Mets among teams that have checked in on Russell Martin

The Mets are among the teams that have checked in on veteran catcher Russell Martin, who is still available in free agency, per Jon Heyman. The 37-year-old is coming off a season in which he made 249 plate appearances and hit .220/.337/.330 with six home runs but racked up 1.2 fWAR in that time thanks to his work behind the plate.

Right now, the Mets don’t have the greatest depth behind starting catcher Wilson Ramos, as Tomas Nido struggled mightily at the plate last year in his time in the majors. The team brought back veteran Rene Rivera, who made just 20 plate appearances at the major league level—all with the Mets—last year.

The fact that Martin plays strong defense—he rated well in the Baseball Prospectus metric FRAA last year and has throughout his career—would make him a good complement to Ramos, who worked on his defense all winter after struggling with it last season.