Anthony Fenech

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Tigers have a number of players hitting the free-agent market this off-season.

One of them is Victor Martinez.

And Martinez is not-so-arguably the most important one to retain.

Good news was reported on that front inside Nick Cafardo's latest baseball notes column in today's Boston Globe.

According to a major league source familiar with Martinez, Cafardo wrote, "He prefers to work something out with the Tigers, so they will get first crack at him."

Martinez, 35, is coming off a career season. He hit .335 with 32 home runs and 103 RBIs, while striking out just 42 times in 641 plate appearances.

He is arguably the best hitter expected to hit the free-agent market this off-season and although the Tigers appear to be the front-runner for his services, Cafardo doesn't believe they will re-sign him before free agency in November.

"This may not be a J.J. Hardy situation where he signs before free agency," Cafardo wrote, referencing the Orioles' recent three-year, $40 million contract extension with the shortstop.

The market for Martinez has yet to take shape, but Cafardo believes that, "comfort of the workplace will be extremely important" to him.

"So you wonder about New York and whether we could be looking at more like Baltimore, Toronto, Chicago, or Texas," he wrote.

"Suffice it to say," Cafardo wrote about Martinez, "The Tigers would like to get it done sooner rather than later."

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.