Russell Martin tells the New York Post that the Yankees made a mistake in not retaining him after the 2012 season. But unlike the usual “they should’ve kept me” stuff, Martin is not being emotional about it or trashing his former team out of some sense of being jilted. He’s actually making a spot-on bit of baseball analysis:
“It becomes an expensive mistake, no question . . . They can’t turn back the clock. They went and got a good guy who, offensively, puts up better numbers than I have and so costs a lot of money. I love McCann. They got a good one . . . I think the smart move is not to repeat a mistake. I think they paid the price for not acquiring an everyday catcher — or keeping one — and they went and got a good one this year.”
I don’t think there’s anyway to analyze the McCann signing without acknowledging that letting Martin go was a mistake. But apart from vague references to baseball being “just a business,” it’s not that often you hear a ballplayer look at some move involving himself in such objective terms.
