Pirates tried to re-sign Russell Martin this season

The Pirates attempted to re-sign Russell Martin during the season, but were not able to, and now there's "no indication the sides are anywhere near close," Jon Heyman writes. The Bucs spoke to Martin in spring training, but decided to wait before making an offer, only to see Martin's value rise when he hit well.

It's too bad that the Pirates apparently didn't see Martin's monster season coming, but I'm not sure anyone really did, and there are good reasons to be cautious about signing a catcher in his thirties to an extension that won't even begin until a year in the future.

Heyman suggests that Miguel Montero and Brian McCann, who both received five-year deals, are potential comparables for Martin. Maybe he's right, but signing Martin to a five-year deal strikes me as a bad idea for a team like the Pirates. Or, really, for anybody. Montero's deal began with his age-29 season and looks pretty likely to be an albatross by the time it's over. Next year will be Martin's age-32 season. McCann's deal is already a mess one year in. The Montero deal really isn't applicable to what Martin should receive, and, at least so far, McCann's mostly looks like a reminder of why you shouldn't sign catchers to five-year deals.