Russell Martin has signed a five-year $82 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Martin is 31-years old and had a good season last year with the Pittsburgh Pirates, hitting .290 with 11 homers and 67 RBIs. Martin also had a career best on-base percentage .402. The deal is still pending a physical exam.
Martin was born in Toronto and most people thought that was where he was heading. He has hit .259 with 119 homers and 540 RBIs in nine major league season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and the Pirates.
Pittsburgh paid him $8.5 million last season. The Blue Jays will pay him around $16.5 million a year, which I think is a bit much. Martin is a great leader, but I don’t think he will put up the number he did last season. The Blue Jays have made some bad decisions the last few seasons, when it comes to contracts and I think this could be another one. It seems like players are starting to decline a lot faster these days and I know I wouldn’t want to give a 31-year old a five-year deal.
Russell Martin is a good defensive catcher, leading the majors by throwing out 37 base stealers. He finished fourth in the majors in caught-stealing percentage with 38.5, he thew out 37 of the 59 base-runners.
Marcus Stroman tweeted to welcome his new teammate aboard.
I do think this is a good move for Toronto, but I just think they paid him too much.
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