The Cincinnati Reds have extended a qualifying offer to right-handed pitcher Nick Martinez. He had opted out of his contract following the 2024 season and became a free agent.
For this year, the qualifying offer is a 1-year deal for $21,050,000. Martinez was one of 13 players around the league to receive one. Players have until 4pm ET on November 19th to make their decision to accept or decline the qualifying offer.
If Martinez declines the offer and signs elsewhere, how much he signs for will determine what kind of compensation the Reds would get. If he signs for more than $50,000,000 then Cincinnati would get a draft pick after the 1st round of the 2025 draft. In the case where he signs for less than $50,000,000 then the Reds would get a draft pick after the competitive balance round B (which is after the 2nd round but before the 3rd round).
Nick Martinez is coming off of the best year of his career. He posted a career best 3.10 ERA while also throwing a career high 142.1 innings. While with the Reds he spent time in both the bullpen and the rotation. He made 16 starts and another 26 relief appearances – filling in wherever he was asked to. While control had never been an issue for Martinez, his 1.1 walks per 9-innings pitched was easily the best rate he’d ever had and the second best in baseball among pitchers with at least 140 innings pitched.
At 34-years-old, this is likely the last time that he will have to sign a multi-year contract with a good yearly salary to go with it. It seems likely that he would turn down the qualifying offer as he’s likely to get more than $21,050,000 guaranteed from someone else over the length of whatever deal he would be presented with.
Roster Cleanup
Also announced this evening by the Reds is that they had “activated” Graham Ashcraft, Stuart Fairchild, and Brandon Williamson from the 60-day injured list. Once the offseason truly gets underway the 60-man injured list ceases to exist and teams must activate players who were on it and they once again count towards the 40-man roster. With these moves now made, Cincinnati’s 40-man roster is at 36 players.
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