...he still ranked 10th in BA and 10th in OPS this year for qualifying catchers. He still has that "swing for the fences" attitude and because of that he strikes out way too often. (25% of the time) ...the only reason he may have helped the Yanx this year is because they got so little from the catching position.
A lot of people to include myself were not happy with Martin, but more unhappy with the Yankees failure to provide a better replacement. Burnett, Melanon, and Martin are probably chuckling over the fate of the 2013 Yankees. Ditto Swisher up in Cleveland.
I agree about not resigning Martin... The Yankees haven't had a good catcher in a while actually... this year wasn't that far off compared to previous years... The Yankees combined for .213 AVG, .289 OBP, .298 SLG, .587 OPS, and with 8 HR from the position this year... The Yankees combined for .220 AVG, .308 OBP, .387 SLG, .695 OPS, and with 22 HR from the position in 2012 (of which Martin was .214 AVG, .313 OBP, .413 SLG, .726 OPS, and with 21 HR)... The Yankees combined for .241 AVG, .321 OBP, .398 SLG, .719 OPS, and with 22 HR from the position in 2011 (of which Martin was .238 AVG, .326 OBP, .410 SLG, .736 OPS, and with 18 HR)... Add in Martin's numbers this year and not much would have changed... .226 AVG, .327 OBP, .377 SLG, .704 OPS, and with 15 HR as a whole, but take out the whopping 19 ABs from other situations/positions, his numbers were .222 AVG, .322 OBP, .375 SLG, .697 OPS, and with the same 15 HR... with a minimum of 300 PA, the top Yankee Catcher was Chris Stewart at 30th with his .211 AVG, .293, OBP, .272, SLG, .566 OPS and 4 HR... Martin was 27th. And McCann, whom most are enamored with getting this off season wasn't in the top 10... he was 15th with his .256 AVG, .336 , OBP, .461 SLG, .796 OPS, and 20 HR... bump it to a minimum 400 PA, he is 12th (Yankees didn't qualify this year) So, even getting McCann wouldn't be an insanely good upgrade... Upgrade, yes, but something to go nuts over??? not really
If Cervelli played the season he would have matched Martin in production, in the better AL, even if roids are the reason he is decent, Martin stunk as a Yankee, with the bat and glove. Also where are the Pierzynski fans? you guys were all over him and look at his garbage season, and a clubhouse cancer to boot, great idea there, it's all about the bat huh? NY could have had the best catcher in baseball this year and it would have been the same result, it's all about pitching.
... Pierzynski had a "garbage season"?...really?...based on what? ...and exactly how is he a "clubhouse cancer"?
To be successful you need a combination of BOTH good pitching & good offense. And although A'Js OBP was low he was FAR from garbage.
I always viewed Pierzinski as a hustling individual highly competitive who I'd want on my team and hoped the Yankees would sign him, Failing to do that I rooted for Cervelli who was actually doing a decent job till he got hut. Now we have the biogenesis crap. And as I posted in another area MLB announced that the Rangers have made McCann a target acquisition so could we see a bidding war for his services. Romine was starting to hit until those concussion issues.
AJ being a clubhouse dick is news to you? and what about the argument on the mound with Darvish? that was ugly, I'm sure things were rosy after that. He had a .700 OPS this year, maybe garbage is the wrong word, let's just say nothing worth having him for, with his OK catching and game calling I want more with the bat from him.
I also agreed with not resigning Martin but I believed they should have had a better alternative than Cervelli or Stewart especially Stewart. He has no business being any teams starting catcher. Not even the Houston Astros would have him as their starting catcher and that is saying something. The front office did a horrible job this past offseason. Signing Ichiro to a two year deal was one of the worst moves they could have made. Let's just hope they have learned from the mistakes they made and this offseason is a little better.
I wanted Martin out, and wanted AJ in. As such, I have no regrets about letting Martin go, but have a huge problem that the Yankees failed to find a better alternative than a pile of shit like Chris Stewart.
Dude was massively overrated and terrible situational hitter. As mentioned here, no regrets seeing him go, but the real regret was no replacement.
Not to mention 6th in OBP, 10th in SLG, and of the top 10 who qualified, he was the only player with less than 100 hits. 127 games... And of the categories we both mentioned, finishing 10th in BA, 10th in OPS, 6th in OBP, 10th in SLG, and 10th in hits... That was out of a possible 10... On the flip side of things, he still qualified.... only 10 out of 32 teams had a catcher qualify. 419 AB at catcher (120 games), 5 at 3B (3 games), 3 at RF (1 game), 5 as DH (not PH), and 6 all PH.
