The Blue Jays have had internal discussions about signing free agent catcher Russell Martin, Sportsnet.ca’s Jeff Blair reports. Needless to say, the Jays would have to outbid several teams in order to secure Martin, who is easily the top catcher on the open market. The Jays haven’t made any significant payroll expenditures in almost two years, though they’re trying to create some payroll flexibility in order to make some moves this winter, as evidenced by their trade of Adam Lind.
With Martin a sure bet to receive a qualifying offer from the Pirates, the Jays would also have to give up their first-round draft pick (18th overall) as compensation for the signing. While surrendering a first-rounder would represent a shift in Toronto’s front office philosophy, the Blue Jays could get another draft pick back (between the first and second rounds) should Melky Cabrera sign elsewhere this offseason.
Toronto already has Dioner Navarro under contract for one more season, though if Martin signed, Blair notes that Navarro would be shifted into a DH role. One would think Navarro wouldn’t be the primary DH and would split time between that spot and a backup catcher role, though that also raises the possibility that the Jays would part ways with current backup Josh Thole (whose option was picked up for 2015). Since Thole’s primary role with the Jays has been to catch for R.A. Dickey, his future with the team could depend on how well Martin or Navarro could handle the knuckleball.
With Navarro already slated to start, the Jays were an off-the-board contender for Martin and thus not cited by MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes in his Top 50 Free Agent Predictions. Dierkes predicted Martin would sign the Cubs, with the Pirates and Dodgers also standing out as likely bidders.
Gut feeling, but I feel AA feels the heat to produce good results, and I think Toronto’s going to make some good moves this offseason
That guy has been going in circles for years.
If he wanted a good catcher, he’d have let Farrell’s coaches work with Gomes.
Confirmation bias. Literally nothing about Yan Gomes indicated he would be able to hit or catch well enough to make it as an MLB backup, nevermind a starter. Even in the minors he was usually a backup and wasn’t even ranked among the top 50 prospects in the Jays org. His sudden emergence in 2013 caught everyone, including scouts and other talent evaluators (and the Indians), totally by surprise. The Indians only called him up because of injuries to Santana and Marson.
But yeah, AA should absolutely have looked into a crystal ball and been able to see that coming.
This is a bit surprising! Especially since Dioner Navarroate up Oriole pitching.
Plus, he was pretty good defensively!
If anything the Blue Jays could use some pitching, not catching.
Russell Martin’s ability to manage a pitching staff would do wonders for the Blue Jays young pitching (Hutch, Stroman, Norris, Sanchez, Graveman, etc.). Could be one of the most impactful moves of the offseason if it were to happen.
Picking up a catcher like Martin would make the pitching better than pretty much any pitching acquisition could. Martin was one of the best pitch framers last year, whereas Navarro was one of the worst. Martin’s defense is also leaps and bounds ahead of Navarro, so that would help even more.
This is a non-story. All organizations discuss all free agents at some point
Major League Baseball Trade *Rumors*
I realize that but this a rumor but for me, this is not even worth reporting. You’re not doing your job as a GM if you’re not discussing every available Free Agent on the market and if/how they fit with your team.
Have you been to this site before?
Seems like fixing the wrong hole for the Jays. Was catching a big problem for them last year? Certainly hitting wasn’t. They need to take those Canadian dollars and go get a couple new SP’s.
Part of the thought, I’m sure, would be that Martin would help the rotation himself.
Hitting’s going to be a pretty big problem if they replace Melky, Lind and Rasmus with Andy Dirks, Justin Smoak and Anthony Gose/Kevin Pillar. Second base is already a black hole and neither Reyes nor Lawrie can stay healthy.
Pompey should be part of filling in the OF but they’re definitely going to have to find some more offense.
I don’t think so. He needs some more conditioning IMO, and should get regular at-bats in the minors.
Pompey eventually, sure, but he’s turning 22 in a month and has less than 200 at bats above high-A. Unlikely that he’s ready yet…but you never know I guess.
Couple new SP’s? The starting group is arguably the deepest area now. Dickey, Buehrle, Stroman, Hutchinson,Happ, Sanchez, Norris etc. The talent is there to make a very formidable 5 man group and have plenty of depth in case of injuries. The first 5 guys listed there combined to pitch for a 3.88 ERA last season, and adding Sanchez this year can only help. Sure this rotation won’t have an ‘ace’ but in order to get one they would have to overspend on a free agent or trade their young pitching talent (Norris, Sanchez, Stroman) which wont happen. There pitching staff is set up to get the job done 2015 and be an extreme strength long term.
I think Martin is French-Canadian, so maybe that’s the angle. I just want to know how much the overpay is going to be.
You’d think someone is going to go very close (or, if a GM goes all the way to Crazytown, over) the McCann deal, so the Jays would need to be thinking $90-100 mil to sign Martin.
I personally doubt that, but if it’s true, I feel bad for the team committed to him for that much. Martin is good, but I’m stunned at some of the proposed offers I’ve been hearing. I think his value is a bit inflated right now.
No doubt his value is inflated, and I’m sure all teams are considering this. I think he’ll end up with a 4-5 year deal, with the AAV around 15 million
I usually am the one arguing that a player will get far more than anyone predicts in free agency but $90M+ for Martin is definitely an overestimate. He’ll get something closer to $60M. No one, I mean NO ONE, is crazy enough to give a catcher over 30 with a history of injuries a 7 year deal.
Understand, I’m not saying that Martin deserves it–but, again, look at what McCann got, and that was coming into his age 30 season. There is no other clear-cut everday option at catcher in this FA class, and there are teams with both cash and heightened expectations, i.e., the Dodgers and Cubs, who could use an upgrade behind the plate. I would be surprised, very surprised, if some GM didn’t go over the McCann line for a deal for Martin.
I totally agree with your premise that someone is going to wildly overpay for Martin, but we disagree on what “wildly overpay” means. I think someone will give Martin a 5 year deal that pays him an AAV in the area of $12M or a 4 year deal worth an AAV around $15M and that it will turn out to be a mistake. Bear in mind that Martin will be 2 years older than McCann was and that Martin has a history of injuries that McCann did not.
The other two things affecting his likely contract are (1) the McCann contract is already looking bad. Like, really bad. (2) The Yankees have McCann and the Dodgers have hired Friedman – a guy not known for handing out bad contacts.
Well, he didn’t get $90M+ and he didn’t beat the McCann contract, but I’ll say this – you were closer than I was. I am literally stunned that the Jays signed him for $82M. I would never have thought Toronto would sign him once the numbers got up to $60M, and I didn’t think anyone would go above $70M for him. I hope this works out for Martin and the Jays, but I have a bad feeling about this…
This can also get Navarro to put his full focus on hitting as a full-time DH.
Navarro’s career line, .255/.313/.375 OPS = .689, is not
good for a DH
This would be a good signing for the Blue Jays. One of Russell Martin’s best attributes is his ability to manage pitchers and the Blue Jays could benefit from this. But, I also figure that just about everyone is talking about Martin as he is the only free-agent catcher out there this offseason.
I think that Russell Martin will never sign with Toronto.
I like the move. Navarro would be one heck of a backup catcher and people forget he is a decent switch hitter. It would eliminate a platoon. Hopefully they still flip Estrada for something haha
Erm, shouldn’t the Jays primary focus be trying to retain Melky right now?
No reason why you couldn’t sign both.
I’d much rather have Martin than Melky. Give me Martin and a bargain bin LF (e.g., Rios) with Pompey in CF. Let Melky walk if you have to choose between the two. Use Navarro as a backup catcher.
Signing an expensive and over-30 free agent catcher would seem to fly in the face of the story the other day about them wanting to trade/shed Buerhle’s and Dickey’s contracts, no? This story suggests that they want to win now, the other suggests the opposite.
Yes. That is why I said above that this GM has been going in circles for years.
That would be true if they were planning on shedding those guys for prospects, but the point of shedding them was seemingly to free up payroll space to improve the team in other ways. It was never anything like a “rebuilding” move, like you’re insinuating. Starting pitching was a strength, and they have potential candidates in Sanchez, Norris, and now Estrada that could fill the created hole from within.
Navarro isn’t a DH. If they want to keep him as the backup C then fine, otherwise they would have to trade him. We went through this dance a few years ago when people were clamoring to shift JPA to DH.
lol maybe he demands to play shortstop if they sign him like he did with team canada
haha
I really like the idea of Martin as the primary catcher and switching Navarro to DH. It makes a lot of sense both defensively and offensively. But, the Jays have so many other holes to fill (2B, CF, LF, an entire bullpen) that this only makes sense if one of the following two things are true : 1) Rogers has decided to open the pocketbook for one last hurrah at being a serious competitor, which I doubt. OR 2) The Blue Jays think they can move either Dickey or Buerhle to free up the necessary cap room to justify a signing like this on a limited budget.
Navarro with his career wRC+ of 86 is fitting to be no one’s DH.
Been reading Blue Jays twitter most of the day and I keep seeing fans like: “Yeah! Navarro to DH!” You’re right. His bat does not stand up to being a DH. He’s a backup catcher and pinch-hitter.
Perhaps. But look at Bob Melvin and Joe Maddon. They used the DH differently… Melvin used catcher John Jaso a lot at DH and Maddon has used guys like Sean Rodriguez at DH. The DH isn’t necessarily all about power, it’s about flexibility (something AA alluded to when he traded Lind) and being able to give aging veterans time at DH. It is worthwhile to note however that Navarro hit .310 last season when he was the DH.
Martin would be a great signing for the Jays, but they need an outfielder & a second baseman more than they need Martin. Goins can’t hit at 2nd. If the Jays lose Melky in the outfield, they basically have Bautista out there. Gose can’t hit if he’s in center. If Pompey wins the job, he’s a rookie and will have his ups and downs. They need a veteran out there
I am worried this team will not improve overall going into next year. A lot of holes to fill, not much payroll flexibility (from what the media tells us) and not many prospects that hold value yet and can be traded outside of Sanchez, Pompey,Norris. Interested to see how AA will improve the team heading into 2015
A bit of money came off the books actually so there’s flexibility. And with Melky on his way out, there’s tons of cash to be smart with…
Izturis will probably start at 2nd he actually started out well this past season until he made a silly mistake in injuring himself. Goins is AAA depth unless he stays on the bench for defense if we don’t deal Izzy/sign a new second baseman. This also depends on where Lawrie plays but I assume he’s going to be at 3rd
Seeing as the article said “internal discussions” I’m going to guess they have yet to discuss moving north of the border with Russell Martin. Things would seem to hinge somewhat on that. Unless Martin really does have pitcher “pixie dust” I’m really having a hard time seeing this. It’s not like the Jays have a black hole behind the plate.
FWIW, Dioner Navarro OPS’ed 0.70 points higher as DH than as catcher (0.695 vs 0.765). He’s not a terrible option to have DHing.
This would be history repeating itself as Martin unseated Navarro during Martin’s rookie season.
If the Jays are thinking about spending the kind of money it would take to get Martin I would much rather see them use it to sign Shields. Three pitchers who are as close as you will get to a lock to pitch 200+ innings a season would give the Jays a much better chance at winning the division – there is a strong correlation between how many innings a team gets from its top 5 starters and where they finish in the standings. Buehrle, Dickey, Shields might not be the best rotation in the game, but it just might be the most reliable.
Having Martin playing in his home country and working his magic with what will be a younger and less experienced pitching staff this year with Norris, Sanchez, Stroman and other young guys poised to be starting the year with the jays.
itsgetting late for jays, most of the good ones are being taken, I am not happly with the blue jays, and I am a loyal fan, they had better spend some money or they wont have a chance in hell of ever getting into the play offs