A Bittersweet Swap for Martinez

He couldn’t be happier to be in the thick of a pennant race in Boston, but for Victor Martinez, trade deadline day was an emotionally tough one for the longtime Indians slugger.

Martinez spent his entire seven-plus year career in Cleveland, so packing up and leaving the Tribe wasn’t the easiest move for the three-time All-Star.

“At first when I got the news it was a little tough because I was leaving my house, I was leaving the organization that gave me all the opportunity,” he said before Saturday’s game against Baltimore. “It was my only organization, but on the other hand, I was really happy I was going to join a team that always plays hard and is in the race and has a pretty good shot to win the World Series.”

The 30-year-old Martinez was traded just one day before the Indians organization was planning to hand out bobblehead dolls of him to fans in Cleveland. V-Mart has been told that the club will still send along a few of the dolls for his family to keep, despite the trade.