The Red Sox unquestionably had a better off-season than the Yankees when it comes to acquisitions, landing the big splash free-agents that propelled them to the top of virtually everyone's pre-season prognostications while the Yankees Lee-or-bust approach to starting pitching ended in, well, bust. And as the Sox have finally started to play to their potential while the Yankees' starting pitching woes continue, it seems only a matter of time before the Sox challenge for the top spot in the AL East. But at one position – and an extremely important one at that - the Yankees seem at this early stage of the season to have gotten the clear upper hand.
Russell Martin is playing like a guy who wants everyone to know that his career is far from over. The 28-year old former all-star catcher was looked over by some teams, made to feel too risky by the Sox, and ultimately snatched up by the Yankees. Not yet a month into the 2011 season, the move is looking brilliant, not only because the highly touted Yankee catching prospects Jesus Montero and Austin Romine proved in Spring training to be not-quite-ready-for-prime-time, but because Martin has quickly asserted himself as more than capable of managing a patchwork pitching staff and as a serious force to be reckoned with at the plate.
Here is how Martin ranks among the 27 catchers who have at least 45 plate appearances in a few key offensive categories: BA: 4th (.311); OBP: 2nd (.391); SLG: 1st (.656); OPS: 1st (1.047); RBI: 1st (16); HR: 1st (6). By comparison, Saltalamacchia is yet to break the top 20 in any of these categories except RBIs, in which he ranks 20th.
Only time will tell if Martin's hip – the main source of the Sox' pre-season concern with him - will hold up for the duration of the season. In the end, the Yankees may not need it to. Montero is doing everything he can to get back on the radar screen, tearing it up in the International League (through 14 games he is batting .407 with a .400 OBP and .925 OPS). But as long as Martin can maintain this kind of production, Yankee fans should be thrilled by the catcher that Cashman et al landed while the sound and fury over Cliff Lee, Rafael Soriano, and related soap operas played out this past Spring.
35 replies on “Hip Replacement”
As corny as it may be I love when the Yankees put together a team of guys I really enjoy rooting for, Martin helps keep that streak alive. I was ecstatic when the Yankees signed Russell Martin, I am not going to lie. He’s breaks the stereotype of what a catcher should be (No, he’s not the first, nor is he the best, just my favorite). He’s an athlete, he’s a hitter, he can run and he plays solid defense with a really solid arm. He’s a former SS who learned how to catch out of necessity. He’s not going to hit 30 HR’s, he’s not going to win a batting title, but he does a little of everything and does it well. The cherry on top was keeping him away from the Sox (go back in the archives and check how psyched I was).
May sound crazy but during the off-season I commented here that Martin could eventually be our 2 hitter (best candidate) due to his CT%, etc…That may be a little extreme, but you get the picture re: just how excited I am to have this man wearing pinstripes.
Totally agree John on having guys it is easy to root for. I don’t think I was as prescient as you when Martin was signed – in fact I know I was not – but I am starting to see the light.
Good to see you by the way – stick around!!
It was win win for me…I like Martin and we were able to keep him away from the Sox. I know it sounds crazy but I think Martin would have made them (Sox) pretty much as complete as a team gets. Granted they (Sox) are still the best on paper team in the game, but imagine if they had Martin? (AKA actual production at the Catcher postition) I made this quite clear in the off-season and I don’t think anyone thought I was serious. Sure he might break down, he might miss some time, but while he’s playing I will enjoy watching him play and enjoy the fact that he’s not wearing pinstripes and not those awful Sunday morning slow pitch softball (red) jerseys for the Sox.
It is very hard to parse out what happened with Martin, the Sox/Yanks/Jays. I did a little reading to find out what the stories were back in December, and there are a few things that seem clear:
– Martin was “considering” the Jays, Sox, and Yanks.
– Martin was offered something by the Sox, and then the Yanks.
– Martin chose the Yanks.
It isn’t clear at all what the dynamic was here – all players involved were pretty tight-lipped, to their credit. So while Martin now says the Sox were “iffy” on him, it was reported that they weren’t so iffy as to not make an offer. The big question is what the dollar difference was between the Sox and Yanks – I imagine Martin felt confident playing for his next contract (if he thought himself healthy) and didn’t want a two year deal. So in the end it might have come down to simple dollars in the short term, and for whom Martin may have wanted to play. Maybe he preferred the Yanks all dollars being equal (which they probably weren’t based on what transpired). I am unsure how this all played out in terms of the luxury tax – the threshold this year is $178M from what I can tell, and the Sox seem well under it, though they now have Gonzo’s contract folded in, and the extra $3M or $4M for Martin for the year (Salty makes 750K) probably wasn’t a factor at the time, but who knows. $3M is $3M.
In any case, Martin has been great, there’s no argument there. As for the Sox, I have no idea how Salty will pan out (Tek is old and withered, can’t hit, can’t throw a runner out, and is in “intangible” value territory so who the hell knows what happens with him), but our team doesn’t need Salty to be a world-beater. His “flaws” haven’t really been a factor these last ten days, fancy that. Adequate would be pretty damn good, a foundation for improvement and a regular position. He’s got a future with the Sox, it’s in his own hands I think. I am staying optimistic and want him to keep getting shots.
IH – Thanks man. I love this place, when I can be here I will, you know that! Baseball season has been crazy so far. Rain outs daily, practicing in the gym…getting no-hit by the #11 team in the nation, tons of fun!
If I recall the $ argument was made by someone back when the FA process was in full swing as well SF, you could be correct. I understand Martin is what he is while Salty has the potential tag…But the Sox spent a ton of money (wisely and justly) this off-season making them silly good at all the positions, SP’ing and bullpen, but then they leave the catching position to a “what was” and “what could be”…I don’t know how hard to Sox went after Martin or if they even wanted him, but to me it’s like they ran the marathon and decided to stop 50 yards before the finish line. I am not trying to overstate Martin’s value, but rather just how close the Sox were to being a pretty complete team. He’s not Buster Posey, but if healthy he’s significantly better than Salty or Varitek in just about every aspect of the catching game.
The ont thing that gets under my skin with Martin – and I’ve noted it on a couple other threads here – is the inaccuracy of his (relatively strong) arm. I don’t know how to look this up, but from watching the games I am fairly certain he has thrown at least two balls into the outfield when snap-throwing to 1st plus twom more when throwing to 2nd, and he has forced Cano to dive like an acrobat a couple times to keep other throws from reaching Granderson in CF. Packaged with all the plusses this is not a massive issue, but it’s something I’ve noticed…
i admire your optimism sf, but there is absolutely no reason to believe that salty will figure it out…i realize that the official sox management’s position is that they have faith in him, but the recent increase in tek’s opportunities to catch send a very different message…the past 10 days aren’t much of a sample since tek caught some of those games, and let’s face it, your pitchers are dialed in at the moment…when they are dialed in, it wouldn’t matter who’s catching…they could throw the ball to a peach basket…it’s when a pitcher doesn’t have his best stuff and is struggling that the value of the “intangible mr. c” is evident…to be fair, my team’s got its own problems, like “captain rangeless”, but it’s ulikely we’ll hear any negative talk about players from our management…it’s kinda like inviting a girl to a dance, then complaining because she’s a bad dancer…
but there is absolutely no reason to believe that salty will figure it out
Scouts are wrong all the time. Sometimes they are right. I do not have enough knowledge in my head, nor have I seen Salty play nearly enough baseball, to know whether the Sox’ faith or optimism in his abilities is well-founded. I just don’t. But they see something. They may, sooner rather than later, stop seeing that something. I think they’d be wise to make their own decisions and not rely on us fans and our reflexive views of his current play.
The biggest argument for the Sox signing Martin is that they had an option with Salty: they could have let him play it out in AAA, see how Martin’s hip responded. For some reason they didn’t. If the Sox’ fatal flaw this year is catching (and I would be willing to wager that it will not be, should they have a fatal flaw), then so it goes. But six QBs were drafted before Tom Brady, Luc Robitaille was taken with the 200-somethingth pick in the NHL draft, the Yankees wouldn’t pony up further for Cliff Lee and were willing to give Montero a shot at catching but then signed Martin and he excelled, etc. etc. It’s all part of the continuum of baseball. Marginal moves sometimes turn out to be not so marginal. We just don’t know what went into the Martin decision for the Sox in the end – some combo of money and medicine, and this happens a lot in baseball. Good for the Yanks for signing him, the Sox’ jury is still well out on their own catching situation. Things could change, I just don’t know.
Catchers generally are slower to develop than most other positions. Sure there are rare exceptions (Mauer) that are good from the jump, but most catchers take time to reach their full potential. Makes sense, they take a beating, touch the ball more than anyone else and have the most responsibility on the entire field. Salty could very well be a very good major leaguer in time, that’s not a crazy statement as he’s just 25. Problem is he wasn’t exceptional at any level but A+ in 2005. He’s been OK since. In 37 games between AA and AAA in 2007-8 he was good again, but 37 games is nothing. in 72 games in AAA, split between Bos and Tex his line was .248/.329/.453. In 2008 with Texas he was OK (.253/.352/.364 with 3 HR’s) not great, everything else has been bad. He was pretty well hyped by the “experts” as were Teagarden and Max Ramirez, problem is when you dig deeper than just what the “experts” say there really isn’t much substance. With that said not every successful major leaguer mashes in the minors, but I am a big believer in skill sets and by all accounts Salty’s skill set says there isn’t much room for growth.
I don’t think anyone would call it a fatal flaw SF. The Sox are the best on paper team in the bigs and that happened partly through signing FA’s this off-season. My issue is why not go hard after Martin, that’s all. They were so close to being complete, it’s not about them now sucking because they didn’t sign him, but rather being so close to having very little if any weaknesses.
“…absolutely no reason…”
bad choice of words on my part…a little too much…i should have said, i don’t share your level of confidence in the guy…and i don’t know how good of a dancer he is…i don’t wanna know…
your comment is right on…scouting is helpful, but who knows how trades or draft picks will pan out…i appreciate you not knocking us for gloating about martin…believe me, i’m not gloating, just pleasantly surprised, and glad that he didn’t go to your team, or we’d have the exact problem you’re facing…and who knows, there’s still plenty of time for this to blow up in our faces…he could reinjure himself, or the rumor about his sketchy handling of pitchers could manifest itself…
i don’t share your level of confidence in the guy
But I don’t have confidence in the guy. I guess I have almost no opinion on the guy. But I do think, with the strength of the team, they can afford to have him learn a little on the job, see what happens. I guess I’d rather suffer the pain of this roster spot (since I assume at least seven other guys, maybe even eight, can cover his ass) and see what happens. But I am not optimistic – I have no expectations, I just want to watch.
“the Yankees wouldn’t pony up further for Cliff Lee”
Is this what happened? The Yankees were offering Lee 7 years @ $22M. Lee took 5 years @ $25M or something. I think it’s safe to say that even if the Yankees offered him $200M, he would have chosen Philly, because that’s truly where he wanted to play.
And even if you’re talking about the trade – the Yankees did indeed pony up for Cliff Lee by agreeing to trade one of the best prospects in the game for him. All evidence points to the Seattle GM wanting the Texas guys over the Yankee guys, plain and simple. Unless Cashman really cleaned out the entire farm system and made an even dumber offer, I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Yankees didn’t ‘go the distance’ to get it done. They went the distance. Seattle, for better or worse, took the team that drop-landed at the last moment, and from what reports say, the team that they really wanted to trade with in the first place.
Cliff Lee was simply never meant to be a Yankee. I don’t think there’s anything anyone on the Yankees side could have done otherwise.
Talking about the trade. What I read is that the Mariners tried to re-trade with the Yankees at the last second and asked for more than Montero, and the Yankees wouldn’t go there, so they took Smoak (who, all things being equal up against Montero, they preferred).
I am not making a judgment here, but the fact is teams opt out of personnel moves all the time, when they find reason not to add more money, players, or assume medical risk that is beyond their tolerance for that risk. It is not uncommon, at all, for one team to pass on a player and another team to benefit from that passing. The Yanks benefited from the Martin situation, and good for them.
We are talking about the Yankees adding more for a mid-season trade of Lee that would have kept him for the latter half of 2010 alone, right? Now it would have been fantastic to have him for that – and I think the Yanks, who came a couple games from the WS without him (and in part were kept out because of his performance on the Rangers) – would have had an excellent chance to win it all had they landed him. But let’s not forget that the trade being discussed here was for a mid-season rental, not a multi-year deal, so any cleaning out of the Yankee farm system needs to be weighed against that reality as well.
And if you think that by simply landing him in 2010 the Yankees would have had a much better chance of signing him long-term, just ask Texas how well that tactic worked out.
I don’t want to end up debating what might have happened with Lee, that’s irrelevant. The point is teams reach their limits with what they will give up for a player, whether it is in terms of money, talent, or assumed risk. It happens all the time. Martin was no sure thing, and both teams had different risk assessments of the player. Yanks have, so far, made out better. The Sox have to hope things get better.
This happens quite a lot, I think.
“…But let’s not forget that the trade being discussed here was for a mid-season rental, not a multi-year deal, so any cleaning out of the Yankee farm system needs to be weighed against that reality as well….”
exactly, and maybe the yankees got the vibe, or lee told them privately, that there was no way he would resign with them when his “lease” was up…and that’s exactly how it turned out…had they acquired him, he would’ve bailed for the bright lights and big stage of philly…
as for for the “ponying up” comment, we could have the tex and arod discussions again…
or lee told them privately, that there was no way he would resign with them when his “lease” was up
Not a chance in hell he told them this. No. Way.
It’s a banner day for Russell the Muscle being included in a conversation about adding Clif Lee. Let’s hope we are still having these conversations in September/October.
The Sox didn’t think Martin was worth the risk, health-wise, to spend more than the Yanks. So far it’s pretty clear that they were wrong, assuming Martin stays healthy all season long. I have zero faith in Salty becoming a full-time catcher, and was pretty bummed to see the Sox not get Martin in the off-season.
It doesn’t make up for not landing a solid SP this off-season (though Lee going to Philly seems to not have been the GM’s fault), but Martin was a fantastic move by Cashman.
“…Not a chance in hell he told them this. No. Way….”
well, then it was a vibe…either way, i’m right… ;) there was a reason the yanks had a ceiling on the trade, and to suggest they didn’t “pony up”, ignores the possibility that seattle was trying to extort more from the yankees, and that the yankees had some prior knowledge of lee’s lack of desire to play in ny…
“…It doesn’t make up for not landing a solid SP this off-season …”
no it doesn’t, but so far anyway it plugs a hole we thought we had before his acquisition…you can accuse me of simply blindly rationalizing the lack of movement on starting pitching, but i’m not all that sorry we didn’t get lee…sure the yankees can afford to tie up another aging pitcher that they would be paying $25-30m 5-7 years from now, but why?…the core 4 is now down to the core 2 [mo=1, captain rangeless=.5, jorge=.5], so that window to win 1 more with those guys is closing…the yanks are going to find themselves in a rebuilding/reloading mode sooner rather than later…i don’t want to add another old guy for too much money…time for the scouts to earn their per diem and find us some able bodied younger replacements…somebody not on everyone else’s radar…yeah, i know that’s tough, but the yankees supposedly have the most robust scouting effort in mlb…so, where’s the beef? [hold the colon jokes please] …stocking the team with overpaid all stars and former all stars isn’t a bad approach, i just don’t like it as the default philosophy…
well, then it was a vibe…either way, i’m right… ;) there was a reason the yanks had a ceiling on the trade, and to suggest they didn’t “pony up”, ignores the possibility that seattle was trying to extort more from the yankees, and that the yankees had some prior knowledge of lee’s lack of desire to play in ny…
To me all it means is that the Yankees judged the price to be too high. That’s it. They wanted Lee, but wouldn’t pay out what the trading partner wanted. Or the trading partner didn’t want what the Yankees had. I think that’s as far as it goes – all the stuff about bait and switch isn’t really pertinent, except that it changes the chips involved. Ego might be a factor, but if I am a Sox fan or Yankees fan I don’t want my GM’s ego involved if at all possible.
And I think that’s as far as it goes with most teams with smart front offices – they go only so far, and then, maybe, a little farther. And that’s that.
I’m with SF on Salty. I’m generally optimistic about him, though some of that has eroded (probably unjustly, given the sample size) with the early season struggles, though not enough to keep from being frustrated that Terry Francona has started playing the corpse of Jason Varitek more often at the expense of a platoon split that should work out over time.
As I see it, there are three potential pitfalls for Jarrod Saltalamacchia that would make him a failure at catcher:
1. He fails to hit. This is probably the least important, given the leaguewide dearth of solid offensive catchers. And if he excells in the other two areas, this becomes even less important.
So far, it’s way too early to tell. Like the rest of the club, he struggled early. In more limited playing time, his bat — like everyone else’s — has warmed up.
2. He fails to play good defense. This is the most important, and I’d say it’s too soon to tell on this one, too. He’s gotten credit for six caught stealings in 23 attempts, a 26 percent rate, which isn’t bad. He’s tied for second in caught stealings, but he’s also first in stolen bases allowed and passed balls, and caught stealing includes events we would more accurately consider a pitcher pickoff.
He’s looked bad on throws more recently, but I thought he looked pretty good early on. And let’s not forget that Victor Martinez was about as wretched as anyone could be to begin 2010, then improved considerably over the course of the season. In 2010, according to the BtBS catcher ratings, Martinez was near the bottom at -6 runs, and Saltalamacchia in extremely limited action was middle of the pack at +0.5 runs. Defensive metrics so far this year have Salty near the bottom, but the sample size makes them essentially worthless.
3. He can’t call a good game. I frankly don’t have any idea if this is even relevant. It’s not quantifiable, and all the talk about the Sox pitching great when Varitek is in the game and getting lit up with Salty behind the plate has been silenced by terrific starts from Jon Lester and John Lackey. Salty has gotten a lot of praise from both Varitek and the starters for his work ethic, his determination to learn and his game calling, so I don’t think this is a concern, never mind the fact that I’m inclined to say game calling is a vastly overrated skill that factors much less into a pitcher’s results than the pitcher’s own stuff and ability to harness it — and even luck.
At any rate, Salty can suck all season long, and this team should be able to withstand it. They’ve withstood a full season of catching awfulness in years past and made the playoffs (Varitek posted 0 WAR in 2008).
As for Martin maintaining “this kind of production,” I think everyone agrees that’s not going to happen. One out of every four fly balls he’s hit has gone over the fence. League average is between 7 and 8 percent, and his career average is lower than that. Regression there is inevitable, unless Martin is the new Jose Bautista. He’s also hitting far more fly balls than ground balls this year (he ususally hits more grounders), yet he’s maintaining the same BABIP that he’s had in previous years (fly balls have a lower BABIP than ground balls). Unless he starts hitting more ground balls, he’s likely to experience BABIP regression, too, and of course if he reverts to his career norms on GB//FB ratio, his BABIP may go up but the home runs will go down.
So regression on both those fronts is extremely likely to happen, which isn’t to say Martin isn’t a good pickup. Just that this level of production looks to be unsustainable over the course of a season.
the point though is that lee’s value to the yankees had 2 components: 1. leasing him for the remainder of that particular season, and 2. the probability of resigning him longer term…if the asking price was “too much”, it’s not a stretch to imagine that the tipping point for cashman was the uncertainty about him resigning with the yanks, and determined the price to be too high for a mere rental…and it’s not a stretch to consider that trading partners and free agents know that they can extort more out of teams that are desperate to win…mostly that describes the yankees, but we can toss the sox and mets and maybe the angels into that mix…desperation makes you do stupid things, so we have our fair share of bad signings, and sometimes bad trades…cashman’s smart enough to know that there weren’t going to be any bargains out there, so he experimented with some retreads…you know, the old poop sticking to the wall strategy…and that’s even more true now, if hughes’ troubles are long term…but, the bottom line is that it is now apparent that lee never had any intention of signing with the yanks, and it is not far-fetched to think that cashman’s gut told him that as he was negotiating the trade with the mariners…maybe lee suffers from schilling syndrome: i’ll never play for those damned yankees…i’d rather beat ’em
“this level of production looks to be unsustainable over the course of a season”.
Agreed. Of course, if he “reverts” to his 2007 season numbers I’ll be thrilled, especially given what the alternatives available to the Yanks were in the pre-season.
And I don’t think there is any reason to think he cannot replicate 2007 or even improve upon it. He is still in the prime of his career age-wise and has the limited pressure of hitting 7,8, or 9 in a stacked line-up. But yeah, a 1.000+OPS is not what I’ve predicting here…
“At any rate, Salty can suck all season long, and this team should be able to withstand it. They’ve withstood a full season of catching awfulness in years past and made the playoffs (Varitek posted 0 WAR in 2008).”
I don’t think anyone is saying that’s not the case. Are they? I know I am not. Point being why should they have to “withstand it?” Varitek in 2008 was because he was already under contract. They had a chance to sign a guy that would have improved their catching situation. They could have had their cake and eat it too. If they truly loved Salty’s promise so much a half, full, partial season in AAA wouldn’t have killed him. Then if Old Man Martin broke down, Salty is ready to step in. You just bought a 2012 Lamborghini, tricked out…rims, system, tints…everything is great except the radio only plays Michael Bolton…Now you can turn the radio off and ignore it, but why should you have to?
Martin will regress offensively, that’s a sure thing. His defense and athleticism won’t. Nor should his OBP and CT%. He’s not Johnny Bench but he’s a welcome addition on our team for sure.
In the end it seems like most of us are of the same mind about the Martin situation as it is now, while we may differ about the transpiration of events.
For me, it shows very well why I am not a GM: I am neither bothered by Saltalamacchia’s performance to date nor was I too exercised when the Sox failed to sign Martin.
I still think there are numerous unknowns here, and there is enough variance in the opinions of scouts, executives, and doctors to make everything all kind of murky. We do know a few things – the Sox made Martin an offer. The Yankees made Martin an acceptable offer. We don’t know what the Sox would have had to do to turn their offer into an acceptable one, but logic tells us it would have had to be for more money than their first offer, and clearly more money than they were comfortable offering. And maybe more money than the offer from the Yankees, but who knows.
But they made an offer and stuck by it. Whether that is because they have misjudged Salty’s potential and got fooled, or their doctors are too conservative (or mistaken) in their opinion of Martin’s health, I just don’t know. I guess I don’t share John’s “how could they NOT have signed Martin” attitude, while I understand why he thinks that.
Now I know what was behind the Salty move. Sox fans just love Michael Bolton.
They celebrate the man’s entire catalogue.
In all seriousness, I am with SF on this one in terms of not knowing enough about what really happened here to make a strong judgment. Did the Sox not give an extra few dollars that would have landed Martin? Was he already determined to go to NY all things being equal? Did the Sox really turn him off by indicating he might have to play for his future more than the Yanks did (on this one, since it is what Martin himself indicated, I do think it’s entirely likely that the Sox said – we’ll want Tek to play some too while the Yanks might have said if you come here Posada is out – it’s you and possibly a young catcher who we’ll ask you to mentor)? Point being, I’m not sure if it really was only an extra 50 yards in a marathon that the Sox had already run – or the radio on the Lamborghini, or any of the other metaphors. If so, then I tend to agree with you John – why wouldn’t you close that gap? But I just don’t think anyone knows what that gap really was, which is I think what SF was saying in his first comment on this thread (@ 9:30am).
You just bought a 2012 Lamborghini, tricked out…rims, system, tints…everything is great except the radio only plays Michael Bolton…Now you can turn the radio off and ignore it, but why should you have to?
Isn’t the analogy more like you bought the Lambo and you can also spend an extra few thousand to have a copy of Van Halen I loaded on the MP3 player, or stick with the base sticker price and get a copy of the new Guns’n’Roses uploaded (and unlistened to) – it may very well suck but there’s still a small chance it is bound for something slightly better than suck?
Are you actually saying GnR sucked or am I misunderstanding you? I believe I am lost in metaphors right now. But for the record, if you are saying that, then we need to talk…
I am saying that the NEW GnR (not vintage GnR) album is Saltalamacchia. It’s probably not very good – no Slash, just Axl the auteur (and a botoxed, old Axl at that), he’s like 50 years old, and everything tells us that it’s probably nothing like what we hope it will be.
But there’s still a chance that the album does something good – it is, after all,
Axl Rosea touted catching prospect.Ahhh. Got it. Thanks for clarifying. I missed “the new” in your initial comment. Though I think conferring on Salty the glorious albeit brief past that Axl Rose had is generous, I get the analogy now…
And yes, there is still hope…though when he stoops to becoming a judge on American Idol then we’ll know he’s truly done.
Sorry, the GnR analogy just doesn’t work. Signing Nomar right now would be more analagous to picking up the new GnR because both were actually great at one point and they are now at that point where they’ll never be great again. I mean did you listen to any of the recent GnR?
Salty is more like an opening act you see at a hipster show. They’re great for their short set. You look them up, like a few of the songs a lot, are sort of blah about the others. You wait patiently for another album to come out and are still waiting. In this way, Salty is like an indie group with the name The Salty Private Eyes that I once maybe never saw at Wesleyan’s Eclectic House in 1998.
Wait, what’s the difference between the opening act and the main act at said hipster show, Nick?
The main act was a punk group from Boston called “Sweat Pants Boner”. They’re more like an established mediocrity–a Melky Cabrera if you will.