35 replies to this topic

[TheYellowDart5]

So sez Rosen-bot:

Source: #Pirates reach agreement with Russell Martin, pending physical.

https://twitter.com/...323115230760960

Let the Stewart/Cervelli pu-pu platter platoon begin!

[jon abbey]

Whiteside! Romine! It's going to be ugly.

[E5 Yaz]

Salty has a swing made for the Bidet!

[RedOctober3829]

Whiteside was released to make room for Pettitte.

They'll sign AJ Pierzynski now.

[E5 Yaz]

They'll sign AJ Pierzynski now.

That's a match made in

[TheYellowDart5]

Whiteside! Romine! It's going to be ugly.

It's gonna be awesome the first time A.J. Pierzynski gets arrested for starting a brawl in a Meatpacking District night club because someone spilled a martini on his Affliction t-shirt.

Edited by TheYellowDart5, 29 November 2012 - 08:37 PM.

[jon abbey]

Whiteside was released to make room for Pettitte.

They'll sign AJ Pierzynski now.

Whiteside was taken off the 40 man roster, they're hoping he clears waivers so they can send him to AAA.

And there is about as much chance of me catching 100 games for NY next year as there is for Pierzynski to be doing so, unless he's going to take a one year deal (doubtful). I know it's hard for any of us to process as it's behavior we've never come close to seeing before from the NY front office, but it really seems as if they're going to stay under $189M in 2014, even if it means they're not as good in 2013 as they could be and that they suck in 2014.

[RedOctober3829]

David Waldstein ‏@DavidWaldstein
Russell Martin has agreed to a 2-year, $17 million contract with the Pirates, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal

[jon abbey]

David Waldstein ‏@DavidWaldstein
Russell Martin has agreed to a 2-year, $17 million contract with the Pirates, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal

Wow, that shows how serious NY is about this if we didn't know already, that is not a hard offer to top.

[Tyrone Biggums]

Great signing for Pittsburgh when you take into consideration the degree of suckatude they've had behind the plate since Jason Kendall in his prime. Hard to believe that Martin is only 29, seems like he's been around a lot longer than that.

[maufman]

In the current market, paying 2/17 for the age 30-31 seasons for a catcher who has averaged 118 GP over the past three seasons with a bat that's a bit above average for the position (OPS+ 92) qualifies as a bargain. And as JA notes, this speaks volumes about the MFY's seriousness about getting under the tax threshold in 2014.

[Rough Carrigan]

Whiteside was released to make room for Pettitte.

They'll sign AJ Pierzynski now.

MLB's most hateable player on the yankees? Nooooooooooooooooo.

[Greg29fan]

Great signing for Pittsburgh when you take into consideration the degree of suckatude they've had behind the plate since Jason Kendall in his prime. Hard to believe that Martin is only 29, seems like he's been around a lot longer than that.

The Pirates were the easiest team in the league to run on last year as their catchers only threw out 11% of would-be base-stealers. While Martin isn't Yadier Molina, he should help with his 24% throw-out rate.

Edited by Greg29fan, 29 November 2012 - 09:13 PM.

[SemperFidelisSox]

So is this when the $187 million budget goes out the window and Mauer is in pinstripes by the end of the winter meetings?

[Tyrone Biggums]

The Pirates were the easiest team in the league to run on last year as their catchers only threw out 11% of would-be base-stealers. While Martin isn't Yadier Molina, he should help with his 24% throw-out rate.

This is also very true, going to be interesting to see how the Pirates fare without being able to beat up on the AAAstros. I think they could surprise quite a few people this year personally.

Now this leads me to ponder an interesting question, do you give the Yankees a call about Salty? Maybe for Nava or Hughes? Just a thought.

[jon abbey]

Wow, this shows even more how serious they are on this budget thing:

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN
The Yankees never made an offer to Russell Martin; they haven't made any offers to position players so far this offseason.

[E5 Yaz]

Wow, this shows even more how serious they are on this budget thing:

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN
The Yankees never made an offer to Russell Martin; they haven't made any offers to position players so far this offseason.

They're only "serious" about it until they're not

[TheYellowDart5]

Wow, this shows even more how serious they are on this budget thing:

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN
The Yankees never made an offer to Russell Martin; they haven't made any offers to position players so far this offseason.

I know it's only Russell Martin we're talking about and not in-his-prime Johnny Bench, but does this strike anyone else as pennywise and pound foolish? I mean, is Cashman really comfortable going into next season with the flaming dumpster duo that is Chris Stewart and Frankie Fistpump and the 500 automatic outs they'll be creating next year at the bottom of the lineup?

Then again, that strikes me as this offseason's version of "Bubba Crosby will be our starting centerfielder," and we'll probably see the Yankees send three middling prospects and some lint to Minnesota for Joe Mauer or something. Though there is this pretty solid free-agent backup catcher who hit pretty well for the Braves last year, I think his name's David Ro—OH WAIT A MINUTE.

Edited by TheYellowDart5, 29 November 2012 - 10:05 PM.

[Rough Carrigan]

Wow, this shows even more how serious they are on this budget thing:

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN
The Yankees never made an offer to Russell Martin; they haven't made any offers to position players so far this offseason.

Well, what does that statement imply and what does it actually mean?
It implies that they didn't have serious interest.
But there's a whole lot of negotiating that can go on before a bona fide offer is made. There's discussion of "parameters" and contract length and you can listen to the other side's position and say 'no' and 'that's too much' etc etc.

[crow216]

They would go after Napoli most likely. NY was right around the middle of the league in catcher production. Don't see this being a huge loss outside of how well liked he was by the staff.

http://www.fangraphs...lter=&players=0

[jon abbey]

I know it's only Russell Martin we're talking about and not in-his-prime Johnny Bench, but does this strike anyone else as pennywise and pound foolish? I mean, is Cashman really comfortable going into next season with the flaming dumpster duo that is Chris Stewart and Frankie Fistpump and the 500 automatic outs they'll be creating next year at the bottom of the lineup?

This is the point: right now NY's goal isn't to put together the best team they can, it's to put together the best teams they can for 2013 and 2014 while staying under $189M for all of 2014. They've gotten really lucky with Kuroda (especially) and Pettitte and Rivera so the pitching staff for 2013 should still be pretty strong (on paper anyway), but they're going to be decidedly worse at RF and C barring something very unforeseen.

And they're absolutely not going after Napoli or anyone else that will necessitate a multi-year commitment.

[jon abbey]

They're only "serious" about it until they're not

Agreed, but now it's actually costing them players, Martin and presumably Swisher. The normal Yankees keep both those guys without a second thought, assuming Swisher could be gotten for 4/60 or something like that.

[jon abbey]

It'll be interesting to see how much he hits going forward, 9 of his 21 HRs this year were under 360 feet, 8 of the 21 Home Run Tracker lists as only going out in 2 of the 30 ballparks max. He does walk a lot, even when he couldn't hit at all for the first half of the year, he was still getting on base a fair amount.

[E5 Yaz]

He'll hit fewer home runs in Pittsburgh, but they have power hitters.

Edited by E5 Yaz, 30 November 2012 - 02:25 AM.

[derekson]

David Waldstein ‏@DavidWaldstein
Russell Martin has agreed to a 2-year, $17 million contract with the Pirates, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal

I still can't believe the Yankees didn't top this, especially considering how terrible their current catching options are.

I think Pierzynski could still end up in pinstripes, even if JA thinks it won't happen. It's pretty easy to imagine them getting him on a one year commitment if the money is good enough.

Edited by derekson, 30 November 2012 - 03:33 AM.

[jon abbey]

If they can get him on a one year deal, it's definitely possible.

[Brickowski]

Why will the Yankees be decidedly worse at catcher? If Stewart and Cervelli can combine for 55-60 RBIs (which is certainly not out of the realm of possibility), it's a wash. And as far as I can see, Stewart (but not Cervelli) is just as good defensively as Martin. and Romine is also reputed to be very good defensively.

[jon abbey]

Well, he's among the best around at framing pitches for one, this article might help answer your question (framing numbers near the bottom):

http://mlb.si.com/20...ankees-pirates/

[Brickowski]

Well, he was an automatic out until September and he doesn't throw out runners. As for pitch framing, what are Stewart's pitch framing numbers? Cervelli's? IMHO we shouldn't assume that the Yankees will take a huge hit in this area until we see some comparisons.

If an ex catcher like Girardi had told Cashman that Martin was absolutely needed, my guess is that Cashman would have found a way. I'd love to know Girardi's take on this, although his true feelings will probably never be made public.

[abty]

By law a team must help out the yankees so somebody will give them a catcher.

[derekson]

The Rangers just nontendered Soto. I could see the Yankees picking him up on a low commitment contract.

[terrynever]

Martin 0-for-14 with Pittsburgh so far. 3 walks.

[Comeback Kid]

Looks like the Yankees made the right move.

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Looks like the Yankees made the right move.

 

After a week?  I guess that means Iglesias is one of the best hitters in the majors and Chris Davis is Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Barry Bonds rolled up into one.

[Comeback Kid]

...sarcasm in response to him bumping a four month old thread to give us a week's worth of stats

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Ah, OK.  My apologies then.