Russell Martin Joins Bucs

Well, the Bucs needed a catcher, and went after another good glove guy in Russell Martin. Martin signed a two-year, $17M deal with Pittsburgh, with a $2M signing bonus, a $6.5M salary in 2013 and an $8.5M salary in 2014 (he earned $7.5M last season). It's the richest contract awarded by the Pirates, eclipsing Clint Barmes $10.5M deal last year.

Martin was said to be on good terms with Clint Hurdle since a 2008 All-Star meeting, and he told Martin Weinstein of the NY Times that “My boy A. J. Burnett is there, and I really like the direction they are going with a lot of good young talent. It'll be fun."

He hit .211 with 21 HR and 53 RBI last season, and that's kinda a good news, bad news number. Like Rod Barajas before him, he's a below average stick (he hasn't hit over .250 since 2008) with some power. The good news is that his BABIP last year was .222, so that should regress upward. The bad news is that he's a right handed pull hitter, and PNC Park is not a good place to be one of those.

Still, the Pirates needed a catcher, and limited their exposure to two years by overpaying for him, although that would be true of virtually any FA who inks a deal with the Bucs. They do get a physical guy who is a decent defender and has over 7,500 innings behind the dish.

He's played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006–2010) and New York Yankees (2010-2012), and is a three-time MLB All-Star (2007–2008, 2011).

Martin was born in Toronto, Ontario and grew up in Chelsea, Quebec. Naturally, beside playing baseball, Martin played hockey, too. But he stuck with spikes instead of skates and went to Chipola College in Marianna, Florida after high school, where he played 3B.

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Martin in the 17th round of the 2002 draft, and the Blue switched him to catcher. He went a step at a time in the minors, and was a Florida State League All-Star  in 2004 and Baseball America 2nd Team Minor League All-Star and Southern League All-Star while with the Class AA Jacksonville Suns in 2005.

He got a month in with AAA Las Vegas before getting his call to the show when Dionner Navarro, LA's starting catcher, hurt his wrist. Martin took it from there, putting up a slash of .282./355/.436. Navarro was traded and Martin became the everyday guy behind the dish for the City of Angels. He held the spot for five years.

His first three seasons were monsters, as he was selected to the All-Star team twice while taking home a Silver Slugger trophy and Golden Glove award in 2007. But he tailed off offensively starting in 2009, and the slide has continued. After two years in the .250 range, LA didn't tender him in arbitration (ironically, Rod Barajas replaced him), and Martin became a FA. He signed with the Yankees, which needed a replacement for Jorge Posada. In his two Big Apple years, he hit .237 and .211.

Martin's BA went from .250 to .211 and his OBP slipped from .352 to .311 in those four years. And that's why he's here now, pending tomorrow's physical.

The Pirates are banking on him still having some gas in the tank, inking him for his age 30 and 31 seasons. He is a good defensive catcher, especially at framing pitches, with a 30% lifetime toss-'em-out rate (24% in 2012), although his pitch calling has sometimes been questioned. Martin caught AJ in 2011, and beside that connection, he threw out 24% of runners when catching him; it was 5% with Hot Rod as his battery mate last season.

Bill James predicts his 2013 BA to be .242, not great but certainly achievable as Martin has kept up a pretty steady 19% line drive average over the years. James also looks for a bounce-back in OBP to .340, and that's probably in line too, as Martin has walked at a 10-11% rate the past two seasons. The question will be his power; PNC isn't nearly as friendly as the new Yankee Stadium, where Martin had two of his best three MLB HR years.

At 5'10", 205 pounds, Martin is sturdy and fairly athletic. Per Weinstein, he'd like to play on the Canadian World team as an infielder, and has played 3B a bit in the majors, so the Bucs can possibly work him in on his off days at the hot corner to give Pedro a blow against lefties. Even if they don't, he's caught 125 games or so the past two seasons, and except for a hip injury in 2009 has stayed healthy during his career.

There will be some moaning about his price tag; many think it should have been invested in another pitcher. But catcher was a black hole on the roster, and he buys some more time for Tony Sanchez to develop. The move doesn't necessarily mean the Bucs have given up on Sanchez; otherwise we think they may have taken the trade route rather than plunge into the more expensive FA market. It also shows the Bucs are willing to dig a little deeper into Bob Nutting's wallet, as his signing means the payroll may hit the $65M mark this season.

If Martin bats in the .240 range with a dozen homers, 50 RBI and some walks to go with his defensive mojo, it'll be a good contract. He and Mike McKenry should be a competent pairing behind the dish. But there is risk; as we mentioned, his offensive numbers across the board have been in decline, and the facts that the Yankees let him go and the Bucs got him on a two-year deal are indications of that downhill slope. So the Pirates are rolling the dice that Martin can hold the fort until...if...Sanchez is ready.

Oh, if only Dave Littlefield would have passed on Daniel Moskos and taken Matt Weiters in 2007...

Martin Rumors, Bucco Bits

A little more Bucco news, led off by some warm Russell Martin rumors...

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports said "The free-agent catcher Russell Martin is drawing significant interest from the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates, according to major-league sources." The Yankees are trying to bring him back in the fold, too. He's asking for, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York, a four-year contract worth $9-10M annually. He won't get that but...

Per Jon Heyman of CBS' Baseball Insider "Word going around is that the Pirates might come in with the high bid, perhaps for three years and close to $25 million. The Yankees are not believed to be offering anything close to that, but the bidding isn't over and it has been thought likely that Martin would prefer to stay in New York." David Manel of Bucs Dugout points out that "If Martin stays a 2+ WAR player, (1 WAR = $4.5M value), the Pirates wouldn't be overpaying at $8.3M/yr. The question is, should they spend on other needs first?"

Apparently the FO doesn't have a lot of faith in Tony Sanchez at this point. The 29 year old Martin hit .211 with 21 HR and 53 RBI last year, and had a 24% throw-out rate, about league average. He has a rep as a strong defensive catcher and one of the best at framing pitches.

Bucco Bits:

• Jim Bowden of ESPN highlights five underrated free agents, and has two of them as good fits for Pittsburgh - SS Stephen Drew and a guy the FO is already pretty familiar with, Jason Grilli. Wonder if the Buc brass agrees?
• According to one Vegas book, the Bucs have a better chance of signing Josh Hamilton than do the Dodgers.
• The Pirates signed LHP Philippe Valiquette to a minor league contract, per Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects. The 25 year old Montreal-born reliever was banged around in the Brewer's mid-minors last year, but played in the All-Star Futures game in 2010 before tearing a pectoral muscle and missing all of 2011. He had a mid nineties heater, said to touch three figures a couple of years ago, and those kind of arms, especially coming off an injury, are worth a shot.
• Troy Renck of the Denver Post said that the Rox are looking at Kevin Correia. He wrote "Colorado is looking for a pitcher to fill the role it cast Guthrie in last January: a reliable arm, capable of giving the team a chance to win every five days. Correia fits that profile."
• Jeff Clement became the third Indy minor-league free agent to sign with the Twins, joining RHP Tim Wood and C/OF Eric Fryer.
• Not real surprisingly, no Bucco pups were named to the Arizona Fall League All-Prospect team.
• Remember RHP Todd Redmond, who the Bucs traded to Atlanta after the 2007 season for reliever Tyler Yates? Last year, the Braves sent him to the Reds for SS Paul Janish, and Cincy has just inked the 27 year old to a MLB contract.
• And another oldie, SS/OF Brent Lillibridge, who the Bucs traded to the Braves with LHP Mike Gonzalez for 1B Adam LaRoche and 1B/OF Jamie Romak in 2007, is now a free agent after being dropped off the Indians 40-man roster. Since leaving Pittsburgh, he's played parts of five seasons for four clubs with a .213 career BA, living up to his good glove, bad bat rep. As for the others, LaRoche and Gonzo are also FAs this season while Romak just signed a minor league deal with the Cards.