Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that Major League hitting coach Edgar Martinez will take on a new role with the team in 2019 as the franchise's Organizational Hitting Advisor. 
"Edgar came to Scott and me after the season ended and talked to us about his desire to find a position of value within the organization that would provide more flexibility than the role of Major League hitting coach," Dipoto said. "We have spent the past three weeks working with Edgar to design a new position that will allow us to take advantage of his knowledge, passion and teaching skill at both the Major and minor league levels, while allowing Edgar flexibility that is unavailable in his current role." 
In his new role, Edgar will be present at Spring Training and throughout the season to work with hitters, and hitting coaches, at all levels of the Mariners organization. The Mariners can use Edgar for special projects, including one-on-one coaching, as well as more traditional roaming duties. 
"I appreciate Jerry, Scott and the team working with me on this new role," Martinez said. "I'm looking forward to working with both the big league guys and the young hitters in the minor league system."
Martinez was named Major League hitting coach on June 20, 2015, making the 2018 season his fourth season (third full season) in the role. Prior to his role as hitting coach, he had served as a guest instructor during spring training and as a special assistant since his retirement in 2004.
Martinez spent his entire Hall of Fame caliber, 18-year, Major League career with Seattle. He was inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame on June 2, 2007 and his iconic number 11 was retired on Aug. 12, 2017. He joined Ken Griffey Jr. (24) as the only two Mariners with their numbers retired. In his playing career, he was a 7-time American League All-Star, won a pair of batting titles, was the Roberto Clemente Award Winner in 2004, claimed 5 Silver Slugger Awards and 5 Designated Hitter of the Year Awards. After his retirement, Major League Baseball renamed the DH of the Year Award the Edgar Martinez Award. He finished his career with a .312 batting average, a .418 on-base percentage and a .515 slugging percentage making him one of only 14 players in Major League history with a career slash line of at least .310/.410/.510.   
Martinez received 70.4 percent of the vote in the 2018 Hall of Fame balloting, his ninth year on the ballot. This year will be his 10th, and final, year of eligibility on the writers ballot.