10 Former Pittsburgh Pirates You Didn’t Know Were Still Playing

Utility Man Michael Martinez

Signed in 2005 by the Washington Nationals at 22-years-old, Michael Martinez was a Rule 5 Draft pick, but not by the Pittsburgh Pirates. That would be the Phillies who picked him in the 2009-2010 off-season. Martinez spent the first three seasons of his major league career with the Phillies, playing sparingly as a utility man. The most games he ever appeared in was his rookie season in 2011 when he played in 88 contests. But had a poor .540 OPS.

During 2014, the Pirates had their fair share of injuries. At one point, Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez, Russell Martin, Clint Barmes, and Starling Marte were on the injured list at least once. This meant that the Pirates had to turn to some emergency depth like Brent Morel, Jayson Nix, and Michael Martinez.

Martinez would only appear in 26 games and collected 44 plate appearances with the 2014 Pittsburgh Pirates. He played that role of super-utility seeing time at second base and all three outfield positions. But he only had 5 hits and 4 walks. After the 2014 regular season came to a close, he was released and started to bounce around from team to team.

He played sparingly with the Cleveland Indians in 2015 and then went into 2016 as one of the Indians defensive replacement utility men. But in early-July 2016, he was purchased by the Boston Red Sox. Just about a month later and 4 games in a Red Sox uniform, Martinez was yet again re-claimed off waivers by the Indians.

He even made the team’s postseason roster, but he also made the last out of the 2016 World Series, ending the Chicago Cubs’ 108 straight seasons without a World Series ring, the longest drought in MLB history. The Indians still brought back Martinez for 2017, but again, played a sparing role and was eventually traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash. But the Indians loved Martinez so much they signed him to a minor-league deal to bring him back for a third stint. But alas, 2017 would be Martinez’s last appearance in the major leagues.

That hasn’t stopped him from finding jobs in pro baseball. This past year, Martinez played with the Atlantic League’s High Point Rockers where he didn’t do all that bad. He had a reliable .286/.353/.422 line, 21 walks, and just 27 strikeouts. Currently, he is in the Venezuelan Winter League where he has 5 hits in 19 plate appearances.