Russell Martin Agrees to Terms With Pittsburgh Pirates

Hold your apologies, people. Russell Martin, everyone's favorite whipping boy, has agreed to take his Canadian talents to the Pittsburgh Pirates, pending a physical according to Ken Rosenthal. The terms of the contract are two years and $17 million dollars, which is considerably lower than the rumored three-year deal speculated about on the Twitter yesterday.

As bad as Martin has been for large chunks of time offensively, his defense was a large positive for the team. Considering the wasteland of free agent talent at the catching position, and the fact that the Yankees shipped off their closest catching prospect to the Mariners last season, things suddenly look kind of concerning at backstop for 2013. Not that the Yankees should have given Russell Martin a huge deal, just that every option presents plenty of concerning trouble on their own. The Yankees can't really go into 2013 with a trio of Francisco Cervelli, Chris Stewart, and Eli Whiteside can they? We'd all better hope not.

Another position player gone that the Yankees will have to find some way to replace before the season starts. For those doubting the Yankees' commitment to the 2014 budget, this may be one of the first tangible signs that it is very much real.