After a very quiet couple of days from the Winter Meetings, I'll take any sort of rumor. I was quite happy to read this piece from new BlueJays.com writer, Gregor Chisholm. He figures the Jays are a finalist in the race to get Russell Martin. I'm not all that thrilled about the idea of getting another catcher to take at bats away from JP Arencibia. As a backup or player to share time with JP, I'm not sure I wouldn't rather Jose Molina.
But the line that interested me was this:
If the Jays are able to sign Martin, it also would increase the versatility of what is already an athletic club. Martin has spent the vast majority of his Major League career behind the plate, but his athleticism suggests he could transition well to second or third base.
Martin has played 71 innings at third in his career, none at second. Does anyone think that, at 28, we should throw him in at second base for some on the job training at the major league level? I can't even imagine that is a possibility. Even playing at lot of 3B seems a bit of a stretch, at least to me.
Now if you sold him to me on the idea that he could platoon with Lind at first or DH, that I could get behind. Martin has hit lefties well in his career, .294/.405/.444. If he could do that, then the ability to be a third catcher would be useful. I'm not sure Russell would go along with that, he might want to join a team where he could catch.