MLB Network insider Jon Heyman reports that the Mets have “checked in on” free agent catcher Russell Martin, as have the Oakland Athletics.
Martin, who turned 37 on the 15th, has already turned down offers this winter, citing a family situation (first mentioned last week by the New York Post‘s Joel Sherman). He appeared in 83 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019, slashing .220/.337/.330 with a career-low 83 wRC+. Nonetheless, his projected 0.4 WAR ranks highest among free-agent catchers, and fourth among all remaining free agents.
This news could come as a moderate surprise to some fans, as the Mets seemed to have addressed the backup catcher concern last month when they re-signed Rene Rivera to potentially compete with Tomas Nido.
Nido, who is out of options, hit .191/.231/.316 last year, but has been spared to this point by his exemplary defense: he came in at the 74th percentile in pitch framing and the 93rd percentile in pop-time. He could be relegated to an exclusively defensive role if the Mets were to use their 26th roster spot on Rivera, who swings a slightly more passable bat.
An offensive middle-ground (at worst) between Rivera and Nido, it’s Martin’s defensive value that may make him particularly appealing to those still in the market for a backstop. Martin’s 53.1% strike ranked fourth among 64 qualified catchers in 2019, and he’s only surrendered 10 passed balls across the last two seasons. As a point of reference, Ramos yielded 10 last year alone. Martin has also played 28 games at the hot corner in that time, and is known around baseball as one of the more respected veteran mentors in the game.
