Pirates sign Russell Martin

[brewmann04]

Have to love the Pirates keep spending smart.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/catcher-martin-agrees-2-year-deal-pirates-article-1.1210616?localLink

 

 

 

 

edited thread title to add Martin's first name

[reillymcshane]

$8.5 million a year is pretty hefty for Martin in my book. But that's just me. At least it's only two years, so the commitment isn't outrageous. Martin's .211 BA was awful, but I sometimes forget that catcher's tend to be challenged offensively. Martin takes his walks, has decent power, and is pretty good defensively. That's not all bad. WAR seems to like Martin OK - he's generally around a 2.0 WAR player. Not bad to have.

 

I thought McKenry looked like a decent player last year. But I don't really know that much about him. I guess if the Pirates don't see McKenry as a full timer, the signing makes sense, because they have such a hole at the position. Barajas had a negative WAR last year in almost 400 plate appearances. A guy like Martin is a huge upgrade.

[jerichoholicninja]

The Pirates outbid the Yankees. The Mayans were right.

[Ennder]

Glad we two cheaper and better solutions.. Not a fan of this deal at all but maybe the market is just changing in general and the cost of a win is higher than it used to be.

[The stache]

Ryan Braun's 2013 stolen base projection just dropped from 31 to 26.

[torts]

$8.5 million a year is pretty hefty for Martin in my book. But that's just me. At least it's only two years, so the commitment isn't outrageous. Martin's .211 BA was awful, but I sometimes forget that catcher's tend to be challenged offensively. Martin takes his walks, has decent power, and is pretty good defensively. That's not all bad. WAR seems to like Martin OK - he's generally around a 2.0 WAR player. Not bad to have.

 

I thought McKenry looked like a decent player last year. But I don't really know that much about him. I guess if the Pirates don't see McKenry as a full timer, the signing makes sense, because they have such a hole at the position. Barajas had a negative WAR last year in almost 400 plate appearances. A guy like Martin is a huge upgrade.

 

well the catching situation in pittsburgh has been a mess for the last couple years... and really, the pirates can afford to spend 8.5 a year on catcher because outside of the rotation, they have pretty much every position set with pre arb or arb players. They drafted Tony Sanchez 1st overall a couple seasons ago to be the projected starting catcher, but he floundered last year in AA ball, and I think pirates mgmt is willing to give him a shot in a year or two... but really, anything is going to be better than Barajas from last year. dude was so awful on the regular.

[JohnBriggs12]

Ryan Braun's 2013 stolen base projection just dropped from 31 to 26.

 

Martin's better than what the Pirates have had, but he's no Yadier Molina. Teams have averaged 71 stolen bases on him per year about double what teams do against Molina.

 

It's a decent signing for them and addresses a need, and you pay a little more when you have a need.

[chadomac]

Wow, catching is expensive. Makes me really appreciate what the Brewers have going into next year.

[torts]

and he's only 30, I think its a pretty decent signing for the pirates to get a player with his potential at a position that is a huge question mark within the organization right now.

[Baldkin]

Ryan Braun's 2013 stolen base projection just dropped from 31 to 26.

 

Martin's better than what the Pirates have had, but he's no Yadier Molina. Teams have averaged 71 stolen bases on him per year about double what teams do against Molina.

 

It's a decent signing for them and addresses a need, and you pay a little more when you have a need.

 

I enjoy the signing, and Briggs, the jump from what the Pirates had (Noodle arm nobody) to Martin is probably less than the jump from Martin to Molina. Braun had 7 of his 31 SB's against Pittsburgh last year. 23% of his SB's in 10% of his games.

[Ennder]

I enjoy the signing, and Briggs, the jump from what the Pirates had (Noodle arm nobody) to Martin is probably less than the jump from Martin to Molina

 

This is true for sure. Martin is a below average C at stopping the run but the Pirates were just awful last year, they had to be close to historically bad when it came to C defense.

[torts]

B.A.R.A.J.A.S.

[The stache]

Braun had 7 of his 31 SB's against Pittsburgh last year. 23% of his SB's in 10% of his games.

 

Right, and that's what my first post was referencing. I'd guessed 5 or 6 of his stolen bases came against Barajas. I wasn't far off.

[Ennder]

Braun is a good enough base stealer that he can run at will off of Martin so I doubt it makes that large of a difference.