’t the ACL in his knee?

geo
12 years ago
Reply to  Daniel

Yep. Ankle surgery for a torn ACL won’t do Martinez much good.

Cody
12 years ago
Reply to  Daniel

Martinez is going to be pissed when he gets out of surgery!