Russell Martin I am 43 years old today.
A 17th-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2002, Martin entered the major leagues in 2006. By 2014, he had pitched for three MLB teams and reached the playoffs seven times — enough to give any player, especially a catcher, a reputation as a winner.
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The Blue Jays already had a perfectly adequate catcher in 2014 in Dioner Navarro, who hit .274/.317/.395 with a 2.5 bWAR and was under contract through 2015. Most of us expected the team’s offseason focus to be elsewhere. However, true to his reputation as a “ninja” general manager, Alex Anthopoulos surprised us all by signing Martin.
Martin signed a five-year, $82 million contract. He’ll make $7 in 2015, then $15 million and $20 million in each of the next three seasons (I saw an article suggesting that Max Pentecost would be “looking for playing time” in the third year of his contract. This wouldn’t be the first time I’d been wrong). The press conference announcing the signing was filled with words like leadership, chemistry and “changing culture.” In about ten days, Alex will trade Josh Donaldson. There were several moves that winter. Adam Lind was traded for Marco Estrada. We picked up Justin Smoak. Anthony Goss was traded for Devin Travis. JA Happ was shipped to Seattle to serve Michael Saunders.
Martin’s signing sparked a lot of debate. Giving a 32-year-old receiver five years is always a risk, but most fans are happy to have a quality Canadian boy leading the team. Our poll shows: 66% like the deal, 15% dislike it and 20% are neutral.
That spring, I went to Montreal’s Olympic Stadium with my minor leaguers and some friends to watch a Blue Jays exhibition game. This is love for Russell. He received a standing ovation every time he took the field, and his father played the national anthem on his saxophone before the first game.
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In 2015, Martin hit a career-high 23 homers in 129 games, hitting .240/.329/.458 with a bWAR of 3.2 (FanGraphs has it even higher at 4.5). He made his fourth (and final) All-Star appearance, threw 44 percent of the base stealers and looked athletic behind the plate. His pitch frame doesn’t look as good as it has in the past, but to be fair, he catches pitchers at times without knowing where their pitches are going. It’s easier to formulate pitches that hit the target.
Trivia: On April 19, Martin formed the first all-Canadian squad in franchise history with Jeff Francis.
Whether it’s due to leadership, performance or both, the Jayhawks are in the playoffs for the first time in years. Martin hasn’t been great at the plate — 3-for-15 in five wins over Texas; 1-for-11 in six losses to Kansas City (including three walk-offs) — but he’s been at the center of one of the weirdest plays I’ve ever seen: In Game 5 of the ALDS, his return shot off Ju Shin-soo’s bat allowed Rugned Odor to score. The umps initially called it a dead ball, but according to the rules, it wasn’t. Chaos ensued, but the Jays prevailed.
Martin’s 2016 season at the plate wasn’t that strong: 20 homers in 137 games and a .231/.335/.398 line (2.0 bWAR). His strikeout rate jumped to 27.7% (20.9% the year before). He started the year with neck soreness and ended it with a slump — likely soreness at receiver. His steal rate plummeted from 44% to 15%, but his defense remained solid. Offensively, he struggled again in October: three hits (one homer) in 33 postseason at-bats.
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In 2017, Martin played only 91 games, hitting .221/.343/.388 with 13 homers. He eliminated 20 percent of would-be base stealers and logged 77 innings at third base.
Then again, he could have had better days with the bat in the postseason. Including the Wild Card Game, he had three hits (one home run) in 33 postseason at-bats.
In 2018, Martin took a step back from being a full-time catcher: just 71 games behind the plate (Luke Maile 66, Danny Jansen 29, Reese McGuire 11), plus third (21 games), short (3), and even left field (1). He hit .194/.338/.325 with 10 homers for a career-low 1.3 bWAR. At 35 years old, he looks every bit the veteran receiver he is. As I said, smart general managers will re-sign big contracts because they know the player will most likely not finish as a regular (sometimes I’m right).
This is also Alex Gonzalez 49th birthday.
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To clarify, this is Alex González, who played shortstop for half a season for the Jays — nicknamed “Bass” for unknown reasons — not another Alex Gonzalez, who played shortstop for the Jays for eight seasons.
Alex signed with Toronto as a free agent before the 2010 season and surprised us by hitting .259/.296/.497 with 17 home runs in just 85 games. Midway through the season, the Jays traded him, Tim Collins and Tyler Pastonicki to the Braves for Yunel Escobar and Joe Joe Reyes. The less said about Jojo the better. Escobar then spent three seasons with the Blue Jays, batting .272/.335/.373 in 338 games before leaving as part of a huge trade with the Marlins.
Gonzalez played 16 years in the major leagues, eight with the Marlins, and posted a career .245/.290/.395 line with 157 home runs.
Happy birthday, Alex.
Elvis Luciano I am 26 years old today.
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You’ll remember Elvis as the Jayhawks’ Rule 5 draft pick before the 2019 season. This meant he had to stay with the major league club all year, which he did, appearing in 25 games and posting a 5.35 ERA.
He spent 2021 and early 2022 in New Hampshire. He has been playing in Japan for the past few years.
happy birthday elvis presley