HOUSTON -- To see J.D. Martinez and Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow chatting amicably beside the batting cage in the hours before Friday’s game -- laughing and trading pleasantries -- you’d almost forget what happened two years ago.
The Astros, after all, are the team that essentially gave up on Martinez.
On March 22, 2014, the Astros unceremoniously released Martinez, with Luhnow claiming that the then-26-year-old outfielder was “a victim of our own success,” in reference to a strong farm system and a logjam of talented prospects. This despite the fact that Martinez was a promising young talent in his own right, who was only a few years removed from a 2011 that saw him post a batting line of .