MLB Network talks Nelson Cruz and MLB looks to help youth pitchers

So one big domino in the free agent market fell yesterday when the Detroit Tigers re-signed designated hitter Victor Martinez to a four-year deal worth $68 million. They made him a top priority and got a deal done quickly.

Martinez, who turns 36 next month, is coming off a huge year where he batted .335. He led the American League in OBP at .409 and led the majors in OPS at .974. He hit 32 homers with 103 RBIs and raked from both sides of the plate.

Where does that deal leave the Orioles' Nelson Cruz? Both players are mid-30s DHs, although Cruz did play 70 games in the outfield last season. Does Cruz get four years also? Could the Orioles get him for four years at $15 million per or maybe three years at $16 million per season?

Before the Martinez deal was reported, former Colorado Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd, who worked for the Orioles in the early 1980s, talked about Cruz on MLB Network. O'Dowd was asked about a report that Cruz sought a five-year deal.

O'Dowd sees the Orioles as the right fit for Cruz.

"It kind of blows my mind," O'Dowd said. "If the Orioles offered him a three-year deal and he's a perfect fit there, I'm not sure why you'd ever want to leave that place where you have a chance to win and you've performed very well within that culture and environment."

O'Dowd felt the length of contract Cruz sought last year scared some teams off and is one reason why he fell to the Orioles late on a one-year deal worth $8 million.

"I think it does (scare teams)," O'Dowd said. "What happens in this game, you get going down a path about how to build your club and if an option goes away, it goes away. Then you turn in another direction and you may never revisit that (first one) again. I always was curious why they (agents) don't price them in a way to get every team involved and then try to build the market value from there.

"The worst decisions you can make in the free agent market is determining the value you have on a player and changing that value because you covet that player. Those deals, they don't work out."

The MLB Network panel agreed that some teams heard Cruz's demands last year and decided they were not a fit and moved on. Those same teams were later surprised to hear that Cruz signed with the Orioles for one year.

Looking at their respective career stats, Cruz holds his own with Martinez in the slugging stats, but falls short in the average and on-base numbers.

Martinez career: .306 average, .373 OBP, .475 slugging, .847 OPS
Cruz career: .268 average, .328 OBP, .501 slugging, .829 OPS

The Martinez deal at least provides a framework for a possible Cruz deal and seems to set a ceiling for Cruz.

How do you see the Martinez contract impacting Cruz?

Talking young pitching: Major League Baseball is trying to help young pitchers avoid injuries. It is a worthwhile project and MLB announced the Pitch Smart program yesterday.

Pitch Smart will strive to provide a comprehensive resource for safe pitching practices, offering a series of practical, age-appropriate guidelines to help players, parents and coaches avoid overuse injuries and foster long, healthy careers.

PitchSmart.org will offer pitch count and rest recommendations, statistics on Tommy John surgery, risk factors, awareness tips, published research and videos from experts like Dr. James Andrews.

In the most recent nationwide study of youth pitchers, research found that they were still exhibiting many risky behaviors, all of which were associated with increased likelihood of pitching with arm tiredness and arm pain.

For instance:

* 45 percent pitched in a league without pitch counts.
* 43.5 percent pitched on consecutive days.
* 19 percent pitched in multiple games on the same day.

Those numbers are troubling to me. Readers sometimes ask me why so many Orioles minor league pitchers get hurt. Sometimes youth baseball and pro baseball point fingers at each other. There are those in MLB that feel that some of these kids' arms are abused before they even get to pro ball and surgery for many is just inevitable.

News about this Web site will get lost amid this week's free agent talk, but it seems pretty important to me. Anyone with a youth pitcher in their life - be it a son, brother, friend or neighbor - should take a look.

It is well past time for young pitchers to stop getting overused and risk their futures to win a championship at age 13, 14 or 15.