Rockies Rumors: The Russell Martin Dream Is Dead

The Colorado Rockies might have been hoping to make a big move by signing Russell Martin as the MLB hot stove gets rolling, but that dream is likely dead.

Unless they somehow emerge as the “mystery team” in the next couple weeks, it looks like the Colorado Rockies will not be the ones to sign coveted free agent catcher Russell Martin.

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According to Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago, Martin met with the Chicago Cubs this week and will meet with three other teams. The Rockies are not one of them.

After hiring veteran manager Joe Maddon on Monday, the team rolled out the red carpet in a meeting with free agent catcher Russell Martin on Thursday, according to an MLB source.‬..…The Pirates, Martin’s most recent club, the Dodgers and Blue Jays are other teams that Martin and his agent will visit with.

This report highlights any number of reasons that the Rockies will not sign Martin. For one thing, all of those teams are more attractive options. You have the incumbent (the Pirates), a contender (the Dodgers) and two teams that are decidedly more intriguing than the Rockies (the Cubs and Blue Jays).

With that group, you also have at least three teams that can comfortably outspend the Rockies in a bidding war. As we learned last winter, the Rockies can stretch with their offers and still get dwarfed by the contracts offered by the big market teams. If the Cubs and Dodgers are in this thing, they aren’t going to lose out on Martin because of money.

It’s simple, really: the Rockies are outclassed here in terms of the state of their franchise and in terms of the money they can offer. Martin is going to get paid and he is likely going to play for a contender. Sadly, the Rockies need to move on as they problem solve their situation at catcher.

I doubt the Rockies even have a red carpet.

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