7:30pm: Martinez will receive $6.75MM this year and $11.75MM for the following campaign, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets.
7:07pm: The Tigers have reportedly bought out the remaining arbitration eligibility of outfielder J.D. Martinez. The RMG Baseball client is said to have a deal in place for two years and $18.5MM.
Martinez, 28, has long been said to be discussing a long-term pact with Detroit, but it appears that the sides have settled on a deal to avoid an arbitration hearing this year and lock in a salary for 2017 as well. As MLBTR’s Matt Swartz explained earlier this winter, Martinez had an interesting arbitration case. He projected at $7.8MM and filed at $8MM, with the team countering at $6MM.
Obviously, the two-year arrangement won’t buy up any free agent years. But it will get the breakout star a guaranteed contract for both of the next two seasons. And the Tigers could well stand to save some money. Martinez was projected at a $4.8MM raise from his 2015 salary, and anything approaching his numbers from last season would have set him up for yet more in his final year of arb eligibility.
It remains to be seen whether this contract will set the stage for future talks — or, instead, represent a compromise agreement that lines Martinez up for the open market. We’ve seen several recent examples of arb-only extensions for prominent players, in large part as a mechanism to help resolve the initial year’s arbitration disagreement. Lorenzo Cain and the Royals did the same back in January.
In several other instances, new deals were never reached. Players such as Todd Frazier (Reds), Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals) were either traded or allowed to reach free agency. While further negotiations are hardly out of the question in Martinez’s case, the salary agreement does remove one major motivator for further talks.
Martinez looks to be a bargain at that rate — as would be expected given the way the arb system works. He’s been nothing short of outstanding since coming to the Tigers as a minor league free agent before the 2014 campaign. Martinez owns a composite .296/.350/.543 slash and has hit 61 home runs over 1,137 plate appearances for Detroit. It’s fair to note, too, that Martinez received positive marks in right field last year from both UZR and DRS.
Robert Murray of Baseball Essential first noted “unconfirmed rumblings” of a two-year, $18.5MM deal on Twitter. Chris Cotillo of SB Nation confirmed the deal, years, and dollars (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Awesome for the Tigers. If Upton ops out after 2 years then it’s easy to pay him. Other contracts will be off the books too. If Upton stays could be interesting
Great for tigers. Might be pricey in 2 years but if Upton opts out and other contracts gone also should be easier
In Todd Frazier’s case, the extension he received from the Reds didn’t even buy out all of his remaining years of arbitration eligibilty. The extension ends following the upcoming season but he will still have one final year of arbitration eligibility in 2017 for his new team, the White Sox.
Not sure why the Tigers would make this deal. Martinez was going to make, at most, $8 million in 2016. That means this contract gives Martinez essentially a $10.5 million raise, which is far more than he likely would receive next year in arbitration. Makes no sense.
Nevermind, I clearly can’t add.
Because he’s earned it. Ya know some GMs actually have a heart?
Tigers did a great job here. Avila has liked locked in both his corner OFers for just two years at a reasonable cost. After that, the books clear big time.
Curious if Jeff or anyone else would venture a guess at what JD would have gotten next year in arbitration, assuming he stayed at his currently level of play.
Considering Price got almost $20MM, I figured perhaps $15-16MM. But did Price get 4 years of Arbitration?
I meant “likely locked”
I read where most “experts” saw JD getting approx. $12MM in ”17
Imagine if the Astros would’ve kept him. He’d probably be putting up 40 plus at Minute Maid.
Or still hitting .230.
That’s great for the Tigers nice job!!!!
The Tigers could have easily let Martinez go to his hearing this year, and then next year go through the same process. Instead they are extending out a solid 2-year deal, with a nice raise, for Martinez, and allowing him to breathe a little easier knowing he has that amount of money guarenteed. After all, freak injuries, or just injuries in general, do indeed happen at any point in time, and it was not 100% gaurenteed that Martinez would stay healthy for the 2016 season, produce, and ultimately get another significant bump in pay next year.
In going ahead and giving Martinez the gaurenteed money and extension, the Tigers are showing Martinez that they are definitely willing to negotiate with him and his agent, and they are also showing that they will happily reward their players with some financial security, even when it is absolutely not necessary.
This was a smart move by the Tigers, because I’m sure Martinez, and his agent, recognize the generosity of the Tigers and it will not be forgotten once his new extension runs out. I believe the Tigers have set themselves up to truly get the first crack at Martinez, and I believe Martinez will give the Tigers every opportunity to re-sign him before and even after he hits free agency.
The Tigers’ history under Mr. Illitch spoke volumes before this agreement.
As Jim Harbaugh would say in Hill Auditorium:
“Who has better corner outfielders than us? NOBODY!”