The Detroit Tigers signed Victor Martinez to a deal this offseason and now the slugger has suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and he could miss spring training and the start of the season and this could lead to the team looking at Dayan Viciedo or Chris Colabello as options to replace him.
The Tigers signed Martinez to a four year contract with the team and now will be facing surgery on his left knee after tearing his medial meniscus while working out. According to ESPN.com, the team announced the news on the injury and general manager Dave Dombrowski added that the team has not altered its offseason plans and will wait until Martinez has surgery to do so. Dr. James Andrews will be performing the surgery on Martinez's left knee.
Martinez is 36-years-old and is coming off of an MVP-like season and now he could be out for spring training and possibly longer. Martinez finished second in the AL last season in the MVP race behind Mike Trout after hitting .335 with 32 home runs and over 100 RBIs. According to ESPN.com, Martinez become one of only three players to hit over 30 home runs and strike out less than 50 times and now the start of his follow up season could be a bit in jeopardy.
Martinez previously had surgery on his left ACL and missed the whole 2012 season and now some of the early reports have him out between four and six weeks. The Tigers may be without Miguel Cabrera for opening day as well and that could make things feel a bit bleak for fans at the start of the season. Even with the injuries, the Tigers should still be one of the favorites in the AL Central this year, as they have added Yoenis Cespedes in a trade for Rick Porcello with the Boston Red Sox.
Martinez hit just under .260 during the first half of the 2013 season after coming back from his injury, but once he got his legs back he really heated up, hitting over .360 down the stretch. The surgery is not expected to keep Martinez out for too long, but he will lose a ton of time preparing for the season and that could cause him to get off to a slow start.
