The Cardinals and right-hander Carlos Martinez have mutual interest in a contract extension, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The two sides plan to discuss a deal in the coming months and could reach an agreement by next season, per Goold, who notes that the Cardinals have previously signed the likes of Adam Wainwright, Matt Carpenter, Yadier Molina and Kolten Wong to extensions during spring training.
Martinez is currently on track to make his first trip through arbitration during the offseason, which means the Cardinals’ days of paying him a relative pittance are over. As a result, there’s less incentive for him to sign a team-friendly extension. He’ll also be eligible for arbitration after the next two seasons and is scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the 2019 campaign.A long-term deal would require the Cardinals to buy out free agent years for Martinez, thereby increasing his price tag.
The Cardinals signed Martinez as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2010, and after spending a couple seasons as primarily a reliever in the majors, the 25-year-old served as a front-line starter over the past two campaigns. Martinez logged a 3.04 ERA, 8.02 K/9, 3.23 BB/9 and 56.4 percent ground-ball rate over a career-high 195 1/3 innings in 2016, and he was similarly effective last year. In 2015, his first season as a full-time starter, Martinez earned an All-Star nod and posted a 3.01 ERA and 54.5 percent ground rate to complement a 9.22 K/9 and 3.13 BB/9 in 179 2/3 frames. Wins also matter to arbitrators and agents, and Martinez has racked up 30 victories against just 16 losses since last season.
Among starters who have signed extensions over the past year-plus, the Indians’ Corey Kluber is a potential comparable for Martinez solely in terms of production. Kluber was entering his age-29 season at the time (April 2015) and still hadn’t reached arbitration eligibility, but his output from 2013-14 was similar to Martinez’s from 2015-16. In the two years before his extension, Kluber went 29-14 with a 2.98 ERA and 9.52 K/9 against 1.97 BB/9 over 383 innings. That led to a five-year extension worth $38.5MM in guarantees. As a younger starter who’s closer to free agency than Kluber was, Martinez could certainly have a case for a richer deal.
He is Cards number one starter. Deserves an extension.
Absolutely he should be extended. He was their best pitcher in 2016, and is possibly the future ace of this staff.
Martinez is current Ace of staff… But likely won’t hold it for long when Reyes take another step forward. love CMart but Reyes has a very good chance to be special.
They should do an extension.. idk what numbers would look like.. Fair for both sides is best.
Well I said it that way cuz they consider Waino their “ace” but yes Martinez is the ace
Yes please. Lock up the guy who is the ace of the rotation. Or at least buy out his arb years. The future of the rotation depends on C Mart’s continued development (and hopefully good health) along with Reyes’ refinement of his control.
Unfortunately I think Wacha’s shoulder injury is going to limit his career, as he has not looked nearly as good as he did prior to that. C-Mart and Reyes with a combination of Waino/Leake/Lynn/Weaver can help keep this team in contention for the next several years.
If they’re not going to get control of a couple of his free agent seasons, there’s no reason to extend him.
There absolutely is a reason to “at least” buy out his arb years. It would lock in his salary over that time, instead of having it increase year-over-year. I would much prefer a longer extension, but that may not be on the table. That is why I said “at least buy out his arb years.”
It will still increase each year, it will just be a set amount. Look at Lance Lynn’s contract. It cost them money in the end. For a team that has plenty of cash to spend, not getting any extra year of control in an extension is pointless.
Martinez will get way more than Kluber received! Cardinals have to pay him more than Leake got! I’m thinking 5-7 years with 15-20 mill a year on average!
Nope. Arb years just aren’t worth that much.
Yes! For a ACE stud it is! Martinez would be stupid to take less especially if hes going to get less than Leake! Should & will be highest paid pitcher on the team!
The thing is, Leake was an FA, C-Mart isn’t. The cards had to bid for leake, where Martinez is just entering arbitration. It costs more to buy a free agent than an arbitration player.
RoadRunner1938! Certainly loves their exclamation points! Nothing like using them to get your message across!
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