So long, Victor

Sox fans have seen the last of Victor Martinez in a Boston uniform. He
signed with the Detroit Tigers today for four years, $50 million. 

When the Red Sox traded up-and-coming fan favorite Justin Masterson along with a pair of highly touted prospects (Nick Hagadone, Bryan Price) to the Cleveland Indians July 31, 2009, Boston fans were ecstatic to receive Victor Martinez in return. It seemed like a slam-dunk. Theo Epstein replaced an aging Varitek with a switch hitting catcher in his prime who also had the flexibility to play first base, hit for power, average and knock in runs like they're going out of style. A perfect middle-of-the-order bat to complement talented right handed hitters like Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia, while also providing protection for Big Papi. Seems like the kind of player you'd like to lock up for the long term, right?

Well, if you're Theo and the rest of the Sox brass, guess not. In a true head-scratcher, the Red Sox let V-Mart get away today. According to multiple sources, Martinez is bound for Detroit after signing a four-year, $50 million deal with the Tigers. Sounds like a steal for a player who just hit .302 with 20 homers and 79 rbi's, despite missing significant time with injury.

Apparently, the Sox offered Martinez two separate deals which would have kept Victor in Boston. The first was a 3 year deal for $36 million, the second was 4 years for $42 million. While I usually admire Theo and Co. for not exceeding what they determine to be an appropriate value for a player, I just can't wrap my head around the fact that we let Martinez walk for a measly $8 million. Especially after Theo threw $40 million plus at recent busts like Julio Lugo, $70 million plus at J.D. Drew, and $30 million plus at Edgar Renteria and Matt Clement. What's another $8 million going to hurt?

The one silver lining in losing Martinez is that the Red Sox will receive compensation for losing the Type A free agent to Detroit. In return, Boston will acquire the Tiger's number 1 draft pick in 2011 (19th overall). Remember, this is how the Sox landed Clay Buchholz, who was a compensatory pick for losing Pedro Martinez to the Mets in 2005.

Losing Victor hurts. The Sox will most certainly miss his bat and clubhouse presence. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is now thrust into the hot seat as the team's starting catcher. Unless this move precedes the Sox re-signing Beltre and adding either Carl Crawford or Jason Werth, today is a dark day in Beantown.