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Pittsburgh Pirates waited too long to extend Russell Martin

By Ed Carroll

The Pittsburgh Pirates would love to keep catcher Russell Martin, but despite negotiating a new contract with Martin in spring training, they waited until during the season to make him an offer. Martin declined, not wanted to negotiate in the middle of a playoff chase. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Pirates would love to keep catcher Russell Martin, but despite negotiating a new contract with Martin in spring training, they waited until during the season to make him an offer. Martin declined, not wanted to negotiate in the middle of a playoff chase. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Pittsburgh Pirates would love to keep catcher Russell Martin and despite negotiating a new contract with Martin in spring training, they waited until during the season to make him an offer. Martin declined, not wanted to negotiate in the middle of a playoff chase.

A common saying in baseball is “sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make.” For the Pittsburgh Pirates, the inverse could be true. Sometimes the worst moves are the ones you don’t make. Pittsburgh would love to retain impending free agent catcher Russell Martin, but the Pirates might have already missed the chance at extending him.

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The Pirates were negotiating with Martin on a contract extension in spring training. CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman said the team waited to make a formal contract proposal, perhaps as late as the second half of the season. Heyman reports that the Pirates’ offer isn’t known, but it’s likely that Martin had already well outplayed the offer by the time he received it. In a thin market for free agent catchers, Martin could be in for a big payday, assuming he’s ready to leave Pittsburgh.

Martin hit 11 home runs in 2014 and had a terrific .402 on base percentage. Combined with his steady defense behind the plate, he was worth 5.3 Wins Above Replacement per Fangraphs this season, an improvement on his great 2013 with the Pirates, when he was worth 4.1 fWAR.

Martin will play all of 2015 at age 32, but there will be a team interested in his services and willing to pay him this winter. Teams such as the Texas Rangers or the Boston Red Sox could be interested in the veteran receive.

It looks like Pittsburgh’s caution might have cost them their catcher.

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