Leonys Martin had a pretty unceremonious ending to his 2015 season with the Rangers.
Actually, it was a pretty unceremonious season from beginning to end. He began the year as the Rangers' hope to be a full-time leadoff hitter. That didn't last long. He then lost his gig as the team's starting center fielder, as Delino DeShields took both of those honors from him.
By the time the Rangers hit August, Martin was in the minors, but unlike his teammate Rougned Odor, the demotion didn't make him a different player.
Now, Martin is up for arbitration, and the first thought would be "why would the Rangers even consider giving Martin a raise?"
Well, because he still has a ton of value, thanks to his speed and his superb defensive skill, which includes the best center field arm in baseball and one of the leaders in defensive runs saved, the fancy metric provided by our friends at FanGraphs.
Jon Daniels told reporters at the GM Meetings in Florida on Wednesday that Martin is one of the players the Rangers have been asked about most in the preliminary trade talks leading up to the winter meetings next month.
"He's a guy who plays a premium position and plays it a high level," Daniels said, via the Dallas Morning News. "He will either be with us or we will trade him for value."
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
So there you go, the Rangers will tender an offer to Martin in arbitration. Whether he plays for the Rangers or someone else in 2016 is yet to be determined.
