Russell Martin wants to stay.
Not going to lie here: I was not sure about that. Not all the way. Not until more than an hour after the Pirates' 3-1 throttling of the Cardinals on Wednesday at PNC Park, after Martin had ample time to scrub off six consecutive days of catching big-league ball, a grind unlike any in sports.
Not until Martin told me this: "I love it here. You can see that. Everyone can see that."
And this: "I'll listen. Of course I'll listen. You'd have to be an idiot not to listen."
He was referring, of course, to a possible contract extension, an issue that looms so large for the Pirates this fall that it's seen by many -- outside and, yes, inside the organization -- as nothing less than a wholesale litmus test for Bob Nutting and the front office.
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