Sherman said that Martin is already used to playing in New York and that the Mets are “desperate to add power, and Martin’s 21 homers were eighth among catchers in the majors this season.”

You can look at Martin’s gritty attitude and intangibles and the fact that he’s a three-time All-Star, but in the end, we better not see Martin in orange and blue in 2013.

Even Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton on WFAN this morning thought this idea was ludicrous. Why on earth would the Mets want to spend upwards of $7 million per season on a deteriorating catcher?

Not deteriorating, you may think? Well, just look at the stats from his days with Dodgers. He was a legitimate offensive threat in Los Angeles, but he has a combined .224 batting average in his two years in the Bronx.

Since reaching his career-high batting average (.293) in 2007, he’s progressively decreased in hitting each successive year before hitting a career-low .211 this season.

You may also be saying that Martin has tremendous power for a catcher. Well, he’s been the beneficiary of the short left field porch at Yankee Stadium. He hit 13 of his 21 homers at home this season.

Martin’s lack of offensive production has been overshadowed in a Yankees’ lineup that features eight other All-Stars. He usually hits eighth or ninth, and any offense from him is considered a bonus rather than an expected contribution.

Martin would be a defensive upgrade at catcher for the Mets, but frankly, the Mets would be better off saving the money than worrying about defense.

In the Mets weak lineup, Martin would most likely be hitting sixth and would be expected to be a run producer, which is something he’s not.

The Mets would be wise to stick with what they have over adding Martin. Kelly Shoppach’s career numbers are slightly below Martin’s, since Shoppach has been primarily a backup. However, Shoppach’s 162-game home run average (20) is higher than Martin’s (16).

While this move definitely doesn’t make sense for the Mets, letting Martin walk would make even less sense for the Yankees. With Jesus Montero in Seattle and prospect Austin Romine playing in just 31 games this season, there’s really no other potential starting catcher than Martin in the Yankees’ system.

But knowing the Yankees, they’ll probably let Martin walk then pull off a blockbuster deal for Buster Posey (obviously unlikely, but you get the point).

A Shoppach/Josh Thole platoon may not be the answer, but it’s a safer bet then gambling on Martin.

The Mets were gauging whether or not Shoppach would fit in with the team philosophy, and hopefully bring a little more thump to the lineup. Shoppach was with the Mets for a little over a month, and already has more home runs (3) than Thole did all season (1). Shoppach has also had a few clutch hits for the Mets, but I think everyone would agree that his offensive production was not much better than what the Mets were already getting from the catcher position in 2012.

The most amount of games Shoppach has ever started in a season was back in 2008, when he started 94 for Cleveland. That was his most productive offensive season, batting .261, and hitting 21 home runs. He also has thrown out 29% of base stealers over his 8 year major league career, which is slightly better than Thole’s 27%.

When looking at Shoppach’s 2008 stats, the offensive potential is there. Plug him into the eight-hole in the lineup, and turn him loose. Maybe we get a .250 average and 20-25 home runs out of him if he starts 100 games in 2013. For that reason, a voice says and says lock him up for 2013. But there is another little voice whispering not so fast my friend.

Shoppach’s 2008 season is awfully similar to Scott Hairston’s 2012 campaign. Eerily similar…their offensive numbers are practically identical. On the surface, the numbers say one thing, but the things you see occurring in games keep reminding you why they were never really everyday players. The numbers are promising, but you just don’t feel confident having them as everyday players.

Regardless of how you feel about Shoppach, I think he has shown enough to bring him back for 2013. I don’t know, there just seems to be something about him that makes it easy to cheer for him. Maybe it’s because he seems like a throwback, blue-collar catcher to me. He has the full grown beard, and just fits the mold. I like that he provides a heck of a lot more pop than Thole as well. Like I said earlier, stick him in the eight-hole and let him swing for the fences.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the Mets have so many question marks facing them this off-season you would think the Riddler was the general manager. There are outfield questions…bullpen questions…and catcher questions. Robin might be confused when posed with all these questions, but Batman would solve the catcher riddle by re-signing Shoppach.