On the surface, it certainly appears that the Toronto Blue Jays shored up their difficult-to-fill catcher spot by signing Russell Martin to a five-year, $82 million contract (pending a physical) on Monday. Their catchers combined had .225/.270/.372 slash rates and the majors' fourth-worst weighted on-base average (.277) from 2012 to 2014. Only the New York Mets (.275), Tampa Bay Rays (.274) and Miami Marlins (.265) had worse.
Still, it's a somewhat unexpected move, what with Dioner Navarro having helped improve those rates in 2014, performing at least at a league-average defensive basis and being under contract for $5 million in 2015. Regardless, it's Martin's job: He's being paid to start, and he has amassed at least 106 starts behind the plate and 460 plate appearances in eight of his past nine seasons, one of only two catchers to have done that (A.J. Pierzynski is the other). This is a guy fantasy owners draft seeking volume.
But a move to Toronto does help Martin's hitting prospects, as Pittsburgh's PNC Park is one of the game's worst for right-handed power and Toronto's Rogers Centre one of the game's best. He hit nine of his 26 homers at PNC in his two years with the Pirates, after hitting 21 of his 39 at Yankee Stadium -- a similarly friendly offensive environment to Toronto's -- during his two seasons with the New York Yankees (2011-12). That's enough to push Martin into my top 250 overall players -- he did not begin the winter in the top 250 -- at No. 237, which makes him my No. 13 catcher, one behind Miguel Montero (No. 12 catcher, No. 235 overall).
Here's an added benefit with Martin: He's widely regarded as one of the game's better pitch framers, and a quality defender overall; pitch framing is one of Navarro's greatest weaknesses. Signing Martin is a significant plus for the Blue Jays' staff, from the youngsters (Marcus Stroman, Drew Hutchison and perhaps Aaron Sanchez, if he's moved into the rotation) to the veterans (Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey and J.A. Happ).
Dickey is the one who stands out: Martin's defensive strength could be a plus for him, though in fairness, Martin hasn't regularly caught a knuckleball. Having a good pitch framer might be a plus for Dickey, who had a poor rate of called strikes near the zone in 2014.