Farewell, Sweet Prince (Russell Martin Edition)

[skyblue17]

It will definitely be interesting to see what the starting/backup catcher combo is on Opening Day. What even is Stewart's status right now? MLBTR did a offseason outlook and left him off of it completely. I like him as a backup catcher and he did do a lot of catching in SF when Posey went down (alongside Eli Whiteside!) but I can't see him being the starter.

Even though I know he is replaceable, I really liked Russell as a Yankee. I'm pretty surprised that one of the best FA catchers went to Pittsburgh of all places but good for them.

[bcom33]

My prediction is we sign Pierzynski. Napoli will want more years than we will want to give him and he can't play defense or call a game. Pierz can do both those things.

He isn't exactly a joy to root for, but he gets the job done offensively and defensively, and won't want 4 years.

[Yanks4eva1]

I liked him but WTH with Cashman not even making him an offer, according to ESPN...if that is true then Cashman doesn't get it. These players are realists and have agents who keep it real. Don't make stupid assumptions that players who really love playing here can be placed on the back burner and you'll get to them later. For the love of Babe Ruth, learn to effin multitask...for these players it's "show me the $$$$ FIRST" not show me the pinstripes!

Now what's plan B? All these pitchers signed but no catcher. Lovely.
And no thank you to AJP. Try again. Not a good fit for the team.

[Ram Man]

How many times would you think you'd be speaking about three different folks named A.J. in the same post?

You're right. That has to be some kind of record. I should have tossed in A. J. Foyt to put it out of reach.

[flymick24]

list of remaining FA catchers:

Rod Barajas (37)
Henry Blanco (41)
Mike Napoli (31)
Miguel Olivo (34)
Ronny Paulino (32)
A.J. Pierzynski (36)
Brian Schneider (36)
Kelly Shoppach (33)
Chris Snyder (32)
Yorvit Torrealba (34)
Matt Treanor (37)

eff me in the ay

[ymike673]

They could try to trade for a catcher. Not really any great choices among the free agents.

[BronxBombers92]

I say just throw Romine, Cervelli,and Sanchez at the wall and go with whatever sticks. No point in giving away prospects when we're trying to cut payroll

[Gusto]

something tells me when its June and our catchers have a combined OPS of somewhere in the low to mid .600s....I'll miss Martin.

Um ... Martin had an OPS of .640 in mid July this year.

[JayMan92]

list of remaining FA catchers:

Rod Barajas (37)
Henry Blanco (41)
Mike Napoli (31)
Miguel Olivo (34)
Ronny Paulino (32)
A.J. Pierzynski (36)
Brian Schneider (36)
Kelly Shoppach (33)
Chris Snyder (32)
Yorvit Torrealba (34)
Matt Treanor (37)

eff me in the ay

Why not go hard for Napoli??

[Jax Teller]

I like Martin but he is not someone that they will regret not signing to a multi-year deal.

[Gusto]

I like Martin but he is not someone that they will regret not signing to a multi-year deal.

Especially since signing Martin would have made it even harder to resign Cano next year while staying under 189

[The Comic Book Guy]

Why not go hard for Napoli??

Probably because he's a bad catcher and he wants four years. Personally I'd kind of like Nap as a C/DH, but I don't see it happening.

[flymick24]

what are the chances cashman has something crazy up his sleeve, like a choo+santana deal in the works?

possible, but not probable... eh, a guy can masturbate to the thought, can't he?

[Norge]

what are the chances cashman has something crazy up his sleeve, like a choo+santana deal in the works?

possible, but not probable... eh, a guy can masturbate to the thought, can't he?

I wouldn't, that's just odd. Whatever floats your boat I suppose...

[flymick24]

i thought about it, and here's what i think will happen:

cashman will swing a trade for mike morse and one of either kurt suzuki or wilson ramos (the latter of whom will obviously command a larger return)

something along the lines of david adams/corban joseph, adam warren, and cervelli (to get ramos, cashman may throw in phelps instead of warren)

meanwhile, he'll keep watch of the non-tender deadline tomorrow and see if soto gets the axe

[Gigi Buffon]

I like Martin but he is not someone that they will regret not signing to a multi-year deal.

2 years? Are you kidding me? This is a big f-ing mistake.

[apalradio]

Russell was such a black hole in the lineup for so much of the season, I really don't think this will kill them. I fully expect Cash to pull off a deal for a suitable C whose name we're not even talking about yet.

[Big_E]

Introducing the NY Yankees starting catcher for 2013...

[lilhen18]

i thought about it, and here's what i think will happen:

cashman will swing a trade for mike morse and one of either kurt suzuki or wilson ramos (the latter of whom will obviously command a larger return)

something along the lines of david adams/corban joseph, adam warren, and cervelli (to get ramos, cashman may throw in phelps instead of warren)

meanwhile, he'll keep watch of the non-tender deadline tomorrow and see if soto gets the axe

Funny you said this... when I first heard this news the first thing that popped in my head was, "I wonder what it would take to get Suzuki from the Nats."

Not that Suzuki is great, I'm not 100% sure of his contract situation, and I realize the it's a far-fetched idea that the Nats would trade him-- or that Cash would even consider the idea. It just made me laugh that his name popped in my head, and then I read this.

[JohnnyDamonfan]

I think the Yankees have the prospects to pull a catcher from some team. I say he has something up his sleeve. If we just trade for a catcher and sign back Ichiro we would be pretty steady. For all we know they never really wanted Martin back to begin with. I say there's gonna be some trade a few days/a week from now.

[MoVaughnEatsAlot]

i thought about it, and here's what i think will happen:

cashman will swing a trade for mike morse and one of either kurt suzuki or wilson ramos (the latter of whom will obviously command a larger return)

something along the lines of david adams/corban joseph, adam warren, and cervelli (to get ramos, cashman may throw in phelps instead of warren)

meanwhile, he'll keep watch of the non-tender deadline tomorrow and see if soto gets the axe

This makes the most sense, the Nats have an excess of catchers, and pretty good ones at that, with Suzuki possibly being the odd man out. I brought up Morse in the trade proposals thread and think he's a definite possibility if the Nats re-sign LaRoche.

[The Yankee Captain]

I liked him but WTH with Cashman not even making him an offer, according to ESPN...if that is true then Cashman doesn't get it. These players are realists and have agents who keep it real. Don't make stupid assumptions that players who really love playing here can be placed on the back burner and you'll get to them later. For the love of Babe Ruth, learn to effin multitask...for these players it's "show me the $$$$ FIRST" not show me the pinstripes!

Now what's plan B? All these pitchers signed but no catcher. Lovely.
And no thank you to AJP. Try again. Not a good fit for the team.

Cashman does get it. If he wants a catcher that plays real good defense and can't hit he can get one and he doesn't have to pay 2 years and 17 million for him. I liked Martin, but let's not act we're screwed because he's not going to be our catcher next season.

[longtimeyankeefan]

I liked him but WTH with Cashman not even making him an offer, according to ESPN...if that is true then Cashman doesn't get it. These players are realists and have agents who keep it real. Don't make stupid assumptions that players who really love playing here can be placed on the back burner and you'll get to them later. For the love of Babe Ruth, learn to effin multitask...for these players it's "show me the $$$$ FIRST" not show me the pinstripes!

Now what's plan B? All these pitchers signed but no catcher. Lovely.
And no thank you to AJP. Try again. Not a good fit for the team.

Actually, I have to wonder if his agent did a good job here - allowing Martin to sign with Pittsburgh for these terms without getting a firm offer from the Yankees, who probably would have offered more dollars at a minimum.

The issue always was the timing - Cashman made it very clear that he needed to take care of his pitching needs before moving onto position players. You have to ask the question why Martin signed on the Thursday before the Owners Meetings instead of waiting until the Yankees got Rivera signed and could move onto his status.

i thought about it, and here's what i think will happen:

cashman will swing a trade for mike morse and one of either kurt suzuki or wilson ramos (the latter of whom will obviously command a larger return)

something along the lines of david adams/corban joseph, adam warren, and cervelli (to get ramos, cashman may throw in phelps instead of warren)

meanwhile, he'll keep watch of the non-tender deadline tomorrow and see if soto gets the axe

I don't think that the Nats will make Morse available (talk is he will move to 1B to replace Adam LaRoche), but having the conversation certainly is worth it.

When the news about Martin broke, I went looking and discovered that Washington has FIVE catchers on their 40-man roster right now - FIVE. One has to assume that you could pry a catcher away from them.

[TheScooter]

Is Martin worth $8.5M? Cashman found Martin in the free agent market in 2010. The Dodgers non-tendered him. Martin gave the Yankees two good years. He did hit .211 last year. When they signed Martin 2 years ago,it was viewed as a depth move. Insurance for Montero. Posada was the full-time DH. Reading some of the media today,the season is over because the Yankees didn't re-sign Martin and now they have no choice but to spend more money on Napoli or sign Pierzynski.

But the Yankees were concerned that Martin, who will be 30 on Feb. 15, was in a steady decline, and that it might not be worth spending millions on him. His batting average has declined every year since 2007, when he hit .293, and he plays a physically demanding position. Martin has caught 7,5882/3 innings in his career, including 2,0891/3 as a Yankee.

Considered tough and athletic, Martin played through numerous aches, pains and injuries with the Yankees, and consistently demonstrated a willingness to put his body in front of foul balls, errant bat swings and hard-charging runners. At times the Yankees believed he could do a better job calling pitches, which may have contributed to their decision not to match the Pirates’ offer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/sp...e-pirates.html

The Yankees made the right move. $8.5M for 2014 is too much.

[Nome]

Cervelli, Romaine and Chris Stewart are all making about 500K per year. We also have several highly rated prospects in the minors that I wouldn't mind seeing them rushed a little early. They can develop in the majors as did players in the past. Replacing Martin with any of them would save $8 MM a year. This would be a big help in achieving our payroll goal and still sign some of our other high priced players. Martin was a good, but not a great defensive catcher, and except for a short period at the end of the year, a decided offensive liability.

For the money the Yanks would save by achieving their payroll goals, we can afford the loss of Martin.

Andy