King: Yankees have yet to make Martin an offer

November 22, 2012 by Mike Axisa 44 Comments

Via George King: The Yankees have yet to make an offer to Russell Martin, and they’re likely to focus on re-signing Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera first. Ken Rosenthal notes that the free agent catching market has stalled because the Blue Jays and Red Sox are shopping J.P. Arencibia and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, respectively.

Martin, 29, hit .211/.311/.403 (95 wRC+) with a career-high 21 homers this year. The free agent catching market is very weak, with Martin and A.J. Pierzynski representing the only true everyday catchers. The Yankees reportedly have interest in Mike Napoli, but a) calling him an everyday catcher is a stretch, and b) I think that’s just an example of the team trying to drive up the price for the Red Sox. He doesn’t really fit with New York as a half-time first baseman/half-time DH. Given the general wackiness of the market so far, it’s very likely Martin will get three years in the $24-30M range.

Blake

I agree that Martin should get close to that …..and if so the Yankees simply can’t go there…..they can’t tie up 9 or 10 million in AAV for 2014 and 2015 for Martin if they are serious about this budget stuff……Martin is an ok catcher….he’s not good enough to tie up that much payroll space when it’s going to be so tight to begin with. They should have made him the qualifying offer…..over paid him for 2013 and then let him go.
- Doron
  
  I actually agree with that. A qualifying offer would have kept Martin for certain for 1 season, getting Sanchez 1 year closer to the show, and allowing for a Cervelli/Romine/Stewart type C slot for the 2014 189mm plan.
- Ed
  
  Considering how hard it is to find good catching, he should be easily tradable after the season if he signs a 3 year deal.
  - Rey22
    
    Unless he has a bad year. Which is realistic considering how bad he was outside of September this year. Who’d pay $20M for 2 years of that?
    - RetroRob
      
      MLB teams.
SRB

I agree w/ Blake- Give him a 1 yr. generous offer- If the market is really that weak, how much poorer does it make the Yanks w/ a catcher a little “weaker” than Martin for 1 yr?
Blake

I think the Yanks thought they could get Martin back on a 2 or 3 year deal for peanuts because he barely hit .200……what they underestimated is how bad the catching position is throughout baseball and how many teams need a full time catcher….. Martin is one of a select few guys who is actually a full time big league quality catcher…..there are less than 30 of them……
- Ted Nelson
  
  You really think the Yankees don’t know C are scarce?
- Havok9120
  
  You think the team that made him a 3/~25 offer a season ago and that became pretty famous for stockpiling catching simply failed to notice the dearth of catching talent available this offseason?
- RetroRob
  
  The Yankees did not think they could get Martin for peanuts. They tried to sign him in ST. He’ll now get market rate.
viridiana

I would pass on Martin. Any money given to him diminishes what they can pay to add a bat and either re-sign Hughes or add a reasonably good pitcher for 2014. Time for Yanks to square up with implications of budget cap and give shots to deserving youngsters — that includes Romine and probably even Cervelli. Catching was supposed to be an organizational strength — that’s what we’ve heard for years. Now act on it and move some of these guys up (Murphy might even help by 2014).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
- wolfgang’s Fault
  
  Agree completely!
http://www.twitter.com/_swarlesbarkley Drew

Its too bad that the Red Sox AND Blue Jays are in the same division. Would love the Yankees to pick up either Salty or JP
- Rey22
  
  They’re both pretty awful. They offer power and absolutely nothing more.
  - Laz
    
    Yep, even if they weren’t in the division I really wouldn’t give up more than a fewer low level prospects. Salty would be a downgrade from martin.
Dro413

I would offer AJ a 1 year contract. Martin doesn’t hit for contact only power, AJ does both
Jersey Joe

I bet if the Yankees and Red Sox were not the biggest rivals in all of sports, I think it would be possible to get Salty because the Red Sox just had a horrible year. Same goes for the Blue Jays, but they’re building up now.

Honestly, I think if we can’t sign Martin, we should just sign Olivo for a bit of pop from catcher. Cervelli is all-or-nothing, and his “all” is just a .290 BA. Stewart = 0 pop, but could be a backup for Olivo. Same goes for Romine.
- Rey22
  
  I really hope the Miguel Olivo you’re talking about is not the same Miguel Olivo I’m thinking about because good grief, no.
- RetroRob
  
  There’s a reason why the Red Sox want to trade Saltalamacchia and remove him as a catcher. Defensively he’s quite poor. A swap of Marting for Saltalamacchia would weaken the team.
Andy in Sunny Daytona

Just roll with Eli Whiteside…

I can’t wait to throw up my “Whiteside” hand signal and yell “Whiteside, motherfucker” whenever he does something good.

It may happen once in Spring Training.
Wayne

Does Austin romine have a career as catcher.
- Preston
  
  If he can stay healthy and have a productive stint at AAA. He has all the skills to be an average C at the MLB level.
The Moral Majority is Neither

My guess is that the Yankees are waiting for guys like Geovanny Soto or Jesus Flores to get nontendered. That’s how they got Martin.
JobaWockeeZ

Hopefully they don’t overpay Martin but it doesn’t seem like they will. I like it.
jake

i’d prefer 2 years
There’s the Door

One-year offer only. If we lose him, we lose him.
Robert

Martin should only want a 1 yr deal with the Yanks. He will be the top dog and per chance he bats .275 he could hit the jackpot in 2014…
- Havok9120
  
  He already IS the top catcher on the market. He’s better than any of the trade candidates, he’s a surer thing than the aging Pole, and Napoli can’t play behind the plate every day.
  
  Sure, he could bank on his having a better year, but I’m not sure it would improve his relative standing.
JayNY

whether Martin is a good catcher or not, I think we do not

have many options. It is either him or Napoli ( not a every

day catcher) or AJ ( r you serious ?)

Year Martin had I doubt price tag would be pretty reasonable and

I assume he would seek for 1 or 2 year so he can look for

bigger contract after reboudning year or 2
Brian S.

Sign him up already.
- Brian S.
  
  He’s more valuable to the team than Mo is.
  - Ted Nelson
    
    I don’t think that the order has to do with value to the team as much as strategy. Kuroda and especially Pettitte and Mo are largely re-sign or retire (or Japan) and looking for the same one year that the Yankees want to give them. Martin is probably looking to maximize his earnings over several years, and a competitive bidding process resulting in a long-term deal is the most likely way to do that. Yankees are probably waiting for him to get an offer (since what he’s asking for is probably more than they want to pay) and weighing their other options (some of which may be non-tendered or available in trades later in the offseason).
27 rings

$10M over 3 years for a .200 hitter? Are you insane. Romine could do that now. Bob Geren could do that. He was a good fielder too. Catchers like Martin are a dime a dozen.
- Steve (different one)
  
  Bob Geren hit 22 HRs in his career. Martin hit 22 last year, including the playoffs.
  
  I wouldn’t do $30M/3 for Martin either, but he’s better than you think.
- RetroRob
  
  Guess again.
honkey tonk champion

Boy, I sure miss Posada. With that big bat. Before he got washed up.
- dalelama
  
  Yes despite his low baseball IQ and turd in pants speed Jorge could swing the stick. But boy was he an idiot, easily the most stupid baseball player (on the field game intelligence)in my 50 years of the following the sport.
yankee empire

Don’t re-sign martin. In fact don’t sign any big names on market. They suck. The pickings are slim. Instead, let cervelli catch full.time. he is a positive go getter. Sign ichiro and bring up slade. Let him sink or swim. 250 ba and 10 hrs would be great from him.
- TN
  
  “Instead, let cervelli catch full.time. he is a positive go getter. Sign ichiro and bring up slade.”
  
  Please tell me this a joke.
  - yankee empire
    
    Do you really want martin. He hit below 200 most of season. Avg defender. I tired of the lame fa market and then pay to much. Cercelli can do it, at least better than 200.
    - Slappy McWaterbug
      
      I forgot about Cercelli.
    - Ted Nelson
      
      You should evaluate your assumptions. Batting acerage is not a comprehensive offensive metric and Martin is considered to be well above average defensively.
I am not the droids you’re looking for…

The GM who gives him 3/$24mm or (gasp) $30mm will rue the day. Mark my words.
- Ted Nelson
  
  That’s the nature of free agency.