Why All The Interest In Russell Martin?

It's Day One of the Late Fall Meetings and there have already been a number of moves made. Mark Reynolds was traded from Arizona to Baltimore, taking his Citi Field home run launcher with him. The Adrian Gonzalez trade to Boston (and subsequent contract extension) was finalized. Also, former Met Melvin Mora signed a one-year deal with Arizona.

What have the Mets done? They signed two players to minor league deals.

Although Sandy Alderson has said that the Mets will not make many moves in the offseason, they have developed an interest in Dodger catcher Russell Martin. As tweeted by Buster Olney, the Mets were one of four teams that asked to review Martin's medical information (Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays were the others).

Martin would more than likely sign a one-year deal with the team he chooses and the Mets would use him in the event that Josh Thole has difficulty handling the everyday catching duties.

But why Russell Martin? Although he is just now entering his prime (Martin will be 28 in February), his production has slipped considerably since his breakout 2007 season, as seen below:

• 2007: .293, 19 HR, 87 RBI, 87 runs, 21 SB, 32 doubles
• 2008: .280, 13 HR, 69 RBI, 87 runs, 18 SB, 25 doubles
• 2009: .250, 7 HR, 53 RBI, 63 runs, 11 SB, 19 doubles
• 2010: .248, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 45 runs, 6 SB, 13 doubles

From 2007-2009, Martin had over 500 at-bats each season, which decreased to 331 in 2010. Still, players in their mid-to-late 20s don't usually start producing less unless something is wrong with them.

Russell Martin is clearly a shadow of the player he used to be. Yet the Mets are still looking into the possibility of bringing him over to New York.

Is it because the Mets are obsessed with signing or trading for every former Dodger catcher (Mike Piazza in 1998, Paul Lo Duca in 2006)? Is it because they miss Frenchy so much that they feel the need to replace him with a French Canadian?

No, my friends. If we take a deeper look into the stats, we might be able to uncover the reasons as to why Sandy Alderson and the Mets appear to be going head over heels over Russell Martin.

Although Martin's last four seasons have produced a .293, .280, .250 and .248 batting average, his on-base percentages in those years have been .374, .385, .352 and .347. In fact, over his five-year career in the big leagues, Martin's OBP is an above-average .365. The Mets' team OBP in 2010 was .314 and no regular player had an on-base percentage above .354 (David Wright). Josh Thole, who only picked up 202 at-bats, was the only Met with a higher on-base percentage than David Wright, but his .357 OBP was still lower than Martin's career percentage.

So although Russell Martin's offensive production has gone down, he is still finding ways to get on base. As we know, Sandy Alderson and his Merry Men LOOOOOOOOOOVE guys who can get on base, and since Alderson has stated that he's not sure if Thole can be a #1 catcher, a player like Russell Martin would satisfy his need for another catcher and fulfill his dream to acquire every player who knows the meaning of "ball four".

The Russell Martin deal might not happen, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good fit for the Mets. If other teams become hesitant to sign him, you never know. He may just be in Flushing next year.