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Pirates One of Four Teams Still in the Mix For Russell Martin

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Bruce Levine reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue Jays are all still in on free agent catcher Russell Martin, and that all four teams believe he is a major difference maker.

The Pirates just added Francisco Cervelli, so it appears they’re setting up for a scenario where they will be without Martin. Based on his asking price, and the fact that the Cubs and Dodgers are in the bidding, I think it’s likely that he will end up outside of their price range. Jon Heyman pointed out the similarities between this situation, and what they did last year with Edinson Volquez and A.J. Burnett.

As I wrote tonight, I don’t see Martin coming back to the Pirates. I think Cervelli and Chris Stewart will be the catchers, with Tony Sanchez serving as the number three catcher. But that’s assuming that Martin is out of the four-year, $60 M price range that I think the Pirates could afford. It would be interesting to see what happens if the other teams don’t meet his demands. I just don’t think that’s likely.

If the Pirates don’t sign Martin, they’ll have a lot of money left over to upgrade at other positions. And as I wrote Tuesday night, they will need to do just that in order to make up for the value they’d lose by going from Martin to Cervelli/Stewart.

UPDATE 1:21 PM: Ken Rosenthal also says they’re still in on Martin, and that Cervelli is insurance if Martin signs elsewhere.

My earlier comments about Martin signing with the Pirates still stand. It seems unlikely to happen with the asking price and the other teams involved.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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