Russell Martin Will Reject Qualifying Offer
By Hayden Kane
Free agent catcher Russell Martin will reportedly reject his qualifying offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates so that he can test MLB free agency this winter.
The Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t surprised. The Chicago Cubs probably aren’t surprised. No interested party should be surprised that top free agent target Russell Martin plans to reject his qualifying offer on Monday.
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It is a necessary step in the process, however, and Jon Heyman of CBS reports that Martin will indeed reject the one-year, $15.3 million qualifying offer from the Pirates by Monday afternoon’s deadline:
"Russell Martin, extremely popular on the free-agent market after his big year, will officially reject the Pirates qualifying offer for 2015 by Monday’s deadline — no surprise considering word is, he has already got four-year possibilities and might even get five.The one-year qualifying offer, which is $15.3 million this year, has yet to be accepted by any free agents. Martin, off a big season, never seemed likely to accept the one-year offer."
The Pirates want to bring Martin back, but they simply might not be able to hang in a bidding war with the likes of the Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. If Martin does reject the offer, that officially means it will cost teams like the Cubs or Dodgers a top draft pick to sign him, but given his value, those teams are probably more than comfortable with that price.
The 31-year-old catcher should be in line for a four-year deal that could approach the $50-55 million range, depending on how the big market teams approach the bidding process. That price could get driven up even more as these teams bid against one another.
Martin batted .290/.402/.430 in 2014 while playing his usual outstanding defense behind the plate. He will be a big get for some catching-needy team, with the Cubs the team most aggressively pushing for Martin in the earlygoing this off-season.
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