Dodgers’ Addition of Russell Martin is More than a Nostalgia Trip

The Dodgers acquired Russell Martin from the Blue Jays yesterday and while some have mocked the trade, it could end up being a shrewd move by Andrew Friedman.

The Dodgers seem to be on a nostalgia trip lately after they re-acquired Matt Kemp a season ago and now they brought back another former fan favorite in Russell Martin.  The deal was completed yesterday and the price was two prospects outside the Dodgers’ top thirty prospects.  Ronny Brito is a glove-first infielder who struck out over 30% of the time in rookie ball and Andrew Sopko was buried on the organizational depth chart at reliever.

In short, the Dodgers traded away two prospects they didn’t have high hopes for and acquired a solid defensive catcher at a team when catching is at a near all-time worst.  None of the options left on the market were very intriguing. Martin Maldonado is a defensive first catcher who had thirteen passed balls in 2018, a career worst.  Beyond him, the next best option might have been Nick Hundley who is a bat first backup catcher.  The free agent market did not offer any reliable backup catcher options.

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The trade route offered a couple options in Francisco Cervelli and J.T. Realmuto.  While a Realmuto trade could still happen it’s highly unlikely unless the Marlins and Derek Jeter get real about their asking price in a hurry.  Cervelli is a decent offensive catcher but he had eight passed balls in just over 90 games last season and is due 11.5 million in 2019.  The Dodgers also would have to give up prospects in addition to taking on most of that contract.

The pickings were slim at catcher so the Dodgers are bringing in one of their old players.  Martin won’t hit for average but he has solid pop and can hit double-digit home runs if given enough starts. Behind the dish, he will not hurt the Dodgers at all.  Martin is a good pitch framer, solid at blocking pitches, and is a veteran who knows how to handle a complex pitching staff like the Dodgers.

Sure the move might get laughed off but for a couple million dollars, the Dodgers got a very good defensive catcher.  In an ideal world, Austin Barnes will bounce back strong in 2019 and come close to what he was at the end of the 2017 season but at least if he doesn’t the Dodgers have a solid stopgap option until Will Smith and Keibert Ruiz are ready in 2020.  Now Andrew Friedman can move on to bigger and better acquisition ideas.