The Padres announced this evening they’ve signed right-hander Nick Martínez. They agreed to terms with the former NPB starter in the waning hours before the lockout, but the deal wasn’t finalized before the work stoppage.
Martínez’s deal was originally reported as a four-year, $20MM guarantee that included opt-outs after each of the first two seasons. However, the team announced the agreement as a one-year contract with successive player options for 2023, 2024 and 2025 — indicating he can opt-out after any of the first three years. Meanwhile, Dennis Lin of the Athletic reports (on Twitter) that he’s actually guaranteed $25.5MM.
That breaks down as a $2MM signing bonus and a $4MM salary this year followed by successive $6.5MM player options, each of which include buyouts worth $1.5MM. Were Martínez to opt out next winter, he’d be leaving $18MM over three years on the table. For every season in which he starts 20 games, the following year’s salary escalates by $1MM.
Martínez commanding such a strong deal registered as a surprise. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is familiar with him from their days together with the Rangers organization, however, and the Fordham product is coming off an excellent run in Japan. Over three seasons in NPB split between the Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Martínez pitched to a 3.02 ERA.
To clear space on the 40-man roster, San Diego placed left-hander Adrian Morejón on the 60-day injured list. Morejón underwent Tommy John surgery last April and will miss at least the first two months of this season as he continues his recovery.
Lol padres
Opt outs after every year? Ok. Lol
someone please check on AJ i think he might’ve fallen asleep for the past week and i’m beginning to get worried.
hope he can play left and hit in the middle of the order
That’s all you bro. Glad the golf cart didn’t tip over on you the other day
The San Diego rotation is actually looking pretty strong and deep as of now. Their offense without Tatis Jr., however…
How does this work from a luxury tax standpoint? What is the AAV?
I think it’s either based off of guaranteed or the individual year + the buyout.
The CBT treats player options as “guaranteed” so it’s basically just the overall AAV when it’s a player option.
So $25.5M divided by 4 years means this deal counts as $6.375M against the tax each year.
What a joke. Preller is paying off old debts using Padres money.
Would rather they give him a little bit more money if it meant he couldn’t just peace the eff out of there if the contract was working out for SD.
I love it when Preller thinks of former Texas Rangers like restaurant closings and re-grand openings. I can hear him thinking, “you know…, that Martinez Baja Grill was below average but I’ve heard great things about the Martinez Sushi Buffet.”
I don’t get the Patriot Way of stocking non-New England NFL rosters and coaching staffs, because it always fails and usually spectacularly. But, at least a winning background is involved, so there is a basis. Debunked as it is..
But the Ranger Way?
It’s beyond the time to ask this question officially – what exactly is the basis for this Rasputin-like hold that AJ Preller has over Peter Seidler?
Watch him double his hr/9 back to 1.4 as an MLB starter, then he will be moved to bullpen. I honestly don’t see the upside to this contract.
Martinez has pitched well in Japan the past few seasons & pitched very well in the Olympics. He’s a different pitcher now than when he was first in the majors. I’m not saying he is suddenly going to be a top of the rotation arm, by Martinez can be a solid back end of the rotation piece
You don’t see the upside, because there isn’t one. If he pitches well, he’s gone. If he (predictably) struggles back in MLB, then you’re paying $6 mil a year for 4 years for nothing. It’s like they’ve learned nothing from the Hosmer contract. This is just a bad deal whichever way you cut it.
I hope this is Preller’s last year. He’s had long enough to do something with this team
Why isn’t he and Al Avila talking?
I’m done with this team as long as Preller is calling the baseball shots. His stupidity is mind-boggling.