Editorials

Pedro Martinez Tweets About Being Traded From Dodgers

Pedro Martinez

After a disappointing 1993 season in which the Los Angeles Dodgers finished .500, the team traded a pitcher who had just finished his first full season in the Majors. Pedro Martinez would move on and become one of the greatest pitchers of all-time.



In his first full season, Martinez went 10-5 with a 2.61 ERA. However, this was not what the Dodgers wanted at the time. What they wanted was a speedy second baseman, and they got just that in the form of Delino DeShields from the Montreal Expos in exchange for Martinez.

As yet another example of the beauty of social media, Martinez recently tweeted his feelings on being traded by the Dodgers:

His older brother, Ramon Martinez, was also on the Dodgers during the 1993 season, so naturally, Pedro wished to stay in Los Angeles. However, Ramon wasn’t Pedro’s lone supporter on the team. Many of the other Dodgers pitchers saw the potential in Pedro, including Orel Hersheiser:

DeShields did not live up to the potential that the Dodgers hoped for and expected. For the first time in his career, the second baseman did not play more than 100 games and ended the season with a batting average of .250, the second lowest of his career at the time.

DeShields lasted only three season with the Dodgers, with his best season in terms of contribution coming in the final year as he had 130 hits and 48 stolen bases. Pedro wound up becoming a stellar pitcher, posting 11 seasons with at least 10 wins.

Pedro won the Cy Young Award in 1997 and back-to-back Cy Youngs in 1999 and 2000; he also finished second for American League MVP in 1999. He finished his career with a record of 219-100, with a 2.93 ERA, and was elected into the MLB Hall of Fame in January.

Some 12 years removed from the trade, it still lingers as one of the worst moves in Dodgers history.

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Dodgers Utility Man Justin Turner


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Staff Writer

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3 Comments

  1. I’m pretty sure this regime would give him $10 million this year. If he will hurry into shape. You know low risk, high reward.

  2. It all worked out us (Boston Red Sox) and we loved every minute he played for us..Thanks to the L.A staff, or we neva would have the privilege. Pedro was a BEAST!!!

  3. Lasorda blew it bad on that one. Because Tommy was a little man who couldn’t cut it he believed that Pedro’s size would limit his chances; which was strange since Pedro had been lights out all year. I winced nearly giving myself a whiplash when it happened.

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