Elliott: Looking back at the wooing of Russell Martin
Former ABC and Chipola Indian C Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.) was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays seven years ago.
Originally published Nov. 23, 2014
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball network
Swimsuit model Cheryl Tiegs was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean was the No. 1 song on Feb. 15, 1983.
And, that day, a bouncing baby boy named Russell Nathan Coltrane (Jeanson) Martin was born in East York.
How did it come to pass that Martin, who grew up in Montreal, received the largest free-agent contract in Toronto Blue Jays history? How did it all evolve that the Jays, in need of a left fielder, a second baseman and bullpen help, instead went after one of the game’s best catchers?
There were flights and drives to Montreal, and too many phone calls to count.
An in-depth look at how the Jays landed Martin.
OCT. 20, PHOENIX
A group of Jays front-office executives meet in a downtown Phoenix hotel before going to watch Dalton Pompey and their other prospects with the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.
The group ranks the Jays’ priorities for next season in order. Rebuilding the bullpen is No. 1. Free agent Martin is discussed and the conclusion is, “Great player ... love to have him ... but we have to prioritize.”
Dioner Navarro was an upgrade over J.P. Arencibia behind the plate, but it wasn’t like having Pat Borders behind the plate. While it was nowhere near the top of the shopping list, Martin was an attractive option.
“We weren’t sure pursuing Russell was the right thing,” Anthopoulos recalled. “We decided to take a few weeks and chew on it.”
As Dana Brown always says: “Keep the main thing, the main thing.”
Leaving Phoenix, the main thing remains the bullpen.
OCT. 30, NEW YORK
No longer required to file for free agency, players become available to the highest bidder as soon as the World Series ends.
The day after the San Francisco Giants edged the Kansas City Royals in Game 7, the Players Association releases the list of 121 players who could become free agents. Martin is on the list.
OCT. 30, 1 BLUE JAYS WAY
The Jays discuss Martin and how the stars have aligned. The Jays ...
* Can claim they are a team on the cusp of winning -- after 61 days in first place in 2014.
* Management can handle a big salary.
* Front office can say and show it is trying to win.
* And Martin is hitting free agency at the prime of his career.
Without any of those four points on a clothes line like a Jose Bautista frozen rope ... well if one was out of kilter, the Jays and Martin would not even have talked.
The fact that the stars never aligned for others is the reason Wayne Gretzky never skated for the Maple Leafs, why Mario Lemieux or Vincent Lecavalier never played for the Montreal Canadiens, why Larry Walker never played in Toronto.
NOV. 1, 1 BLUE JAYS WAY
Anthopoulos calls Martin’s Chicago-based agent Matt Colleran, telling him the Jays’ front office will be in Montreal for a news conference detailing exhibition games at Olympic Stadium.
Could the Jays meet with Martin?
Colleran says Martin is in Montreal.
The purpose of the meeting is not to sign Martin but to gauge his interest.
Would he consider coming to Toronto?
NOV. 3, PNC STADIUM
The Pirates offer a $15.3-million qualifying offer to Martin.
ON YOUR RADIO DIAL
The Fan 590 reports the Jays have held internal discussions about free agent Martin.
NOV. 4, BELL CENTRE, MONTREAL 1 P.M.
Jays president Paul Beeston, GM Anthopoulos and Hall of Famer Robbie Alomar fly Air Canada into Dorval, Que. Assistant GM Tony LaCava flies in from Pittsburgh. Anthopoulos makes the 5 1/2 -hour drive because he can get more work done via phone in his car versus flying. And, no doubt, he wanted to drive past Canada’s first capital: Kingston.
The purpose of the news gathering was to drum up interest for the Jays’ return to Olympic Stadium. Evenko, the entertainment arm of the Montreal Canadiens, is bringing in Joey Votto and the Cincinnati Reds to play the Jays on April 3-4.
Would the games draw 96,000, as they did this past March?
Anthopoulos speaks about hoping to make it an annual event, but, like a lot of times, his mind is elsewhere.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre speaks of the hopes of gaining an American League franchise.
MONTREAL, 2:30 P.M.
Greg Hamilton meets with Martin at restaurant Café Local in Montreal. Martin’s former coach tells him he’s the seventh member to be named to the Baseball Canada Wall of Fame. Martin will be honoured on Jan. 10 at the annual banquet in Toronto.
BELL CENTRE SUITE, 6 P.M.
After appearing at local radio stations, Anthopoulos returns to his hotel and changes. He and LaCava arrive in the box. Beeston could not make the meeting due to a previous commitment.
Martin and Colleran arrive 10 minutes later.
First thing the GM says to Martin is: “Man, did I get grilled about you when we were announcing those two games we’re going to play in April at the Big Owe.”
Anthopoulos and LaCava talk about the Jays of 2014 and what they hope to do next season.
They ask Martin baseball questions. Would Martin consider playing for the Jays?
They get to know a little bit more about him.
As the puck is about to drop, Anthopoulos and LaCava leave, giving Martin the box for his friends to watch the Chicago Blackhawks play the Canadiens.
But it’s not a good night for 21,287 Habs fans: Corey Crawford records a shutout as Jonathan Toews, Marcus Kruger, Brad Richards, Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg score in a 5-0 Hawks win.
MILOS RESTAURANT, AVENUE DU PARC, 7 P.M.
Anthopoulos has fish as he and LaCava eat dinner.
They discuss Martin. Martin had brought his longtime pal Ivan Naccarata, a teammate with the Canadian Junior National Team and Chipola College, with him.
He’s been with his agent for a long time. He’s close to both his parents. He comes home to Montreal each off-season.
“He’s a very grounded person, he has a lot of substance,” LaCava tells Anthopoulos.
And then both men’s hearts stop at the same time. A man from Toronto at the next table recognizes Anthopoulos and begins talking ball. Had he heard them discussing the chances of signing Martin?
Would a tweet boost up the price and alert the world that the Jays came to Montreal for a news conference and stayed?
NOV. 5, MONTREAL
Anthopoulos phones Colleran. The agent is having lunch with Naccarata.
“Ask Ivan if he enjoyed the game last night,” Anthopoulos tells the agent. The answer is yes.
“Ask Ivan if he’d like to do it again.”
Again the answer is yes.
“Can you help a brother out and get Russell to sign with Toronto?” Anthopoulos asks.
NOV. 8, CHICAGO
Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago reports that the Cubs have met with Martin.
Also, meetings are scheduled with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Jays and Pirates, where Martin played the previous two seasons.
An MLBTraderumors.co poll of readers asks where Martin will sign.
The majority-43.37%-pick the Cubs, 21.9% guess Dodgers, and the Pirates finish with 15.19%.The Jays receive 12.31% of the vote.
Martin did visit Chicago for a meeting a couple of days before.
1 BLUE JAYS WAY
The Jays are discouraged. They had resources, believed they had a good chance and Martin had seemed sincere. It would be expensive going up against the Dodgers and the Cubs.
Anthopoulos calls Chicago and asks Colleran to arrange a Sunday meeting. He and Beeston can come meet with Martin.
The GM drives to Montreal that night, leaving Toronto at around 7, and checks into a hotel around midnight.
NOV. 9, LAVAL, QUE.
Anthopoulos picks up Beeston at Dorval at 8 a.m. and heads to the Première Moisson coffee shop and bakery on Ave. du Cosmodôme.
After introductions, Anthopoulos goes to the counter to buy coffee for three.
And then he sits back, watches and listens.
“The meeting wasn’t for me, I thought it was important for Paul to meet with him,” Anthopoulos said.
Beeston explains why he thinks Martin is a good fit for the Jays.
Money is not discussed and an offer isn’t made.
They finish around 10 and, on the way out the door, an elderly couple recognizes Martin.
The woman looks at Martin and says:
“ C’est toi? (It’s you?)”
The husband says, “It’s him, wouldn’t it be nice to have you play in Toronto next season?”
The woman leans in for a kiss and Montreal’s favorite son hugs her.
Once in the parking lot, traffic noise is drowned out by Beeston’s laughter as he roars: “Unbelievable! Next time we’re trying to sign someone, we should stage something like that.”
The GM drops Beeston off at the airport and drives past Kingston on his way to Pearson International Airport.
He catches a 6:30 flight to Phoenix for the general managers’ meetings.
Martin will decline the Pirates’ qualifying offer, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com ,which means the team signing him loses its first pick in the June draft.
NOV. 10, PHOENIX
Lobby talk at the Arizona Biltmore has the Jays pursuing free agents Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers and Martin.
NOV. 12, PHOENIX
The Pirates obtain catcher Francisco Cervelli from the Yankees for lefty reliever Justin Wilson. The Bucs are out on Martin.
Chris Stewart and Cervelli will share time behind the plate.
NOV. 13, PHOENIX
The Dodgers are in on Martin.
NOV. 10, ON THE INTERNET
MLBTradeRumors.com projects a five-year, $72.5-million deal for Martin.
1 BLUE JAYS WAY
Colleran calls. Time to make an offer.
The deal might go down within 24 hours.
The two sides talk at 6:30.
NOV. 15, 1 BLUE JAYS WAY
The Jays present their first offer late Saturday morning.
The Jays ask for another phone call with Martin to reiterate their position.
Beeston and Anthopoulos are on speaker phone.
They tell Martin L.A., Chicago, Pittsburgh and Toronto are all great cities in which to play.
The Dodgers are always in the post-season, Chicago will explode if the Cubs win, Pittsburgh advanced to the playoffs the past two seasons and the Jays think that they can win.
Then they talk about the convenience of playing in Toronto. Flights every hour on the hour for his mother and father to fly in from Montreal to two different airports. Or friends and family could get in a car and drive.
On TV, Jays games are now carried on French-language TVA. Anthopoulos tells Martin how he remembered growing up in Montreal watching Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero, Delino DeShields and Marquis Grissom.
He asks who young kids in Montreal watch since the Expos left.
They talk about his legacy in Canada: What would it be if he helped the Jays end their 21-year playoff drought?
“Steve Nash was maybe one of the best Canadian NBA players ever, but what if he’d played for the Raptors, what kind of an impact would he have had?” Anthopoulos says. “You read about all these great Canadian college kids coming into the NBA and their inspiration was Vince Carter. How many kids stayed up to watch the Phoenix Suns?”
They tell Martin how he has played for some storied franchises - Dodgers, Yankees and Pirates - but how many Canadians got the chance to see him play regularly?
Who do kids idolize? If Martin signs with the Jays, Canadian kids could watch a great player who is Canadian.
Beeston, who often goes into his quote book to look up words of wisdom on forgiveness and other subjects, quotes Jackie Robinson, who said, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
Despite the convenience, the stars aligning, his legacy, the No. 1 item on Martin’s wish list is winning.
Four-year offers were made by the Dodgers, Cubs and the Jays.
Martin decides to sleep on things.
NOV. 16, TWITTER
Fox Sports reports the Cubs are the leading contenders, offering a four-year deal in the $64-million range.
An hour later, a subsequent tweet is issued that the Blue Jays could be seriously involved as well.
1 BLUE JAYS WAY
The offers escalate again.
The Jays, the Dodgers ($74 million) and the Cubs ($70 million) make four-year offers.
After “four or five” different offers, the Jays go in for a fifth year and $82 million, an average annual salary of $16.4 million.
At 10 p.m., Martin agrees to the deal.
Beeston and Anthopoulos phone to welcome Martin.
Martin replies: “I’m going to make you look good.”
He will earn $7 million next year, $15 million in 2016 and $20 million in the final three seasons.
NOV. 17, MLB NETWORK
Hall of Fame scribe Peter Gammons tweets that the Jays have signed Martin for what he describes as “McCann money” (Brian McCann signed a five-year, $85-million deal with the New York Yankees a year ago).
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has the $82-million package moments later.
TAMPA
Martin flies south for his physical and passes.
TUES., NOV. 18, 1 BLUE JAYS WAY
The Blue Jays make Martin’s signing official.
THURS., NOV. 20, ROGERS CENTRE
Martin flies into Billy Bishop Airport and makes the short trip to the stadium. He brings his father, also named Russ, his girl and his pal Naccarata.
Martin is unveiled as the Blue Jays’ largest free-agent signing. Now Canada’s best-ever catcher is with Canada’s other national team.