Martin’s 2-year run with Pirates comes to a close
PITTSBURGH — Some fans came to PNC Park wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “Pay Ru$$” late last season.
Apparently, the Toronto Blue Jays took notice. Martin agreed to terms on a five-year, $82-million contact with them Monday in free agency.
Thus, Martin’s two-year run with the Pirates is over, which should not be totally unexpected since his agent, Matt Colleran, had been telling teams his client was looking for at least the same deal — five years, $75 million — catcher Brian McCann got from the New York Yankees last winter.
Martin got that and $7 million more.
Martin became a cult figure with the Pirates’ fans during his time in Pittsburgh. He was so popular that the crowd chanted “Re-sign Russ” throughout his at-bat in the ninth inning of the season-ending loss to San Francisco in the National League wild card game on Oct. 1.
While the Pirates did not re-sign Russ, it would be unfair to criticize owner Bob Nutting or general manager Neal Huntington for that.
Nutting deservedly has the reputation of being frugal but giving five years and $82 million to a catcher who will be 32 on opening day doesn’t make sense even for free-spending clubs — though a case can be made the Blue Jays gain from a marketing standpoint by adding a high-profile Canadian to their roster.
Martin had a fine season in 2014, hitting .290 with 11 home runs and a .832 on base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) in 111 games while proving outstanding defense. Just three major league catchers with at least 400 plate appearances had a better OPS: Cincinnati’ Devin Mesoraco (.893), San Francisco’s Buster Posey (.853) and Milwaukee’s Jonathan Lucroy (.837).
However, catchers do not historically age well, and although Martin is athletic enough to play any of the corner infield or outfield positions, Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection system expects a steep drop off in production in the coming seasons.
His projected OPS for 2015-19: .620, .633, .631, .603, .611.
For comparison sake, among catchers with at least 400 plate appearances this season, Houston’s Jason Castro had the lowest OPS with a .651 mark.
While Martin had a lot to do in helping transform the Pirates from laughingstock to a team coming off back-to-back postseason appearances, he wasn’t worth an $82-million thank you gift.