Report: Victor Martinez going to Detroit?

[Chris]

This is from some Venezuelan reporter, so I am not sure how reliable it is, but apparently Martinez is set to sign a 4 year/ $50 million deal with the Tigers.

The strange thing is that the reporter is also reporting he turned down a 3 year/$48 million deal from Boston.

Something doesn't add up here to me.  It seems like he should be getting bigger offers than that...and I find it hard to believe that Boston couldn't beat that deal, given their offer.

edit: now it is being reported by ESPN, but still not confirmed:

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5842176

[housecall]

I just heard the same thing over weei but it hasn't been fully confirmed.

[Bankshot]

Red Sox should be ashamed of themselves. Getting outbid by Detroit for that amount of money?  Maybe Victor was miffed at the original offer from the Sox.  I think it was a 2 year offer.  They have the second highest payroll and they act like they are the Florida Marlins when it comes to Victor?

[housecall]

Red Sox should be ashamed of themselves. Getting outbid by Detroit for that amount of money?  Maybe Victor was miffed at the original offer from the Sox.  I think it was a 2 year offer.  They have the second highest payroll and they act like they are the Florida Marlins when it comes to Victor?

TP...just don't get it.

[Fan from VT]

Well, it could be a few things:
-They really like their young catcher
-They figure the batting downgrade from Martinez to a new catcher is offset by the massive behind the plate upgrade, and thus:
-they were looking at Martinez as mostly a 1B/DH, and they have that covered/are going to try to make a splash there and don't want to lock into multi-year deal for Martinez to backup 1b and DH
-They are going to try and keep Beltre but want to keep flexibility financially
-They need the picks that a departing Martinez brings in order to offset their planned FA signings/trades

[pearljammer10]

I could see them not wanting to give an old sometimes injured catcher whose knees are getting bad a 4 year deal worth almost 15 mil a year... I would look elsewhere too.

[Chris]

Red Sox should be ashamed of themselves. Getting outbid by Detroit for that amount of money?  Maybe Victor was miffed at the original offer from the Sox.  I think it was a 2 year offer.  They have the second highest payroll and they act like they are the Florida Marlins when it comes to Victor?

But if the rumor is to be believed, they offered him $3.5 more per year, and only 1 year less.  That's why this makes no sense.  

[Donoghus]

I could see them not wanting to give an old sometimes injured catcher whose knees are getting bad a 4 year deal worth almost 15 mil a year... I would look elsewhere too.

Pretty much my thoughts on Victor, also. 

He's never quite done it for me as a Red Sox.  I would have no qualms about the Sox looking at other options here rather than commit to a longterm deal.

[MBz]

Bad move.  They should have signed him, let him catch this year and then when Papi leaves let him split time between catching and DHing.  Are there any catchers available via trade right now?  Other than Martinez and John Buck there really wasnt much available for free agents.  I'm not sure going in with Saltalamacchia as the starting catcher is a great idea.  We better be resigning Beltre and getting either Werth or Crawford if Victor does really sign with Detroit.

[Donoghus]

Sounds like the Sox didn't want to go to a fourth year and V-Mart wanted it. 

Can't blame the Sox on this one.  Guy is gonna be 32 at the start of the season. 

[CeltsAcumen]

This shouldn't be too much of a surprise, if the Sox really wanted VMart back they would of tried much harder during the season.

Adrian Gonzales, hopefully, will be his hitting replacement.  Younger, better hitter, better defensively and in all likelihood, Vmart would of ended up at 1st.

Detroit will regret the last two years of this deal when Vmart is a below avg defensive catcher.

[Fafnir]

This shouldn't be too much of a surprise, if the Sox really wanted VMart back they would of tried much harder during the season.

Adrian Gonzales, hopefully, will be his hitting replacement.  Younger, better hitter, better defensively and in all likelihood, Vmart would of ended up at 1st.

Detroit will regret the last two years of this deal when Vmart is a below avg defensive catcher.

Detroit's biggest concern should be that playing catcher so much will hurt his offensive production.

[Vermont Green]

Per ESPN:

Martinez will receive a four-year deal for $50 million, according to Venezuelan reporter Ignacio Serrano of El Nacional, who first reported the agreement. The Associated Press reported that the deal is pending the results of a physical. Martinez made $7.7 million last season.

The Red Sox offered Martinez a choice of a three-year, $36 million deal or a four-year contract for $42 million, according to a major league source. The source said the Red Sox had not been informed of Martinez's decision, but the team was not surprised to hear that he would play elsewhere.

This makes more sense in terms of money; they offer 4@$12.5M, we offer 4@$10.5M.  They must see a decline in his skills in 4 years.  Tough to lose him but let's see what else they do.

[Bahku]

Not just a rumor:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2010/11/tigers_close_to.html?p1=News_links

[Chris]

Per ESPN:

Martinez will receive a four-year deal for $50 million, according to Venezuelan reporter Ignacio Serrano of El Nacional, who first reported the agreement. The Associated Press reported that the deal is pending the results of a physical. Martinez made $7.7 million last season.

The Red Sox offered Martinez a choice of a three-year, $36 million deal or a four-year contract for $42 million, according to a major league source. The source said the Red Sox had not been informed of Martinez's decision, but the team was not surprised to hear that he would play elsewhere.

This makes more sense in terms of money; they offer 4@$12.5M, we offer 4@$10.5M.  They must see a decline in his skills in 4 years.  Tough to lose him but let's see what else they do.

That makes much more sense.  And I think it makes crystal clear what the Sox thought of Martinez as a catcher.  Clearly, their offer was a DH offer.  

Anyways, this is interesting though, because I think it lowers the market a bit of the other big names.  I thought the numbers would be much higher on Martinez, but if he is only getting $12.5 per year, I think (hope) guys like Werth will not be getting the $15+ million per year some people were expecting.  

I think it is too early to judge this non-move from the Sox, because it is still so early in the offseason, and so few players have signed...but this certainly puts the pressure on them to be aggressive and creative in order to replace Martinez' production.

My hope is that Russell Martin is non-tendered, and they buy low on him to take over as the veteran catch to go along with Salty.  He has had a couple rough years, but just 2-3 years ago, he was looked at as one of the best young all around catchers in the game.  He was a very solid hitter, and a gold glover.  

Then they could work to upgrade outfield a bit, and perhaps try to make a splash with a trade for a big bat.