Astros claim Dominican baseball player Fernando Martinez off waivers, Astros firma pelotero Dominicano Fernando Martinez

The Astros were horrible last year.  They are the Dominican Baseball Guy's hometown team, and the Dominican Baseball Guy was forced to see the brutally bad team up close all last year.  But silver lining right?

So, the worst record in MLB landed the Astros first on the off-season waiver wire and allowed them to claim highly heralded Fernando Martinez off the waiver wire.

Fernando Martinez was a top-5 prospect in the Mets system from 2006-2010.  Most Mets fans saw him as a cornerstone outfield player, and left-handed bat to boot.  Some Mets bloggers think he still could be that cornerstone left-handed hitter the Mets have sorely needed in recent years.  But there are only a certain number of spots available at Spring Training, and the Mets chose to finally let him go.

He will be competing for an outfield spot with the Astros, and it will be a highly competitive competition to make the Astros opening day roster as an outfielder.  Martinez has played in 82 big league games with the Mets, but never lived up to the potential.  This has been at least partially due to injuries.  He should get the chance to at least test that potential with the Astros, though he does have a minor league option remaining, so the club could send him to the minors to start the season.

In any case, this is at least some hope for an Astros team looking to rebuild.  He adds to the plethora of young talent in on the Astros big league club.

Fernando Martinez is from Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic.

Fernando Martinez with the Mets in  2009, by Keith Allison on Flickr