Two major deals were completed today, and thanks to BleacherNation for the pointers.
First, Russell Martin returns to the AL East.
Source: Martin deal with #BlueJays is five years, $82M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 17, 2014
Sixteen million dollars a year is pretty good for a catcher whose career offensive strength is drawing walks. If someone has a career year at 31, I don’t think he’s likely to repeat, especially if he is a catcher. That said, the Blue Jays probably want him for his defense more than his offense, and given how good Martin is behind the plate, it’s not a bad deal. Toronto overpaid, but not by much.
The Cardinals and Braves traded two young but veteran players:
St. Louis Cardinals trade RHP Shelby Miller & RHP Tyrell Jenkins to the Braves for OF Jason Heyward & RHP Jordan Walden.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) November 17, 2014
Jason Heyward will play 2015 as a 25 year old, so the Cardinals get him just as he enters his prime. He can be a free agent at the end of 2015, so I suspect the Cardinals will try to sign him to a longer term deal. Shelby Miller is a year younger, and is coming off a down year. He’s young enough that it may just be the league adjusting to him, and he needs to adjust back. Walden is a good reliever, while Tyrell Jenkins has shown a degradation in his K rate as he moves up the minor league system. It looks to me like the Braves didn’t want to sign Heyward long term, so they got something for him while they could. Off-hand, the Cardinals appear to have gotten the better of the deal.