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The Texas Rangers are showing interest in veteran free-agent catcher Russell Martin, reports Buster Olney of ESPN:
At a time when catchers' game of musical chairs is playing out, free agent Russell Martin is among those being considered by the Rangers.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 12, 2012
The Rangers have two catchers in-house that they could bring back -- free agent Mike Napoli and arbitration candidate Geovany Soto -- but it seems likely that the club will part ways with both backstops and take their chances on the open market.
Martin, 29, spent the last two seasons with the New York Yankees, where he managed to regain the power he lost in his final two seasons in Los Angeles but continued to lose points in his batting average. After hitting .293/.374/.469 in his sophomore season, Martin's offensive numbers have been on a slow decline, bottoming out at a .211 batting average and .311 OBP this past season.
The Ballpark in Arlington could provide another opportunity for Martin's power stroke to flourish, but his rising strikeout numbers could be a concern.