Decision Time in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Pirates saw their season come to a screeching halt with their 8-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wildcard.  The Pirates have had successful seasons the past two years, marked by consecutive playoff appearances for the first time since the 1991 and 1992 campaigns.  The Bucs appear to be a young and upwardly trending ball club but one key free agent will dictate the course of the 2015 season.

 

Catcher Russell Martin is now a free agent and Pittsburgh will suffer if they let him walk.  The ninth year backstop used 2014 to post the second highest Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of his career with a 5.5.  That All-Star level WAR follows 2013’s 4.3 WAR.  Martin has value at the plate; this season yielded a .290 batting average (BA) with a .402 on base percentage (OBP) and a .430 slugging percentage (SLG).  According to Baseball-Reference.com Martin also claimed the second highest Wins Above Average (WAA) of any Pirate.  Only NL MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen’s 4.5 was higher than Martin’s 4.1.

 

The problem for Pittsburgh is twofold.  First, there are not any viable options to replace Martin.  Internally, the Pirates would likely promote their backup catcher, Chris Stewart, who in limited action has a .294 (BA)/ .362 (OBP)/ .331(SLG) 2014 season stat line.  Nick Hundley .233 (BA)/ .273 (OBP)/ .352 (SLG), Geovany Soto .250 (BA)/ .302 (OBP)/ .363 (SLG), and A.J. Pierzynski .251 (BA)/ .288 (OBP)/ .337 (SLG) are the current options available.  None of these 2014 slash lines is particularly appealing.

 

That leads to the second problem facing Pittsburgh.  If they cannot replace Martin, they will need to pay Martin.  The Pirates typically do not hand out big contracts.  Pittsburgh has adhered to the 18% guideline in the past.  This guideline stems from General Manager Neal Huntington’s time in Cleveland where a study revealed that no team has won a World Series that has devoted 18% or more of its payroll to a single player.  This is a sound guiding principle except Huntington has acknowledged that the study is likely outdated.

This admission combined with Martin’s year at the plate and his typically sound defense has momentum building within the Pirate’s organization to pay Martin.  There is inherent risk in rewarding a soon to be 32-year-old catcher.  It is a necessary risk.  Common sense dictates that Huntington has taken notice of the impact that the Cardinal’s Yadier Molina, commonly believed to be the best catcher in MLB right now, has on the NL Central Division every year.  Rewarding Martin would demonstrate that Pittsburgh is digging in for a long-term battle for NL Central supremacy.  After twenty consecutive losing seasons, that is a welcome development for Pirates fans.