ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tino Martinez won four World Series titles with the Yankees, but he can also relate to a rebuilding phase like the Rays are currently on.
Martinez, who is a Tampa Bay native, played for the Rays in 2004 on a team that featured a young Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, Aubrey Huff, a young Scott Kazmir and Fred McGriff, who joined Martinez in throwing Saturday’s ceremonial first pitch.
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The 2004 squad was only able to win 70 games, but it helped expedite the development for some of the younger Rays players on that team. Having Lou Piniella at the helm also made everything a little bit more interesting.
“We had a young group of guys and it was fun to play with them all year,” Martinez said. “We knew we wouldn’t win many games, but to watch them develop and become good players over the years and have good careers was gratifying.”
Martinez, who is now a player development instructor for the Yankees, said he sees a lot of similarities between the 2004 team and the current state of the Rays organization. New York has been known for handing out massive contracts, but its current group of stars is mostly made up of in-house products. That’s a model the Rays have done time and time again, and they’re hoping it works yet again.
“Obviously the Rays have always done a great job of drafting and player development,” Martinez said. “I know the fans get disappointed about it in different cities. But for the Rays to get to where they want to be, I think they’re doing the right thing.”
The Rays have plummeted in the standings, but the future appears to be bright with a core of prospects led by Jake Bauers, Willy Adames, Christian Arroyo and a slew of young pitching led by Brent Honeywell, who underwent Tommy John surgery in March. The youth movement has begun at Tropicana Field, with Bauers, Arroyo and reliever Diego Castillo already at the big league level. Adames and outfielder Justin Williams could be next to join the major league club.
But right now, the Rays continue to struggle. Tampa Bay is looking to avoid a ninth consecutive loss Saturday, which would be the longest losing streak of the season for the team. The Rays lost eight consecutive games from March 30 to April 8.
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While the Rays don’t have the same monetary resources that the Yankees have to fill in some of the bigger gaps, Martinez could see some similarities in the current Rays plan to the plan New York had a few seasons ago with its young group of Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.
“It just happened that they took off,” said Martinez about Judge and Sanchez. “But that’s the only way to do it. They’re in the right direction, they have a great plan and they already have a good organization here and they’ll have a winning team in the very near future.”
(Photo by Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images)