The Russell Martin era in Toronto is officially over, after the Jays traded the catcher to the Los Angeles Dodgers for shortstop prospect Ronny Brito and pitcher Andrew Sopko.

 

 

Report: Russell Martin has been traded to the LA Dodgers

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The writing has been on the wall for some time now, as the 35 year old’s offense has been in decline and the Jays appear to be entering a rebuild, though they’ll remain on the hook for a significant portion of his $20 million salary next year.

While his stint in Toronto may not have turned out the way that the team had likely hoped, Martin, a Toronto native, shared a statement to Twitter graciously thanking the Blue Jays organization and fans.

 

 

Russell Martin with a classy thank-you message for the Blue Jays organization and fans 👏

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Martin follows other prominent and highly-paid Blue Jays that have been moved lately, including Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson. The team will at least recoup some savings with the trades, although they could be covering north of $15 million of Martin’s contract. They're already paying $38 million of Tulo's contract for him to stay in the AL East, which legendary singer and actress Bette Midler was decisively not a fan of.

h/t Twitter/russellmartin55