Despite All the Trade Talks, Padres’ Martinez Continues to Stick Around

For almost as long as Carmelo Martinez has been a Padre, and he is about to start his fifth season, he has heard that it was his last year in San Diego.

The latest near-miss occurred just last month, when the Padres sent Rich Gossage to the Chicago Cubs in a four-player trade that could just as easily have been a six-player deal including Martinez.

Only uncertainty concerning Scott Sanderson’s recovery from back surgery in February kept the Cubs from exchanging one of two young starting pitchers--Greg Maddux or Jamie Moyer--for Martinez.

“Every year I’ve been here, it’s been like that,” Martinez said. “Every year they say the same thing: ‘Mel is on the trading block.’ I’ve heard that many times. But you know what I say? I’m still here.”

And having one of his best spring trainings. Martinez is batting .346 with 1 home run and 5 runs batted in. As he did much of last season, he has split his time between his natural spot at first base and left field, a position he has worked to learn since he came to the Padres before the 1984 season in a trade that sent Sanderson to the Cubs.

His spring follows a 1987 season in which he hit .273--a career-high by 20 points--and had 15 home runs and 70 RBIs. Still, Martinez is about to begin another season unsure of his place with the team.

The trade that sent Gossage to the Cubs also brought left fielder Keith Moreland to the Padres. Moreland, who had a career-high 27 home runs last season, was acquired to add some offensive punch to a lineup that hit only 113 homers in 1987. Martinez’s prospects of playing regularly at first base are little better. John Kruk took over that position last June 4 and went on to lead the team in average (.313), home runs (20) and RBIs (91).

That leaves little room for Martinez except as a part-time player. He could fill in for the left-handed Kruk against left-handed pitching. He could take over in left field if Moreland plays right field, should Tony Gwynn not recover fully from recent hand surgery--an unlikely prospect considering Gwynn’s continuing rapid recovery. Or he merely could be left for spot duty and pinch-hitting.

“I’m trying not to think about it,” Martinez said. “I’m just going to go out there and play. Whatever happens happens. It doesn’t mean I don’t care. I’m just trying to show I’m trying to being more relaxed.

“I’m going to stay quiet, think positive, and show people I have the attitude that I’m here and, if they just give me a chance, I’ll take advantage of it.”

If Martinez believes he deserves more, he is not about to do any public lobbying.

“I’m not running my mouth,” he said. “I’m not going to get anywhere running my mouth. The situation might not be better if I run my mouth. It might be worse.”

Martinez said he instead will concentrate on playing well in the spring and leave it to that most simple of equations: the better he plays, the more he plays. Last year, that philosophy resulted in one of his best seasons and was instrumental in turning him around after the worst season of his career.

Martinez had a difficult time in 1986 under Steve Boros, then the Padre manager. He appeared in only 33 games in the second half after playing in 80 of the Padres’ first 81 games. He finished with a career-low .238 average. His 244 at-bats were fewer than half of what he had in 1985, when he had career highs of 21 home runs and 72 RBIs.

Making the situation worse was Martinez’s erratic play in the outfield. His troubles made him the target of much fan abuse, and the boos may have affected his play. Martinez batted .298 on the road and .179 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

“It was tough at times,” Martinez said. “If I said it didn’t bother me, it would sound like a lie, but I was still out there trying to have fun. I know I sometimes put pressure on myself.”

Martinez did not handle his benching well. He lost interest and gained weight. He weighed 220 by the end of the 1986 season and added another 10 pounds on his 6-feet 2-inches by midwinter.

“He felt he wasn’t getting the proper chance,” said Sandy Alomar, third base coach under Boros and now Larry Bowa. “But instead of him showing the man he wanted to play, he showed the man an I-don’t-care attitude, which is the worst thing a ballplayer can do.

When Bowa took over before last season, he gave Martinez orders to lose weight. Martinez is down to 205, and the loss has made him more confident in the field.

“It is not so much that it gives him more range,” Alomar said, “but he can more comfortably in the field.”

But left field remains a learning experience for Martinez. First base is his natural position, and he would welcome the opportunity to play it every day. Martinez does not necessarily want to leave the Padres, but if an opportunity was available to be a regular first baseman elsewhere, Martinez would not mind the change.

“If I could, I’d love to play in San Diego,” Martinez said. “I hope it is my future to get a chance to play every day. I don’t want to go someplace else just to sit on the bench or have the same situation I have here. If that is the case, I’d rather stay in San Diego.”