The Mariners are in agreement with outfielder Leonys Martín on a minor league contract, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The Wasserman client will be in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee.
It’s the second Seattle stint for Martín, who spent parts of the 2016-17 seasons in the Pacific Northwest. The former campaign was one of the best of his career, as he stole 24 bases while hitting .247/.306/.378 across 143 games. Statcast’s Outs Above Average suggested he played Gold Glove caliber defense in center field, his calling card throughout his early run in the big leagues. Martín had previously spent three years as the primary center fielder for the Rangers, where his glove represented his best asset.
The lefty-hitting Martín never made much of an offensive impact, as low walk rates and a lack of power reduced his overall upside at the plate. He posted below-average hitting numbers throughout his career and carries a .244/.301/.367 line in just under 2800 trips to the dish. When he reached base, Martín rated as a plus baserunner. He twice topped 30 steals in a season and has taken 126 bags over parts of nine years.
Martín hasn’t played in the big leagues since struggling to a .199/.276/.343 showing in 65 games for the 2019 Indians. He went to Japan midway through that season, signing on with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball. The Cuban outfielder has spent the last three and a half years there, combining for a .220/.350/.461 line with 75 homers, an excellent 13.7% walk percentage but a lofty 25.3% strikeout rate over 1441 plate appearances.
After putting up an OPS north of .830 in each of his first three seasons with the Marines, Martín had a disappointing year in 2022. He’s coming off a .163/.293/.317 showing in 68 games. That marked a disappointing end to what had been a generally successful tenure in Japan.
Martín returns to the affiliated ranks in hopes of an MLB comeback. He’ll be 35 next month and presumably isn’t the excellent runner or defender he was at his peak. The M’s will give him a look as a depth outfielder to see if he’s still capable of playing solid defense up the middle. Julio Rodríguez obviously has the position locked down. Sam Haggerty, Jarred Kelenic and Taylor Trammell can each cover center but are better suited for corner outfield work. Well-regarded prospect Cade Marlowe joins them on the 40-man roster and has yet to make his major league debut. It’s hard to envision Martín cracking the roster out of camp but he’d bring 17 years of professional experience to Triple-A Tacoma if he starts the season in the minors.
That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Good for him.
Only reason I recognized the name was from all the times I took this guy in the show
Well, of course I know him. He’s me!
Wow, he still playing!??! Guess he’s still at it!
Nice! Wow.
“There’s a name I haven’t heard in many moons.”
Feel free to join my league fantasy.espn.com/baseball/league/join?leagueId=205…
Yep. Just checked the calendar and it’s not 2016…
For some players you have to think long and really hard, before it dawns on you ” oh, he did play for the Mariners “.
I remember him but this happens to me all the time with people who played in their minor league system at some point and with relievers in particular who only played in the bigs for them for a partial season. I know the name and remember at some time in the distant past they played in the Mariners system.l and 99% of the time they did.
Wily Mo Peña not answer the phone?
I remember him back when he played for Texas. Here’s a guy who can’t get enough of baseball still able to hang on the fringes. Rainers to the playoffs.
This is not even funny.
I remember when he was on the Tigers, he fouled a ball off of his groin and went down in an extreme amount of pain, only to homer the very next pitch. Legend.
If you had asked me what happened to him, I would have guessed he never recovered from his near death experience. Remember, he had a good season with the Tigers and was traded to the Indians, but got deathly sick shortly thereafter. Glad to see he’s getting another shot.
I forgot about that. Super scary. If some of his tools are still there maybe he can come back and be useful again. After dealing with something like that, I have to root for him to find even a little success before he retires.
His numbers in Japan weren’t horrible but probably not mlb caliber except maybe as a replacement level sub. If he can still play the OF without being a disaster he might still be useful though. At 34 that’s a stretch but not unheard of. Weirder things have happened.
I love how the description of a 25% strikeout rate changes with each article. “Lofty” for Martin. I’d have simply called it above average. If it was a power hitter, I’m sure it would have been “manageable.” Regardless of the type of hitter, all strikeouts have the same result.
The whole trade ended up being cursed for Cleveland. Martin looked like a perfect fit until that illness, which led to Jason Kipnis being a CF in the playoffs. They also got a prospect who threw 100 mph in Kyle Dowdy, who could never harness any sort of control but did end up making the majors with Texas as a Rule V pick.
Happy to see Martin back in the majors. I still wonder what exactly happened between him and Lindor right before he got DFA’d.
He’s not in majors it’s a minors contract.Odds are you’ll never see him back in majors again.
From the Marines to the Mariners. Word salad.
The Mariners are taking a big step backwards with signing all these players who have no place on a contending teams roster.
You mean Tacoma will be taking a step backwards maybe? Because he won’t make the 26 man roster. Not with Julio, Teoscar, Kelenic, Trammell, Pollock, Moore and Haggerty all on the team and all can play outfield.