Spurned by Cliff Lee, the New York Yankees reportedly began spending the money that was to be allotted to the left-handed ace by agreeing to a contract with catcher Russell Martin, a source told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney. Terms were not available, for the deal, which is pending a physical. MLB.com first reported the agreement. The former Los Angeles catcher was nontendered this month after the Dodgers refused to meet his demand for a guaranteed $5 million deal. The Red Sox also had made an offer to Martin. Martin appeared to be a rising star in 2007, when he batted .293 with 19 homers and 87 RBIs. He won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger award and made the first of two consecutive All-Star appearances. But his production has dropped off the past two seasons. Read more:http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=5918751
For fucks sake, did AA just not want him? Oh wait...must of been the never ending supply of money the Yanks have.
I imagine this signing was largely to make it more feasible to get Greinke. Either that, or they just don't think Montero is ready for the big leagues (which I strongly disagree with). We'll see.
