Russell Martin - 5 yrs, $82 mil deal with Toronto

[torts]

Martin just got paid, wow. crazy couple of minutes with this and the STL/ATL trade

[bill hAll Star]

Wait, what? Russell Martin? I had to Google who "Martin" was in case there was a player I was forgetting because I didn't think it would be Russell.

[jjgott]

hahahaha *looks at Lucroy's contract again* hahahahahahaha

[markedman5]

Pirates just got worse..which is a good thing....but...we are never going to be able to resign Lucroy are we?

[chadomac]

we are never going to be able to resign Lucroy are we?

 

No. Let's just enjoy the first deal we got and let him enjoy the megadeal he gets after he leaves the Crew.

[fondybrewfan]

Holy crap what a terrible idea by Toronto. They must think they are really close to a World Series to fork over this sort of dough

[BrewBalls]

we are never going to be able to resign Lucroy are we?

 

No. Let's just enjoy the first deal we got and let him enjoy the megadeal he gets after he leaves the Crew.

Brewers could very likely afford an extension for Lucroy after 2017 at an AAV around $15-17M. The Brewers shoul dhave some younger homegrown talent like Arcia, Taylor and Coulter ready to contribute by then. Also Garza will be coming off the books after 2017 or 2018 if they pick up his option.

[Warning Track Power]

Lucroy is such a bargain and we have him until the end of 2017 or the end of his age 31 season. Given his fan favorite status, I truly believe he will be here for his career.

[patrickgpe]

Lucroy is such a bargain and we have him until the end of 2017 or the end of his age 31 season. Given his fan favorite status, I truly believe he will be here for his career.

Melvin better not let him get to free agency then,it always only takes one and judging from today, one GM is crazy enough to overpay for any freeagent.

[BrewBalls]

Lucroy is such a bargain and we have him until the end of 2017 or the end of his age 31 season. Given his fan favorite status, I truly believe he will be here for his career.

I bet we could sign him to a 4yr/$60M extension now which should be good value come 2018 and beyond. Luc gets some financial security while the Brewers get a discount by paying slightly below current market value for his 2018-2021 seasons. The Brewers could also make a portion of this deal a signing bonus which could be paid in installments in the years leading up to the extension.

[pacopete4]

The business side says why sign Luc after the age of 31? We have him in his prime years for cheap, let some other team overpay for him after that. Hopefully by then we have a younger catcher ready to go.

[BrewBalls]

The business side says why sign Luc after the age of 31? We have him in his prime years for cheap, let some other team overpay for him after that. Hopefully by then we have a younger catcher ready to go.

I think they offer an extension based on two factors.

1. He will be the clear cut face of the franchise by then and is a fan favorite.

2. Besides Coulter who appears to be moving off of catcher we do not have anyone in the system capable of replacing him.

[torts]

I thought leaving it just as Martin made it that much more unbelievable. Glad he went back to the AL, and yet another piece the Pirates wont have next year.

[pacopete4]

1. He will be the clear cut face of the franchise by then and is a fan favorite.

 

If this is how we are doing business then we deserve to continue to struggle. You do not make decisions based on this. Catchers slow down a lot faster than other players, especially offensively. If we throw big money to a 31+ year old catcher, we get what we deserve.

[Invader3K]

Baseball is so awash in cash it's ridiculous. The era of the mega contracts is clearly back in full force, if it ever even went away.

[reillymcshane]

Crazy money. And Navarro wasn't bad last year. But I guess Toronto really wanted the guy. Better them than us.

[BrewBalls]

1. He will be the clear cut face of the franchise by then and is a fan favorite.

 

If this is how we are doing business then we deserve to continue to struggle. You do not make decisions based on this. Catchers slow down a lot faster than other players, especially offensively. If we throw big money to a 31+ year old catcher, we get what we deserve.

This was just one reason not the only one. I also suggested signing him to a 4yr/$60M deal with a portion paid out before 2018 in the form of a signing bonus. Let's say the bonus was for $8M which is dispursed ($2.5M in both 2015 and 2016 and $3M in 2017). This means we are paying Lucroy $13M in each of those four seasons. The bonus will likely be recouped through merchandising and player promotions before the extension even takes effect. This would allow the Brewers to retain Lucroy for his entire career (through age 35) while never paying him more than $13M in any single season.

[3and2Fastball]

Great signing by Toronto, they just got a lot better. I can't help but laugh at anyone who thinks that Toronto can't "afford" it. These billionaire owners are awash with extra cash, it is like Monopoly money to them....

[JohnBriggs12]

Pirates will be fine not over spending on Martin after a career year. Martin timed it perfectly.

[SRB]

Can I be a MLB GM? I'm only half joking. So many of these contracts are so blatantly bad ideas. These GMs are paid millions of dollars to do this for a living? I don't understand it...

[reillymcshane]

1. He will be the clear cut face of the franchise by then and is a fan favorite.

 

If this is how we are doing business then we deserve to continue to struggle. You do not make decisions based on this. Catchers slow down a lot faster than other players, especially offensively. If we throw big money to a 31+ year old catcher, we get what we deserve.

This was just one reason not the only one. I also suggested signing him to a 4yr/$60M deal with a portion paid out before 2018 in the form of a signing bonus. Let's say the bonus was for $8M which is dispursed ($2.5M in both 2015 and 2016 and $3M in 2017). This means we are paying Lucroy $13M in each of those four seasons. The bonus will likely be recouped through merchandising and player promotions before the extension even takes effect. This would allow the Brewers to retain Lucroy for his entire career (through age 35) while never paying him more than $13M in any single season.

I'm not a fan of signing guys into their 30s, but one thing that you have to consider is value of the replacement. You let Weeks leave because you have Overbay. You trade Aoki because you have Davis. That's smart management of a team. However, the Brewers have no one in the minor league system (that I know of) that projects as an every day catcher. The drop off could be huge.

 

I'm not saying you go out and sign Lucroy to an extension today. I think you can wait at least until after the June draft of 2015. We could potentially add a guy at this time. Or maybe next off season. Otherwise, you do what is suggested above. Sign Luc to the extension, give him some money early with a signing bonus spread out between 2016-17 to soften the blow of the contract later. If you can keep the extension to three years, even better.

 

It should also be noted that other than Braun, we have no long term deals (unless Garza's fifth year vests). Here's how long we control current key players (the final year of control is listed):

 

Luc: 2017

Maldonado: 2017

Lind: 2016

Scooter: 2019

Segura: 2018

A-Ram: 2015

Braun: 2644

Davis: 2019

Gomez: 2016

Parra: 2015

Gallardo: 2015

Garza: 2017 (has a 2018 vesting option)

Lohse: 2015

Peralta: 2018

Nelson: 2020

Fiers: 2019

Thornburg: 2019

Smith: 2019

Jeffress: 2019

 

Most of our players in the latter part of this decade will be arby eligible types, or pre arby guys (such as Taylor, Arcia or Coulter). The team can probably afford to carry a larger contract (like a Lucroy extension), even if he is in the decline phase.

 

Also, regarding Luc, he probably won't hit .300 at age 35, but he should retain solid value (barring an injury).

 

Of course, we could trade a good player for a catcher once Luc is finished. But teams don't deal good catchers very often.

[trwi7]

Just an awful deal. I don't really get what Toronto is doing. They had a nice farm after rebuilding, then made that huge trade with the Marlins and the Dickey trade which failed spectacularly and now they just seem to be trying to piece a team together hoping to catch lightning in a bottle for a playoff berth. But they'll probably stop trying to improve now that they signed Martin and will be right back to being a .500 team give or take a few games.

[brewcrewdue80]

To think the Cubs were the front runners on signing Martin prior to Toronto stepping in and signing him. Solid Catcher but I don't believe he's special enough to get this kind of money. Anyway since the Cubs didn't waste 15mil for 4 years to sign him, it means they have 15mil to put elsewhere in to likely better money spent. A Yasmani Tomas. A Jon Lester. James Shields. Max Scherzer.

 

As to Toronto and signing a Canadian Born Martin ie something to give fans to cheer about, Toronto could be looking at the Pitch Framing, getting better than expected numbers with Martin catching the likes of Burnett/Liriano and others.

They have what Marcus Stroman/Sean Nolin/Daniel Norris/and Aaron Sanchez? Quartet of Young Starters that Martin's Leadership skills and ability behind the plate can make them excell to another level? It's likely better for them to groom those guys with a Catcher for 5years moving forward vs. Navarro next year and then someone new after that. Again, I don't like the 16+mil AAV involved for a Batter who hadn't batted above .250 prior to this season since 2008 when he was 25. You take away his 2 best offensive years and he's essentially an avg bat with plus Glove.

 

I feel this deal is made with the Starters in mind. And the fact that Martin is Canadian, Toronto is banking on making up a few million on that contract in added Jersey Sales, Navarro or any other non-native Catcher wouldn't net.

[TooLiveBrew]

A few million in jersey sales seems like an overestimation. That'd be a lot of jerseys.

[DHonks]

Wow, I would have thought maybe 3 years, $35-40 million. I guess they have to overpay a bit to attract talent to Canadia