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Jose Martinez

Mets Sign Jose Martinez

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2:40pm: The Mets have announced the signing. A corresponding 40-man roster move wasn’t necessary, as the Mets already had multiple open spaces.

1:46pm: The Mets have agreed to a one-year, split contract with free agent outfielder/first baseman Jose Martinez, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link). If he makes the Major League roster, he’ll receive a $1MM salary with up to $500K available in additional incentives. In the minors, he’ll earn at a $225K clip, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link). Martinez is represented by Octagon.

The 2020 season was a forgettable one for Martinez, who posted an awful .182/.265/.295 slash in 98 plate appearances between the Rays and the Cubs. That line included a particularly woeful stretch following a trade from Tampa to Chicago that saw him go hitless in 22 plate appearances as a Cub.

Prior to the 2020 season, however, Martinez was a highly productive part-time player with the Cardinals. From 2017-19, Martinez batted a combined .296/.361/.458 with 41 homers, 56 doubles and three triples in 1270 trips to the plate. His right-handed bat was a menace to left-handed pitching, in particular; Martinez owned southpaws with a .323/.401/.570 slash in that time.

Martinez still has a pair of minor league options remaining, so he doesn’t necessarily need to make the Opening Day roster out of Spring Training. He finished up the 2020 season with just over four years of service time, so he’s controllable through the 2022 season at present, although if he spends even three or four weeks in the minors, his path to free agency would be pushed back a year.

Of course, Martinez first needs to make the big league roster and reestablish himself as a credible big league hitter before that’s even a consideration. A rebound with the bat is of particular importance for the 28-year-old, as he doesn’t bring any real defensive value to the table. Martinez has ample experience in both outfield corners and at first base, but he rates as a well below-average defender at all three positions.

National League Non-Tenders

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With revenue losses expected to result in reduced payrolls around baseball, a larger number of players than usual are expected to be let go by their current teams by tonight’s 7pm CT non-tender deadline.  Some of these players could end up re-signing with their teams for salaries below what they were projected (by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) to earn through the arbitration process, or teams could end up simply opting to explore other options…with many of those options arriving on the market through this same non-tender process.

You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through the list of National League players who have been let go in this post.

Earlier Non-Tenders

  • The Cardinals non-tendered righty John Brebbia and outfielder Rangel Ravelo, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Brebbia had played a significant role in the St. Louis pen for his first three MLB campaigns but is still recovering from mid-2020 Tommy John surgery.
  • Right-handed reliever Clay Holmes has been non-tendered by the Pirates, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was among those to cover on Twitter. The 27-year-old hurler made it into just one MLB contest in 2020 owing to a forearm injury.
  • The Marlins have decided not to tender a contract to righty Ryne Stanek, Craig Mish of Sports Grid first tweeted. He joins fellow right-hander Jose Urena in departing via non-tender. (Urena had already been designated for assignment.) Stanek, 29, struggled with the free pass in limited action this year but has been a quality, high-strikeout arm in the past and could be an interesting name to watch on the open market.
  • In addition to Shreve, the Mets announced the non-tenders of righties Ariel Jurado, Paul Sewald, and Nick Tropeano.
  • The Mets will not tender a contract to left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. Shreve performed reasonably well in 2020, logging a 3.96 ERA/3.99 FIP with 12.24 K/9 and 4.32 BB/9 in 25 innings, but the Mets will nonetheless move on instead of paying him around $1MM in arbitration.
  • The Padres won’t tender a contract to infielder Greg Garcia, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). Garcia, 31, posted a woeful .200/.279/.250 batting line in 2020, albeit in a tiny sample of 71 plate appearances. In parts of two seasons with the Friars, he slashed .240/.351/.337, but the team opted not to give him a raise on last year’s $1.5MM salary.
  • The Reds have non-tendered outfielder Brian Goodwin, he announced on Twitter (hat tip to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). Goodwin, whom the Reds acquired from the Angels over the summer, slashed .215/.299/.417 with six home runs and five stolen bases over 164 plate appearances between the teams in 2020. He was due to earn a projected $2.7MM to $3.6MM in arbitration.
  • The Cubs have told Jose Martinez he isn’t being tendered a contract, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers reports (Twitter link).  Acquired from the Rays in a deadline deal, Martinez went hitless over 22 plate appearances with Chicago, only reaching base once on a walk.  The 32-year-old mashed for the Cardinals from 2016-18, but delivered closer to league-average production in 2019 with St. Louis and with the Rays last season prior to the trade.

Rays, Cubs Complete Jose Martinez Trade

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The Rays and Cubs have completed their Aug. 30 Jose Martinez trade, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The Rays acquired cash rather than a player to be named later to round out the deal. The initial trade was announced as Martinez to the Cubs in exchange for minor league infielder Pedro Martinez and a PTBNL or cash.

The trade didn’t pan out as the Cubs had hoped, as Martinez appeared in 10 games for them and went 0-for-21 with a walk. A longtime division rival with the Cardinals, the 32-year-old Martinez struggled immensely in 2020, hitting just .182/.265/.295 in a combined 98 plate appearances between the two teams. The Cubs still control him through 2022 via arbitration, although his 2020 struggles make him a clear non-tender candidate.

As for the Rays, they picked up the younger, 19-year-old Martinez who now ranks as their No. 21 prospect at MLB.com and Baseball America as well as their No. 31 prospect at FanGraphs. The lack of a minor league season makes it impossible to really evaluate the younger Martinez’s 2020 season. That said, he posted a .311/.388/.437 slash through 233 plate appearances back in 2019 and adds some depth to the lower levels of one of MLB’s best farms.

Looking Back At The Randy Arozarena Trade

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For starters, yes, it’s now officially “The Randy Arozarena Trade.”

Arozarena has been the star of the Rays’ postseason run, hitting an incredible .382/.433/.855 with seven home runs over 60 plate appearances in these playoffs.  The 25-year-old outfielder’s performance earned him ALCS MVP honors, making him the first rookie position player in baseball history to ever be named MVP of a league championship series or World Series.

It’s pretty on-brand for the Rays’ style of roster-building that their October hero is someone a lot of fans probably had never heard of as recently as September.  For a team that is rightly credited for a strong minor league system, it’s a little surprising that so few members of Tampa Bay’s World Series roster are actually homegrown players — only seven of the 28 players came up entirely through the Rays’ pipeline, with the other 21 all acquired via signings or trades.

Case in point, Arozarena.  Back in January, the Rays and Cardinals completed a multi-player deal that, at the time, was best known as “the Jose Martinez trade” or even “the Matthew Liberatore trade.”  Tampa Bay sent top pitching prospect Liberatore, catching prospect Edgardo Rodriguez, and their draft pick in Competitive Balance Round B (which ended up 63rd overall) to St. Louis in exchange for Martinez, the Cards’ pick in Competitive Balance Round A (or the 37th overall pick) and a certain future ALCS MVP.

At the time, Martinez was easily the best-known quantity, having hit .298/.363/.458 with 41 homers over 1288 PA for the Cardinals in 2016-19.  If you had predicted in January that a player from this trade would help lead the Rays to the AL pennant, the assumption would have been that Martinez continued (or improved upon) the offensive production he delivered in St. Louis.  A move to the American League was long seen as a way to possibly fully unlock his potential, as the defensively-challenged Martinez would no longer have to worry about playing the field in a league with a designated hitter position.

As it turned out, Martinez didn’t even finish the season in Tampa.  After missing much of Summer Camp due to a positive COVID-19 test, Martinez hit .239/.329/.388 over 76 PA for the Rays and was traded to the Cubs in a deadline deal for two players to be named later.  Martinez then didn’t collect a single hit over 22 PA for Chicago, and now looks like he could be a non-tender candidate this winter.

It’s worth noting that Martinez didn’t hit as well in 2019 as he did in 2017-18, leading some Tampa fans to wonder why a 31-year-old DH type was the apparent headliner of a trade package for one of the Rays’ (and baseball’s) top prospects.  Liberatore was the 16th overall pick of the 2018 draft and a consensus top-65 prospect, and even accounting for the lost 2020 minor league season, there’s no reason to believe Liberatore couldn’t still become a quality MLB starter.  Liberatore could even factor into the Cardinals’ pitching plans for 2021, as president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Liberatore impressed the team while working out at the alternate training site this summer.

Arozarena was a well-regarded prospect in his own right, but hardly a top-100 type or even one of the top-tier names in the Cardinals’ system alone; MLB Pipeline ranked Arozarena as the tenth-best St. Louis minor leaguer at the time of the trade.  Since the Cards were already overloaded with outfield candidates, it was more than understandable that Mozeliak and company jumped to unload some of that surplus while bringing back a promising minor league arm.  Granted, St. Louis fans might not agree with this logic based on immediate returns, as several Cards outfielders (such as Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas, and even top prospect Dylan Carlson) badly struggled at the plate in 2020 while Arozarena thrived in Tampa Bay.

As valuable of an asset as Liberatore was and still is, however, the Rays felt okay with moving a piece of their future for the win-now addition of some outfield bats.  This is where the Rays’ outstanding player development system really comes into play — Tampa Bay is comfortable in taking the risk in trading such prospects because the front office has confidence they can always draft, acquire, and develop more good players to fill that void.

In a baseball world that holds top-100 prospects in higher regard than ever before, the Rays have dealt three such players (Liberatore, Jesus Sanchez, and Nick Solak) since July 2019, bringing back the likes of Arozarena, Nick Anderson, Peter Fairbanks, and Trevor Richards in return.  All are controllable young players in their own right, and all have been able to contribute at the big league level more immediately, with Arozarena, Anderson, and Fairbanks in particular all being major components of Tampa’s push to the World Series.

The Rays/Cardinals trade is also perhaps instructional in considering just how much teams value draft position.  The concept of trading draft picks is still unusual in baseball terms (the Competitive Balance Round selections are the only picks that can be traded), though fans of the NFL, NBA, or NHL are very familiar with how much teams in those sports often have to surrender in order to trade up in those respective drafts.  A 26-spot jump in the draft was a big leap upwards for the Rays, who used that 37th overall pick on Arizona State shortstop Alika Williams.  St. Louis, meanwhile, took Arkansas high school pitcher Tink Hence with the 63rd overall pick.

Perhaps in a decade’s time, we’ll look back on this deal as “The Alika Williams Trade” or “The Tink Hence Trade,” or even “The Edgardo Rodriguez Trade.”  Since the swap has already led to at least an AL pennant, the Rays likely won’t be too upset if Hence, Rodriguez, or Liberatore end up being staples of the Cardinals’ roster.  While fans take stock of which teams “win” or “lose” trades, most front offices hope all their deals are win-win moves — it won’t help future trade negotiations, naturally, if other teams are too wary of a club who only trades away future underachievers.

The Rays do tend to come out on the better end of trades more often than not, however, which is why the low-payroll franchise is currently playing for a World Series title.  Every playoff champion seems to have at least one unheralded acquisition leading the way, and while Arozarena is but one of several such players on Tampa Bay’s roster, his immediate impact and long-term potential make him a particular success story for the Rays’ front office.

Cubs Select Patrick Wisdom

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The Cubs have selected infielder Patrick Wisdom, optioned first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez and placed right-hander Manuel Rodriguez on the 45-day injured list, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic was among those to report.

Wisdom could now see his first action with the Cubs, who signed him to a minor league contract Aug. 23. He began his career as a member of the rival Cardinals, who chose him in the first round of the 2012 draft, but only amassed 58 plate appearances with the Redbirds (all in 2018) before they traded him to the Rangers. Wisdom totaled another 28 PA with Texas last season, but he collected far more strikeouts (15) than hits (four), and the Rangers outrighted him last winter.

All told, the 29-year-old Wisdom has batted .224/.306/.408 with four home runs in 86 trips to the plate as a major leaguer. As someone who has primarily lined up at third base in the bigs, he’ll give the Cubs a bit of extra depth as they await the return of Kris Bryant, who hasn’t played since Monday because of an oblique injury.

Cubs Recall José Martínez, Option Josh Osich

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The Chicago Cubs made a set a roster moves today, recalling José Martínez from their alternate site and sending southpaw Josh Osich down to South Bend in his place, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN (via Twitter). Martinez will be in uniform for tonight’s game against the Twins.

The Cubs made moves to get both players at the deadline, but they came amidst a flurry of activity from a Chicago front office intent on adding depth. Cubs fans were definitely aware of Martinez after his many seasons in St. Louis, but any memories of his abilities as a towering right-handed slugger dissipated quickly as he went hitless in his first six games as a Cub. Martinez saw 3 starts at designated hitter while appearing in the other 3 as a pinch-hitter, roles he’s likely to assume once again as long as the Cubbies keep him on the active roster.

Known as a lefty masher due to a career 149 wRC+ against left-handed pitching, the Cubs long-term evaluation of Martinez likely hasn’t changed after just 15 plate appearances. He’ll get some opportunities against southpaws in the designated hitter spot as the number of games before the postseason winnow away. Manager David Ross will likely try to decide whether he can trust Martinez’s bat enough to give him a roster spot in the postseason.

Osich had a rough go of it after joining the Cubs from the Boston Red Sox. Over four outings, the 32-year-old coughed up 6 runs (3 earned) covering just 2 2/3 innings. With Andrew Chafin – another deadline acquisition – finally getting healthy, Osich may have lost his opportunity to make an impact on this Cubs squad. The Cubs are rostering Kyle Ryan and Rex Brothers along with Chafin as lefty options out of the pen, and when Jose Quintana returns from injury, he’ll be another southpaw that Ross can call on in relief.

Rays Acquire INF Pedro Martinez From Cubs

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The Rays have acquired infielder Pedro Martinez, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Martinez is one of two players to be named later the Rays received from the Cubs in the teams’ deal Aug. 30 deal centering on Jose Martinez. The identity of the other player still isn’t known.

Pedro Martinez, who’s just 19 years old, joined the Cubs as an international free agent from Venezuela in 2018. He spent that season and last year producing quality numbers between rookie and low-A ball, where he combined for a .310/.393/.422 line with four home runs and 50 stolen bases on 69 attempts over 461 plate appearances.

While he’s still a ways from the majors, Martinez did rank as a well-regarded Cubs prospect before they traded him. MLB.com and FanGraphs are among the outlets that have favorable views of Martinez, as the former placed him 14th in the Cubs’ system and the latter ranked him 22nd. FanGraphs complimented the switch-hitting Martinez’s “bat-to-ball skills” and suggested he could at least turn into a role player in the majors.

Cubs Option Jose Martinez

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The Cubs have optioned recently acquired first baseman/outfielder/designated hitter Jose Martinez, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune was among those to report. The move cleared 28-man roster space for just-claimed outfielder Billy Hamilton.

It’s a bit of a surprise to see Martinez headed to the Cubs’ alternate training site so soon, as they landed him from the Rays in advance of the Aug. 31 trade deadline. But Martinez has gone without a hit in 15 plate appearances since then, continuing a season-long run of subpar production for a player who was largely a valuable part of the Cardinals’ offense from 2016-19. Martinez recorded a .298/.363/.458 line in 1,288 plate appearances with St. Louis, but he has mustered a far weaker .198/.286/.321 mark in 96 PA this year between Tampa and Chicago.

Martinez has lined up as a DH since the Cubs traded for him, but with other credible options there (including Victor Caratini, Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras), they no longer felt the need to spend a roster spot on someone who has slumped throughout 2020. Hamilton won’t exactly give the team an offensive juggernaut, either, but the speedster is at least a high-grade defender and base runner.

Cubs Acquire Jose Martinez From Rays

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The Cubs are acquiring designated hitter José Martínez from the Rays, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). Chicago is sending two players to be named later or cash considerations in exchange. Catcher Josh Phegley has been designated for assignment to clear roster space.

Martínez burst onto the scene with the Cubs’ archrival Cardinals between 2017-18, hitting .306/.369/.478 over those two seasons. Since the start of 2019, Martínez has put up a more pedestrian .264/.339/.406 mark split between St. Louis and Tampa Bay, although he’s continued to feast on left-handed pitching in that time.

The Rays just picked Martínez up from St. Louis over the offseason in a trade that sent top pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore to the Cardinals and also brought back outfielder Randy Arozarena. He played a little bit of first base in Tampa but will obviously be seen almost exclusively as a DH in Chicago, where Anthony Rizzo has first locked down. Martínez will make just over $320K the rest of this season, followed by two additional years of arbitration control. With Martínez gone, Tampa figures to lean more heavily on Yoshi Tsutsugo and Ji-Man Choi at first base/DH.

Jose Martinez Confirms Positive Coronavirus Test

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Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Jose Martinez has arrived in camp for the first time today. He confirmed that he had tested positive for coronavirus. He did feel sick with cold symptoms for a day, but otherwise felt fine during his 14-day quarantine, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links).

The Rays have had a number of their higher-profile players test positive for COVID-19, including Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows. Like Martinez, Glasnow is now back with the club getting ready for Opening Day. Meadows remains out without a definite timetable for his return.

Martinez thinks he’ll be able to go by Opening Day, but there’s no reason to overextend the slugger to get him ready. Martinez figures to get regular time at least against left-handers, though they may make an effort to get him on the field more frequently if he slugs. His primary utility is as a designated hitter, but he’s capable of giving the old college try at first base or right field as well. With the Cardinals last season, Martinez hit .269/.340/.410, down a bit in the power department from his career norms. With 42 of his at-bats coming as a pinch-hitter, however, the Rays are betting that more regular playing time will return Martinez to a level more commensurate with his .458 career slugging.

If he’s not ready by the start of the season, the Rays have built out an impressive collection of depth in the corner infielder/outfielder department. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Ji-Man Choi, Yandy Diaz, Hunter Renfroe, Nate Lowe or Brandon Lowe could all see time in the corners or at designated hitter. Brendan McKay could also get some at-bats at DH when he’s not on the hill.

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