“He came in here and we thought he was Thurman Munson-like.”
--Brian Cashman
--Brian Cashman
Russell Martin may have hit .237 this season, but it’s not the average that the Yankees fell in love with, it’s him behind the plate. Martin gives stability, he’s the toughest guy I’ve ever seen and you can tell, he loves getting down and dirty.Cashman said it best, he resembles Thurman Munson in so many ways.Why? Well it's his defense, but not only that... it’s the time he takes with his pitchers. He studies them, he gains their trust and it’s the little things that come a long way. I had never seen AJ Burnett so happy this season and CC Sabathia was happy to have Martin there as well. 
Martin and his pitchers have chemistry and while Burnett’s season wasn’t Cy Young-esque, he was in fact better than 2010. That’s not a slap at Jorge Posada, that’s just the reality of Russell Martin. Because of all of this, Martin needs to come back for more than 1 year and definitely for more dough, he's earned it.
Martin and his pitchers have chemistry and while Burnett’s season wasn’t Cy Young-esque, he was in fact better than 2010. That’s not a slap at Jorge Posada, that’s just the reality of Russell Martin. Because of all of this, Martin needs to come back for more than 1 year and definitely for more dough, he's earned it.George King and Dan Martin had a piece in the New York Post that is worth reading because it has everything to do with this. Read it HERE. According to Brian Cashman: “I think (his success) provides the flexibility to do either…We are so deep catching –wise…so we can go a number of different routes there. The depth of this franchise allows us if we want to put all our eggs in the Russell martin basket, maybe we can have a conversation there too.”
The Post says Martin: “stands to get a hefty raise to about $7 million, but Cashman wouldn’t rule out signing him to a multi-year deal.”
Look, I’m not afraid to say that having Martin in pinstripes for 2 or 3 years is fine with me. There’s nothing I hate about Martin, he’s done more than expected and the guts this kid has is enormous.
And it’s true; Cashman’s got huge stock in the catching department. Francisco Cervelli’s passion works well, although, I would not be surprised if Cervelli is traded this winter because coming up behind him is stud Jesus Montero who’s bat is ready to explode.
We also have Austin Romine who defensively puts everyone to shame and Gary Sanchez, the other young stud who Yankee fans are just salivating for. Yes, Cashman’s right, the Yankees have several catching options, but signing Martin to a few more years, and slowly working in Jesus Montero behind the plate would be a nice solution. Personally, I think long term the Yankees goal will be to not use Montero behind the plate at all. Where he will go is a mystery to me, but while they love Montero, I think they hesitate to put him behind the plate because he doesn't have great defense. That’s yet another reason that it’s good to have an experienced Russell Martin there now.
We also have Austin Romine who defensively puts everyone to shame and Gary Sanchez, the other young stud who Yankee fans are just salivating for. Yes, Cashman’s right, the Yankees have several catching options, but signing Martin to a few more years, and slowly working in Jesus Montero behind the plate would be a nice solution. Personally, I think long term the Yankees goal will be to not use Montero behind the plate at all. Where he will go is a mystery to me, but while they love Montero, I think they hesitate to put him behind the plate because he doesn't have great defense. That’s yet another reason that it’s good to have an experienced Russell Martin there now.Bottom line, the catching situation looks bright in Yankeeland. Read these other posts by Bleeding Yankee Blue about the catching situation from this past year. If you didn’t see them, you might live under a rock. I'm kidding of course.
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