Fernando Martínez (baseball)

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For other persons named Fernando Martínez, see Fernando Martínez (disambiguation).

**Fernando Martínez**

Binghamton Mets — No. 19
Outfielder
Born: October 10, 1988 (1988-10-10) (age 19)
Bats: Left	Throws: Right

Jesus Fernando Martínez Álvarez (born October 10, 1988 in Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic) is a highly touted outfielder in the New York Mets minor league system, currently playing for AA Binghamton. He measures 6'0", and weighs 185 pounds. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed. Martínez is considered by many to be a potential 5-tool player.

The Mets signed Martínez at the age of 16 on July 11, 2005. Mets general manager Omar Minaya, known for his ability to attract Latin American talent to the Mets, lured Martínez with a signing bonus of $1.4 million.^{[citation needed]} Minaya said of the signing "What we saw in [Martinez] was a 16-year-old kid with power, great ability and great character, above everything else.”

Martínez played center field for Double-A Binghamton in 2007. He was selected to the 2007 All-Star Futures Game.

Baseball America named him as the Mets Number One Prospect for 2007.

Martínez is often referred to as "F-Mart" and the "Teenage Hitting Machine," a nickname coined by sportswriter Ken Rosenthal.