The Cincinnati Reds have reached an agreement with right-hander Nick Martinez in MLB free agency, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.
“Right-hander Nick Martinez and the Cincinnati Reds ar in agreement on a two-year, $26 million contract that includes an opt-out after the first year, sources tell ESPN. Martinez, 33, opted out of the last two years and $16 million of his deal with San Diego to reach free agency.”
Martinez became a free agent in early November when he and the San Diego Padres both declined options for 2024 and 2025. The Padres decided not to pick up their option on Martinez worth $16 million, while he also rejected picking up his $8 million option.
Martinez pitched for 63 games for the Padres in the 2023 MLB season, including nine starts. That same campaign, he posted a 3.43 ERA and 3.92 FIP with a career-best 119 ERA+ across a total of 110.1 innings. He was seeing action as a starter during the early portions of his stint with the Padres in 2023 before he got sent to the bullpen. His first four appearances for San Diego were as a starter and he went 1-1 with 11 earned runs on 18 hits with 12 walks issued over the course of 24.2 innings in those games.
In two seasons with the Padres, Martinez put together a win-loss record of 10-8 along with a decent 3.45 ERA through 216.2 innings.
Back in the 2023 MLB season, the Reds were just 16th in the big leagues with a starters ERA of 4.11 to go with a 4.87 starters FIP. Martinez can be expected to find his way into a starting role for Cincinnati, which has not made the postseason since 2020.