It is reported that Misebe agrees with it Nick Martinez one year, $13MM contract. The signing, pending a physical, includes a similar option for the 2027 season. Those are never used, so that the offer is there to delay the payment of part of the guarantee until the end of the season in the form of a purchase. Tampa Bay will need to clear a 40-man roster spot once the signing is completed. Martinez is a client of Boras Corporation.
Martinez is the second free agent swingman the Rays have added this offseason. They signed a lefty Steven Matz to a two-year, $15MM deal in the Winter Meetings. Matz was expected to win the job after the game. Tampa Bay then traded Shane Baz for the Orioles, it left another rotation spot available.
Martinez, 35, enters camp as the favorite to serve as Kevin Cash’s fifth baseman. He came and sat behind Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane McClanahan and Matz on the depth chart. That can be a push Ian Seymour again Joe Boyle back to Triple-A Durham while retaining opt-outs Yoendrys Gómez in the long supporting role it is best suited for. They’ll need more than five starters to get through the season given the injury history of Rasmussen and McClanahan — the latter haven’t thrown an MLB pitch since August 2023 and will be in some type of innings.
Matz and Martinez each have enough experience to work out of the bullpen. Either way it could change to relief if Seymour or the high hopes Brody Hopkins force them into the rotation. Flexibility has been a big selling point for Martinez, in particular. He can start, work multiple innings out of the bullpen, or pitch in short relief in high-profile situations as needed.
Martinez found a solid second act in his 30s after spending four seasons in Japan. This will be his fifth season since returning to MLB through a deal with the Padres through the 2021-22 offseason. He posted an earned run average below 4.00 in each of his first three years, working mostly out of the bullpen. Martinez spent the first two seasons in San Diego before signing a two-year free agent contract with Cincinnati. He had the best year of his career in 2024, pitching 142 1/3 innings of 3.10 ERA ball while making 16 of 42 starts.
The Righties opened the exit but returned to Cincinnati after the Reds surprisingly extended the qualifying offer to $21.05MM. That is probably the move that the Reds wanted to bring back. Martinez totaled a career-high 165 2/3 innings while starting 26 of 40 games, but his production was spotty. He allowed 4.45 runs per nine innings while striking out 17% of opposing batters, his lowest strikeout rate since returning from Japan.
Although Martinez hasn’t had big swings and misses, his strikeout rates from 2022-24 are around league average. He had a very difficult time getting hitters to throw pitches last year. His stuff wasn’t much different than it used to be, yet Martinez’s greatest strength was his ability to command a six-layer mix. He uses each of his cutter, four-seam, sinker, changeup, curveball and slider at least 10% of the time. He can attack the strike zone with any of those offerings, but switching is the only plus in his arsenal.
The varied repertoire allowed Martinez to avoid any sort of group split. He hasn’t been great at third downs but should be a capable five-inning starter. Martinez gets a good number of weak fly balls, an approach that would play better at Tropicana Field than at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. He did a solid job avoiding the longball in general, but his two worst months last season (June and August) were largely driven by home run spikes.
RosterResource estimated the Rays’ payroll at around $79MM before the signing. It’s not clear yet how much will be paid in salary versus the buyout option, but the $13MM guarantee will likely make Martinez their highest paid player in 2026. It will push their payroll to a low of $90MM after opening the ’25 season just north of $79MM.
Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported Martinez and the Rays had a deal. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Times reported that it was one year with the same option. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com had a $13MM guarantee. Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images.
