NEW YORK - Dodgers catcher Russell Martin said before Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium that his stance hasn't changed on signing a long-term contract that essentially would allow the club to buy him out of arbitration.

The Dodgers have made overtures to Martin in the past about locking him up for several years, but he has thus far rejected them on the advice of Bob Garber, his Chicago-based agent. "I don't really even worry about stuff like that," Martin said. "It's not my concern. That's (the agent's) job."

Martin is making $500,000 this season, but his salary figures to jump considerably next year if he qualifies for first-year arbitration eligibility after this season. Normally, that comes after a player completes three full seasons of major-league service time, but the top 17 percent of players with two-plus years' service time also qualify as "Super Two" players. Martin is a two-time All-Star who will have 2 years, 150 days' service time this fall.

There has been a recent trend around baseball of teams signing their most promising young players to long-term deals before they reach arbitration eligibility. One of Martin's National League teammates, Milwaukee left fielder and Granada Hills High School graduate Ryan Braun, signed an eight-year, $45 million contract earlier this season, with the deal being announced before the finale of a three-game series between the Brewers and Dodgers on May15 at Miller Park.

That contract bought out Braun through three and possibly four years of arbitration - it increases to $51 million if he becomes a Super Two player after next season - and his first two winters of free-agent eligibility. "There were so many things that factored into making that decision, and it obviously wasn't an easy decision to make," Braun said. "Ultimately, what it came down to was securing my future financially. It just takes away a lot of the day-to-day stress and pressure. I don't think you play this game worrying that you're going to get hurt, but the contract takes that (concern) away completely."

But with young star players such as Martin and Braun, the advantage to such a contract lies with the club, which is securing a player's services at a much lower cost than if he were to wait for free agency following his sixth season to sign a long-term deal. "Everybody has their different reasons," Martin said. "Some of it is kind of like insurance in case something happens, because you never know what is going to happen. I could see how that could factor into it. But everybody is different."

Braun said his agent, Nez Balelo, crunched enough numbers to show him what he potentially could have made over the life of this contract if he had chosen not to sign it.

"But the question I ultimately asked myself was, `What can't I buy with that amount of money?"' Braun said.