Catcher Martin Reaches $17 Million Pact With Pirates, Times Says

Former New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin reached a two-year, $17 million free-agent deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Times reported.

“I had a great time in New York,” Martin said from his Montreal hometown, the Times reported last night. “It was probably the best baseball experience of my life, but this is the business and it was time to move on.”

Martin, 29, who spent two years with Major League Baseball’s Yankees, will have a physical today before the deal is finalized, the Times said.

The Yankees, who are left with Chris Stewart, Francisco Cervelli and Eli Whiteside as catchers, told Martin they didn’t have the money to meet his contract demands, the player said, according to the Times.

Martin, who signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal with the Yankees before the 2011 season, hit .224 in his two seasons with the team with 39 home runs and 118 runs batted in.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net