Russell Martin

by kershaw_equals_stud on Aug 3, 2009 6:36 PM PDT Comment 15 comments

Hello, I just joined True Blue. Contrary to my screen name I am actually a (blech) Indians fan. Big Dodgers fan though due to all of the exciting youngsters. Rooting for them to take it this year. I'm in a fantasy keeper league and am currently contemplating a trade for Russell Martin for Hunter Pence/Rod Barajas. I basically want to move Martin for salary reasons and will not be able to keep him for next season. Pence and Barajas are both affordable but doubt I will keep them for next year. Basically I'd want Pence to help me out with average/homers. So my question for you Dodger scholars is "Will Russell Martin start hitting?" He's heated up a bit but really... whats wrong?

Thanks and appreciate the input.

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Martin's power is gone.

And I’m not just talking about his homerun power, but also his gap power.

Unless you’re looking for OBP, I’d suggest selling.

by Tripon on Aug 3, 2009 6:49 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

you're getting an OF who hits for avg/power and has speed

while you’re losing a catcher who has lost his power and hasn’t run much this year.

Dodgers - 2008 NL West Champions
Cardinals - 2008 NFC Champions

by wongy on Aug 3, 2009 11:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

didn't look like he lost his power last night!

Have a little faith. A guy’s allowed to have a few off months. I would have loved nothing more for Martin to have won that game- not just because of the obvious angle of a Dodger win, but because Russell needs a morale boost while pushing back on the give-up-on-Martin brigade. Young players- which Martin still is, by the way- need some slack. For example, I wouldn’t want you to change your name if Kershaw ends up having 4 or 5 outings like he had last night! (It’s been known to happen.)

by sarcastro9 on Aug 4, 2009 3:09 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I appreciate the defending of Martin

and if it had only been a few months then we wouldnt’ be having this discussion but as has pointed out many times including in your last fanpost, the power outage of Martin started in the 2nd half last year so this is not just some small sample size problem that will right itself. When you don’t hit doubles they don’t turn into home runs. He has zippo power at the moment. The ball he hit last night should have been a home run, he nailed it on the button. Bat speed, I don’t know but the power is missing and expecting it to come back in the 2nd half after all the games he’s caught this year is not something I’d be betting on.

by meercatjohn on Aug 4, 2009 8:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

A guy’s allowed to have a few off months

Yes. But those months are supposed to be November, December, January and February. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Martin has decided to take the months of April, May, June & July off…

2009-10 LA Kings Hockey: Where Smyt Happens!!

by DodgerBlueBalls on Aug 4, 2009 1:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Funny but you know that is hyperbole and right now

some Martin fans are distressed to see him criticized. He’s still producing just not at the level we had hoped he would.

by meercatjohn on Aug 4, 2009 2:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You’re totally right. I still appreciate Martin’s OBP and Catcher ERA, but let’s please not turn TBLA into DT as a “No Hyperbole Zone” too. ;-)

I think Russ will work out his slump and have a place as a contributor on the Dodgers for a long time to come…

2009-10 LA Kings Hockey: Where Smyt Happens!!

by DodgerBlueBalls on Aug 4, 2009 3:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

hyperbole is in the eye of the beholder

I can’t speak for all Martin defenders, but I’m not referring to ALL criticism. I have seen people- and it’s not just a stray post or two- refer to him as “garbage”, and while that’s not exactly commonplace just yet, calling for him to be traded is. In fact, it’s almost become conventional wisdom!

Asking what’s happened to his power is one thing. Acting like he’s an overall liability is another. To the more reasonable Martin critics, I’ll say that if you want to trade him, fine. But good luck finding a replacement as good as even THIS version of him. Decent catchers are hard to find these days.

(And speaking of his lost power, how I would have LOVED to have seen that ball he hit the other night pulled just a tad more! It’s not all about stats- he shows the Russell Martin of old from time to time, and I still have hope he’ll recapture it one of these days. If not, he’s still got plenty more going for him.)

by sarcastro9 on Aug 4, 2009 11:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have seen people- and it’s not just a stray post or two- refer to him as "garbage",

I don’t believe anyone has said anything like that about Martin in a post. It might have been said during/after an at bat during a game thread but everyone is a target for over reaction in game threads and comments in a game thread do not hold up in a court of true blue law.

Sure we have talked of trading him but it strictly in relation to the Doc deal, it is not like anyone wants to give him away but just trying to find a way to acquire Doc using creative methods.

I do like Joe giving Russ multiple days off this week, his bat seems a little more alive.

by meercatjohn on Aug 5, 2009 7:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

ironically enough, I'm not that big a Russell Martin fan

…I’m just in disbelief over HOW MUCH he’s been beat up. And it’s not about just run-of-the-mill criticism. Wednesday night’s game is a perfect example. He embarrassed himself- especially after all the postgame bravado the night before. At the time, I liked the way he stood up and spoke out, but given how he looked tonight, he should concentrate on what’s happening in the CURRENT game, not the NLCS last year.

But the bashers are out in full force. Did they not notice that the whole TEAM looked bad? 27 outs without a run against a starter with an ERA of 5.00 and THAT bullpen, and once again, all some can talk about is Martin:
http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-dodgers&tid=108880

by sarcastro9 on Aug 6, 2009 12:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

MLB.com forums make the cantina Star Wars look normal.

by Eric Stephen on Aug 6, 2009 6:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hate to say it, but Martin looks like an ex-PEDer. His power and hitting numbers fell off the map after the new drug testing kicked in. I’d like to think he is just overworked, but given the Dodgers history and baseball in general, one has to be suspicious. I’ve watched a lot of games, mostly because I want to see Kemp (and Martin always seems to end the inning with Kemp on deck), and Martin just looks overmatched.

by The R on Aug 4, 2009 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The only new testing that kicked in after Russell's excellent performances in the past

were for greenies not PED’s. When guys are accused of PED use please check out the testing timeline. I see players being accused of PED use whose performance declined from 2007 to 2008 or 2008 to 2009 and unless they were cheating I don’t see the correlation since PED testing was instituted before then, unless your saying the way they tested changed in those years making harder and harder to cheat. Is that what you are saying?

by meercatjohn on Aug 4, 2009 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

thanks for the input

My thing is I want to win right now and Martin is keeping me from trading some of my pitching depth for a high salary slugger. So I think I will go ahead and trade Martin for Pence/Barajas. I do think Martin will turn it around eventually just maybe not this year anymore…

Too bad about Kershaw last night… all good things come to an end. Still my favorite pitcher in all of baseball. Has been for the last 3 years. Matt Cain is a close second.

by kershaw_equals_stud on Aug 4, 2009 5:22 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs