This is a stupid tangent, and basically irrelevant, because as bad_luck pointed out, there are very few situations - basically just one man on base, on 3rd, with 2 outs - where having a great hitter like Edgar Martinez at the plate with x men on base has a better offensive expectation than having x+1 men on base with a thoroughly average hitter at the plate. So the argument that he should swing more because he wasn't properly protected is basically crap.
But I looked up 1996. Would have done all 4 of those seasons, but I'm on a terrible old computer in my lab and BBR is taking too long to load splits. Yes, Martinez was foolishly put behind Rodriguez and Griffey in '96. But he had Buhner behind him slugging .577, and Sorrento behind him slugging .507. So it's really not like he wasn't "protected."