June 18th, 2019 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Who would you rather have in your everyday line-up, a guy who is 1-for-13 (.077) in his last five games with no extra base hits and no runs batted in; a guy who is 2-for-13 (.154) in his last five games with no extra base hits and one RBI; or a guy who is 7-for-19 (.368) in his last five games with five home runs (one in each of those five games), one double, and six RBI?
Believe it or not, this is not a trick question. These are the actual numbers for 29-year-old Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, 36-year-old Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, and 24-year-old Dodgers catcher Will Smith respectively.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
Yes, you can certainly argue that facing major league pitching is not the same as facing Triple-A pitching, which is where Smith is currently assigned after having gone 6-for-21 (.286) with two home runs, one double, and three RBI in the six games he played with the big league club while Barnes was on the 10-day injured list. But a 95-mph fastball is a 95-mph fastball, whether it is thrown at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles or at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
In the simplest of terms and meaning no disrespect to Russell Martin or Austin Barnes, the Dodgers best catcher – offensively and defensively – is currently employing his (what Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman calls) “Hall of Famer” talents in the minor leagues rather than helping the major league Dodgers win their seventh consecutive division title and second consecutive National League pennant.
So why, then, is the franchise’s best catcher not with the big league club when he is absolutely positively tearing it up with the team’s Triple-A club (and was pretty much doing the same in his brief time in LA), you ask?
The best answer I can come up with is: ‘Beats me.’
Actually, the real answer is one that is as old as the game of baseball itself:
It’s all about the money.
Martin is currently in the final year of a 5-year / $82 million contract that he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on November 18, 2014 and is currently being paid $20 million for the 2019 season by the Dodgers.
Barnes is currently being paid the MLB minimum of $575,000 for the 2019 season but becomes arbitration eligible after this season and a free agent in 2023.
The current average annual salary of a Triple-A baseball player is $80,000, or roughly $22 per hour. Granted, Smith received a (below slot) signing bonus of $1.77 million for being the Dodgers first round draft pick in 2016 (out of the University of Louisville), but that was three years ago. He also received a pro-rated portion of that MLB minimum during his 10 days on the Dodgers 25-man roster.
The painful truth is that as long as the Dodgers maintain their current comfortable lead in the NL West, and barring an injury to Martin or Barnes, the chances of Smith being called back up anytime soon fall somewhere between slim and none.
Then again, the Dodgers have a well-established history of that ‘mystery injury’ bug popping up from time to time in their clubhouse.
…if you get my drift.
Play Ball!
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Posted in 
@will_smith30 Y?
I knew sending back down Will Smith would hinder the Dodger offense, lol! It’s still not too late for management to do the right thing and ship Barnes out so Smith can finally take over. This kid has caught fire ever since he was sent back to AAA OKC (5 HR IN AS MANY GAMES recently!). But nooooooooooooooo, they don’t want to hurt Barnes’ precious feelings even though old, sore-back Martin has been out-hitting him in a backup role (ugh). That’s why I’m not surprised the Dodger offense sputtered again last night..
It’s probably that no one expected Smith to be hitting this well and little attention is being paid because of the 10 game lead. I think if the race was tighter, at this moment, the Dodgers would be more concerned about Martin and Barnes.
I don’t see the seasoned veteran Martin going anywhere. For last year and most of this year (toss ou… https://t.co/EI6PrueExc
Time for Barnes to go. Trade ,demote or DFA. With him ,Kiki ,and the pitcher in the lineup,it’s almost an automatic three outs.Bring up Smith now and let him be the everyday catcher.Then Mr. Friedman can work on getting a right handed and left handed bullpen pitchers that are quality,not like Madson or Axelrod. THe FO has a lot of work to before July 31 or it will be a short stay in the playoffs. The Dodgers have the assets to trade and money to obtain what the club needs to succeed.Make it happen.
Andy, I totally agree here but after last night’s game with the Giants, the BP is not the only ‘fly in the ointment” so to speak. No matter what others may think, Dodgers have problems with the offense and why? BECAUSE WE CURRENTLY HAVE 4, count them, 4 automatic outs in the lineup, batting 6 thru the pitcher’s spot. Kike. Taylor, the catchers and the pitcher. The opposing pitchers knows with those 4 toward the bottom of the lineup, they don’t really have to pitch to the first 5 hitters in the lineup. and because of this, I kind of feel that right now anyway the Padres have a much deeper and better offense than we do.
This is just how baseball works, especially in the age of 13 man pitching staffs. In the days of Fernando and Hershiser, he might have had a chance to stack (10 man pitching staffs back then). Smith certainly looked ready to contribute, but he could have batted .500 in his 20 some odd at bats, and he’d still be sent down. My guess is that Martin will come down with a mysterious injury the next time he goes into a prolonged slump, Smith will be brought back up, and he’ll remain on the team, gradually taking over the every day job. We all know that Barnes is simply a utility guy, not an everyday answer by now.
Just to clarify the Dodgers are only paying about 3.5 million of Martins salary. The Blue Jays pay the rest. But I agree Will Smith seems like he should be up here instead of Martin or Barnes.
Correct Bob, Dodgers only paying about $4 mil of Russell’s salary! Time to bring up the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”!!!