If the Pirates really want to make an immense impact on their franchise and its fan base at Major League Baseball's perpetually overhyped trade deadline, if they really want to do right by the present and future, if they really want to put the collective in the best possible position to end what Kent Tekulve rightly refers to as "the real streak around here" at 35 years, they'd do nothing more than tap their catcher's shoulder today in Phoenix and make him an unimaginably wealthy man.
Don't kid yourself: Russell Martin is the window.
Martin, more than anyone, is the source of all this angst over whether or not Neal Huntington will wind up acquiring Jon Lester, David Price, Ian Kennedy or any other big-name pitcher on the block today.
Seriously, stop clicking at MLB Trade Rumors for just a couple minutes, stop packing your Bucco gear for a wild ride to Pittsburgh International to whoop it up for Lester at baggage claim, and give it a bit of thought.
Your 2015 Pirates, as constituted by the contracts at hand, will still have the outfield of Andrew McCutchen, Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte. They'll still have Neil Walker and a blossoming Jordy Mercer in the middle infield. They'll still have their choice between Josh Harrison and whatever Lucy the Psychiatrist and a pocket nickle can salvage of Pedro Alvarez. They'll be able to add at first base Josh Bell, the tremendously talented switch-hitting, power-hitting prospect this town is hilariously prepared to ship out without ever learning his name. And beyond all that, they'll have a solid pitching staff that ultimately will be bolstered by not one, not two, but as many as three starting studs in Tyler Glasnow, Nick Kingham and Jameson Taillon.
What they won't have is the world-class catching that holds all of it together. At least not if the front office clings to its fantastically bizarre unwillingness to even approach Martin with an extension offer.
Really, can anyone explain this?
It's not as if the Pirates don't know what they have here. Martin's offensive figures are respectable -- .279/.410, five home runs, 36 RBIs -- but hardly the issue. What makes him special is what he brings behind the plate, not just in terms of framing balls into strikes, not just in his athleticism, not just in his brilliant arm but above all with the way he elevates baseball's most important facet.
Clint Hurdle actually spoke these words during the last homestand: "I have never, in all my years of baseball, see a catcher have the impact on a pitching staff that Russ has." Assuming it's possible, Ray Searage speaks of Martin in even more glowing terms. As do the pitchers themselves. Some have credited the entire resurrections of their careers to his work, on and off the field.
Beyond all that, Martin's a winner. Roll your eyes at intangibles if that isn't your thing, but be sure to keep those eyes open any time these Pirates have their backs against the wall. Because it's invariably No. 55 who stands tallest in those settings ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ln6_LzQ2M
This is the guy to snub?
The signed contracts at hand will illustrate, and powerfully so, that this window that so many casual observers seem to see, this rare, precious opportunity that simply must be seized right now, exists solely because Martin is unsigned beyond the current season.
Why would Huntington and Frank Coonelly have willingly backed themselves into such a corner?
Why would they have forced their own hand?
The answer, at least for now, is that there aren't any answers. Huntington has adopted a policy -- and a smart one, at that -- of not discussing possible extensions in public. As recently as last weekend at PNC Park, he reiterated that policy when asked about both Martin and Walker.
Fine, but that doesn't preclude action. Martin is in the second and final year of his two-year, $17 million contract -- a term I once wrote was a gross overpay but turned out to be nothing less than the best free-agent signing in club history -- and he can be a free agent this fall.
That simply can't happen.
Martin is a willing, passionate Pirate, one who has openly expressed his desire to stay put. And if you want to talk about a truly precious opportunity for the franchise, this is it: The best defensive catcher in baseball wants to play here and almost surely could be had for a term in the range of three years and $40 million. That would be the richest annual salary ever paid by the Pirates, but it would be worth every penny.
They could even go four years without worry. Martin is 31, but that athleticism -- which has allowed him to play major-league infield at points in his career -- isn't about to plunge off some cliff. He's got a lot to lose before he's even ordinary in that regard.
Where else will the Pirates find that?
Not on the outside, and certainly not on the inside. I love Tony Sanchez. Great kid. Probably has a bright future in the majors, if he can get his throwing in order. But anyone who looks at Sanchez now and sees Martin later is kidding themselves.
I give this front office, all the way up to Bob Nutting, as much the benefit of the doubt as anyone in town. We've had our areas of disagreement, but I've ultimately believed they're at least trying to do the right thing in most instances.
Letting Martin walk would be wholly different. It really would.
As for the deadline, I'll reiterate a stance I've held for a while now, one that's only solidified since Francisco Liriano has stabilized and Gerrit Cole has inched closer to returning: Forget adding to the rotation, forget adding to the offense and get a couple of reliable, preferably menacing bullpen arms. Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, Justin Wilson and Jared Hughes have ranged from good to excellent, but all four have shown signs that they might not hold up for the full six months, let alone some October run. Yesterday in San Francisco marked merely the latest sign. Build up that group into something akin to the one that carried the Cardinals to a championship a couple years ago, and you're achieving almost as much as adding a Lester, Price or Kennedy.
To boot, that can be done without giving up a Bell or Glasnow.
And if Martin gets signed, you can try all this again in 2015 and beyond with maybe an even stronger cast.
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