19 October 2008
Martin on Block?
A surprising bit of news, Russell Martin may be on the trading block this offseason. He hit .280 with a .385 OBP, but his SLG dipped from .469 to .396. Essentially, he hit less HR, but he walked more than struck out (90 to 83) and stole 18 bases. Not bad for a catcher. I'm not sure his "decline" is a sign of things to come, but I expect he'll bounce back. After winning the Gold Glove last season and throwing out 50% of base stealers, he improved his errors (14 to 11) but only caught about 30% of base stealers. I don't know how much stock I would put in that either as Jason Kendall made dramatic improvements this season in that category. He'll only be 26 next season and in his first year of arbitration, so there would be plenty of teams lined up for him. John Baker would be a potential replacement, but he'll be 28 next season. The Dodgers really don't have a replacement, and there isn't much on the free-agent market. Overall, I'm not sure why the Dodgers would consider trading him. He might bring something back, but that leaves a hole at catcher without any good replacement options. I guess a catcher could come back in the trade, but I'm not sure someone would give up a young catcher for another one, at least one the Dodgers would want. Maybe the motivation would be pitching, but the Dodgers have some good guys coming up. Maybe they want some power-hitting prospects? Would Lars Anderson for Russell Martin work? What would you do with Loney? Martin to LAA for Brandon Wood?
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