Over the past few days, the Twitterverse has been buzzing about the top free agent catcher Russell Martin possibly becoming a Pittsburgh Pirate. While it seemed hard to believe that Martin would choose the small-market Pirates over the New York Yankees, his team for the past two years, Martin did just that.
Wait what?
The Pirates actually beat the Yankees for a top free agent?
As first reported by Ken Rosenthal, the Pirates have agreed to terms with Martin pending a physical. Although terms of the contract have yet to be released, the deal is believed to be around two years for $17 million.
Naturally the question is if this is a win or loss for the Pirates. It is without a doubt their biggest free agent signing in quite some time. Although Martin is the top free agent catcher, does that necessarily mean he is a good fit for the Pirates? Last year for the Pirates, free agent acquisition Rod Barajas had a line of .206/.283/.343 while playing at PNC Park which is considered league wide as a pitchers park. For Martin, who played at a notoriously famous hitters park, he posted a .211/.311/.403 line. Umm…..
Not to say it’s going to be a failure, but would the money have been better utilized for another need? The Pirates could have used the money to bring in not a front-line starter per say, but an efficient starter to help boost the rotation. Despite a down season last year, Martin put together a more respectable .237/.324/.408 line in his first season for the Yankees in 2011.
What the deal does say however is that the Pirates don’t have faith in Michael McKenry to be the everyday guy. As one of the streakiest hitters on the team, McKenry earned praise around Pittsburgh for his play when filling in for the struggling Barajas. What the two-year contract means instead of the three-year is that the Pirates haven’t given up on Tony Sanchez yet. The deal gives Sanchez, now on the 40-man roster, another year of development.
The one improvement the Martin provides is his caught stealing percentage from last year. Barajas only threw out 6 percent of attempted base stealers a season ago compared to 24 percent by Martin. While a lot of it is still on the pitching staff, Martin should improve those numbers for the Pirates.
While the fans didn’t like the Clint Robinson, Vin Mazzaro or Zach Stewart trades that happened a day ago, the Martin sign once again has the fan base leery. Can you blame them considering Neal Huntington’s track record? Barajas, Clint Barmes, Matt Morris, Ryan Church, Eric Hinske and Erik Bedard are just a few of of the failed projects that Huntington brought in to improve the team. While it won’t be as bad as the Barajas stint in Pittsburgh, the Martin era may not be what turns the franchise around either.
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