Experienced right-handed player Nick Martínez According to a, accepts the Reds' qualified offer Report by Francys Romero. Martinez will remain with Cincinnati through the 2025 season on a one-year, $21.05 million contract.
The 34-year-old Martinez was a somewhat surprising recipient of the QO after a strong opening season with the Reds. The right-hander joined the club last winter with a two-year, $26 million guarantee after both he and the Padres gave up their concurrent options for the 2024 season, making him a free agent. The deal with Cincinnati proved to be something of a coup for the Reds, as Martinez posted an excellent 3.10 ERA and a FIP of .10 over 142 1/3 innings in a season in which he split his time between the starting rotation and the bullpen Scored 3.21.
While the right-hander posted absolutely dominant relief numbers with a 1.86 ERA in 53 1/3 frames out of the bullpen, his 3.84 ERA in 16 starts showed him to be a top rotation player. A closer look at Martinez's work this season shows that he had a lot of trouble getting out of the rotation early in the year, with a 5.46 ERA through the end of April. However, he finished the year on a dominant note after returning to the rotation in early August, posting a 2.42 ERA in 63 1/3 innings in 11 starts. This outstanding end-of-season performance could instill more confidence in Martinez's abilities as a rotation player heading into 2025, although it's worth noting his strikeout rate (22.5% vs. 19.1%) and his groundball rate (42.8% vs. 33.7%) both were better out of the bullpen than the rotation this year.
Of course, part of Martinez's value since returning to the MLB after a four-year stint in Japan (where he posted a 3.02 ERA in 378 1/3 NPB innings) has been his ability to move from the rotation to the plate as needed Bullpen to change his team. The right-hander has served as a swingman each of the past three seasons, logging 184 innings in 35 starts in the rotation and 175 innings in 117 appearances. Following a season that saw Hunter Greene, Nick LodoloAnd Andrew Abbott Despite everyone missing time due to injury, it's easy to imagine the Reds placing additional emphasis on Martinez's flexibility as they try to figure out a plan for their young rotation arm. This is especially valuable considering top prospects are available Rhett Lowderwho looked dominant when called up at the end of the season but may not be ready to jump straight into a top league season in 2025.
That combination of power and versatility convinced the Reds to extend Martinez's QO, although $21.05 million represents a raise of more than $7 million over his 2024 salary. The pages allegedly In the days leading up to the QO deadline earlier this month, they discussed a multi-year extension but ultimately were unable to reach an agreement. Given Martinez's age, it's likely that his earning power on the open market would be limited by a multi-year pact. This reality certainly made accepting the QO an attractive option for Martinez, and that's exactly what MLBTR predicted in our annual report List of the 50 Best MLB Free Agents.
While adding Martinez to the club's 2025 pitching staff will certainly improve the team, this hefty raise could create some complications for the club's budget. RosterResource estimates the club's current payroll for 2025 to be just under $81 million. While the Reds are committed to a payroll “at or above” their 2024 levels, the club spent just $100 million on payroll last year, and the addition of Martinez's salary of $21.05 million Dollars would bring the Reds to $102 million, just above that mark. Potential non-tender candidates like Santiago Espinal And Jake Fraley could help the club save a few million dollars here and there, but it seems like Cincinnati will have to exceed its 2024 payroll by a significant amount to make any further additions this winter.
As for the free agent market as a whole, even without Martinez off the board, the market this winter remains full of interesting mid-to-late rotation options. Yusei Kikuchi, Nathan EovaldiAnd Nick Pivetta are among the middle rotation departments expected to seek multi-year deals in free agency this winter, while re-promotion candidates like it Walker Buhler And Max Scherzer could offer significant upside as they look to re-establish themselves with high AAV, one-year deals similar to Martinez's.
