The Cincinnati Reds had a busy 24 hours, first signing reliever Emilio Pagan to a two-year, $18 million deal, and now also signing swing man Nick Martinez to a two-year deal.
The former San Diego Padre gets a $26 million guarantee:
This is right about where Martinez’s payday was expected to land, so it’s a perfectly fine deal for the Reds.
In terms of what they get, Martinez is capable of pitching out of the bullpen or the rotation, and posted ERAs in the 3.50 range the last two years with the Padres, about 10-15% better than league average by ERA-. He gets a ton of groundballs, so he’d be aided by pitching in front of a quality infield defense, as he was in San Diego. Elly De La Cruz rated well at shortstop for the Reds, but they were kinda meh elsewhere. Perhaps if they trade Jonathan India and re-position Spencer Steer and Matt McClain, they can be a little better.
Ultimately, a lot like Pagan, Nick Martinez is a perfectly solid addition to the Reds, albeit mostly non-threatening. They desperately needed innings last year – either from their starters to protect the bullpen, or from the bullpen because they were called upon so often – and these are guys who’ll provide them. Each will be 33 next year, so you’re not necessarily banking on upside, but each can pitch at an above-average level. The Reds will probably need some things like that – together with steps forward from their young positional core – to be competitive in 2024. But they’re definitely raising the floor with these moves.
A separate note: in a world where Nick Martinez commands two years and $26 million, I’ve gotta believe Drew Smyly at one year and $13 million ($10.5 million salary, $2.5 million buyout of mutual option) is a perfectly fine deal. There might even be a market out there if the Cubs explored it, though I suspect they’d be more content to just have Smyly around as swing depth.