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Russell Martin, the Pirates' catcher, can become a free agent as soon as next week. -- GETTY IMAGES[/caption]
A weekly feature aimed at rounding up a whole lot of odds and ends from a whole lot of time around our local teams …
• The Pirates know what Russell Martin will cost, at least as it relates to term, and that's four years, according to my sources. So start any debate about whether or not the team can/can't, should/shouldn't sign him right there.
And if one applies that term to the $15.3 million salary he's guaranteed to make in 2015 per the qualifying offer the Pirates will make -- a no-brainer which, hilariously, was presented as headline-worthy by one national outlet in the past week -- that projects to pretty much the same four years and $60 million you've seen me type in this space for three months now as the most likely figures.
That's it. That's the price tag. At least, it's the one that's going to be seen as the market rate.
And all this gears up, ready or not, as early as next week. Five days after the World Series ends.
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