Veteran right-hander Nick Martinez is accepting the Qualifying Supply from the Reds, in response to a report from Francys Romero. Martinez will stay with Cincinnati for the 2025 season on a one-year, $21.05MM deal.
Martinez, 34, was a considerably stunning recipient of the QO after a powerful inaugural season with the Reds. The correct-hander joined the membership on a two-year, $26MM assure final winter after each he and the Padres opted out of their simultaneous choices for the 2024 marketing campaign, making him a free agent. The cope with Cincinnati proved to be one thing of a coup for the Reds, as Martinez turned in a wonderful 3.10 ERA and three.21 FIP over 142 1/3 innings of labor in a season that noticed him break up his time between the beginning rotation and the bullpen.
Whereas the righty posted completely dominant numbers in aid, sporting a 1.86 ERA in 53 1/3 frames out of the bullpen, his 3.84 ERA throughout 16 begins noticed him flash the power to be a top quality rotation piece. A more in-depth have a look at Martinez’s work this season reveals that he struggled badly out of the rotation early within the yr, with a 5.46 ERA via the tip of April. He ended the yr on a dominant observe after returning to the rotation in early August, nonetheless, with a 2.42 ERA in 63 1/3 innings throughout 11 begins down the stretch. That glorious late-season efficiency may encourage extra confidence in Martinez’s skills as a rotation piece looking forward to 2025, though it’s price noting that his strikeout price (22.5% vs 19.1%) and groundball price (42.8% vs 33.7%) had been each higher out of the bullpen than the rotation this yr.
After all, a part of Martinez’s worth since returning to MLB following a four-year sojourn to Japan (the place he posted a 3.02 ERA in 378 1/3 NPB innings) is his potential to shift from the rotation to the bullpen based mostly on the wants of his workforce. The correct-hander has labored as a swingman in every of the final three seasons, logging 184 innings throughout 35 begins within the rotation and and 175 innings over 117 aid outings. On the heels of a season that noticed Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbot all miss time on account of damage, it’s straightforward to think about the Reds putting extra worth on Martinez’s flexibility as they try to map out a plan for his or her younger rotation arms. That’s particularly invaluable given the presence of high prospect Rhett Lowder, who regarded dominant in a late-season call-up however will not be prepared to leap straight right into a wire-to-wire large league season in 2025.
That mixture of manufacturing and flexibility satisfied the Reds to increase Martinez the QO, despite the fact that $21.05MM constitutes a elevate of greater than $7MM over his 2024 wage. The edges reportedly mentioned a multi-year extension within the days main as much as the QO deadline earlier this month, however didn’t finally come collectively on a deal. Given Martinez’s age, it’s doubtless that his incomes energy on the open market could be tamped down in any multi-year pact. That actuality absolutely made accepting the QO a sexy possibility for Martinez, and that’s precisely what MLBTR predicted he would do in our annual High 50 MLB Free Brokers checklist.
Extra to return…
