Catching Jays’ drift for ’19
Blueprint for success all about flexibility — Martin included
Back when catcher Russell Martin first was a free agent after being non-tendered by the Dodgers following the 2010 season, the Blue Jays were genuinely interested in signing him to a short-term contract as a utilityman — able to catch a couple of times per week, play third base and even shortstop on occasion.
Eight years later they have that guy, but are severely overpaying for a utility player.
In 2011, GM Alex Anthopoulos was looking for both a veteran presence behind starting catcher J.P. Arencibia and a mentor to third baseman Brett Lawrie. But Martin, who had been restricted to 97 games with the Dodgers in 2010 due to injury, believed he could still be an everyday catcher on a championship team and turned the Jays down in favour of a one-year deal with the Yankees. Instead, the Jays went with the combination of Arencibia and veteran Jose Molina again.
In 2011-12, Martin led the Yankees to the playoffs during his two years in pinstripes, then signed a two-year free-agent deal with the Pirates for $17 million (all dollars U.S.) and guided them to playoff berths in consecutive years, the first time they had even finished at .500 since the departure of Barry Bonds to the Giants in 1993.
Finally, lured to Toronto by the combination of Montreal homeboy Anthopoulos and fast-talking president Paul Beeston, Martin continued his impressive post-season streak with the Jays, reaching the American League Championship Series in 2015 and 2016 to snap a 22-year playoff drought.
So, in hindsight, was that five-year, $82-million contract worth it now that the Jays and Martin are each struggling to compete for a second straight year?
Martin makes $20 million this year and has one more season at the same salary in 2019.
Basically, Martin’s statistics and production are not the reason he’s in the lineup. It’s his contract.
Perhaps the Jays are taking advantage of the fact that backup Luke Maile is playing well right now to find out whether Martin could assume that secondary role with a new primary catcher in place in 2019, such as 23-year-old Danny Jansen — hitting .331 with a .926 OPS in 36 games at Triple-A Buffalo. If Martin shows he can handle multiple positions (he was manning third against the Red Sox on Tuesday night) they could afford to think about carrying three catchers next year.
Martin was a natural infielder growing up and at Chipola College in Florida, making the conversion to catcher as a 20-year-old pro with the Dodgers in 2002. When he started at third base and shortstop this year, he seemed comfortable and enthusiastic. But starting in left field at Fenway Park on Monday, he played a fair ball off the wall near the line like any number of jai-alai players on whom I lost money at spring training through the years. Stick to the infield.
Jays ownership can’t be called cheapskates. The opening-day payroll of just over $162 million ranks eighth in MLB, just behind the Yankees. With 10 teams qualifying for the postseason, the Jays are paying enough to rank among the contenders, but they are not contending.
They aren’t getting full value for that payroll at the moment, though. Consider that there is $42.85 million on the restricted and disabled lists in Roberto Osuna, Troy Tulowitzki, Marcus Stroman, Steve Pearce, Randal Grichuk and Aledmys Diaz. That leaves less than $120 million in play.
Also consider the severe lack of production from some highly-paid players. They reached the one-third mark of the schedule on Memorial Day. Through 54 games, Martin, Josh Donaldson ($23 million), Kendrys Morales ($11 million) and Tulowitzki ($20 million), earning a combined $74 million, contributed 73 hits in 377 at-bats (.194) with 14 homers, 45 RBIs, 54 walks and 113 strikeouts.
How disappointing has the Jays’ offence been?
In interleague games, the pitching staff has hit .286 (4 for 14), a higher average than each of the 20 position players on the team — who have taken batting practice every day since early February.
Seven were below .200: Martin, Devon Travis, Morales, Randal Grichuk, Gio Urshela, Gift Ngoepe and Anthony Alford.
Seven were hitting over .250: Kevin Pillar, Richard Urena, Maile, Dwight Smith, Pearce, Yangervis Solarte and Teoscar Hernandez. That is not good enough to compete.
The five-man starting rotation that broke camp at the end of March — J.A. Happ, Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman, Marco Estrada and Jaime Garcia — is earning $45.2 million. In the pre-season, that quintet was ranked in the top half-dozen in the AL, but at the 54-game mark they had combined to go 13-21 with a 5.22 ERA.
The less-than-fab five started 48 of the first 54 games and averaged just over 51⁄ 3 innings per outing while allowing a total of 42 home runs, or 1.43 per nine innings.
Including Tuesday’s contest in Boston, the Jays had 108 games remaining for GM Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro to decide which direction they should turn in 2019.
There is flexibility, with eight potential free agents plus three others who can be bought out for a total of $3.75 million. If all 11 contracts were gone, the Jays would save $81 million.
The big question then would become whether the Jays reinvest that money in an attempt to compete immediately, or call up any number of stud prospects from the minors and ask for patience from the fans while building more party areas in the Rogers Centre for fans to eat, drink — and forget.