Longtime right-hander of the Cardinals Carlos Martinez agreed to a deal with the Giants, as Martinez himself announced on Instagram tonight. Martinez, a client of the Octagon, signs a minor league contract that guarantees him $2.5 million if he’s on the roster. tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. That salary could rise to $4 million depending on incentives.
Martinez, 30, is a two-time All-Star who looked like one of the top promising young players not too long ago. From 2015 to 2019, when Martinez was aged 23 to 27, he amassed a combined 3.22 ERA in 747 innings, spending time both as a top starter and as a primary closer. In recent seasons, however, injuries have derailed the right-hander’s career.
A shoulder problem in spring 2019 delayed Martinez’s start to the season and ultimately helped him get into the bullpen that season (where he performed well). Martinez missed almost seven weeks in 2020 due to an extended struggle with Covid-19 and strained his oblique shortly after returning, all of which combined to limit him to just 20 innings (and a horrendous 9.90 ERA). Martinez had some dominant starts early in the 2021 season but suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb that eventually required surgery and his season ended in early July.
Overall, after that remarkable run from 2015 to 2019, Martinez only played 102 1/3 innings at the MLB level and lost a 6.95 ERA during that time. The right-hander’s fastball speed, which averaged 97.2 mph in the 2016 All-Star season, has dropped to an average of 93.8 mph in the past two seasons. His strikeouts, walks, and home runs also went in the wrong direction.
For all his recent injury issues, Martinez won’t be turning 31 until the end of the 2022 season, and he’s not that far off from being a high-profile St. Louis staffer. The Giants don’t need him to complete their rotation – not after signing. Carlos Rodon, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood as well as Alex Cobb to Major League deals already – or handle high leverage situations in the bullpen. Rather, Martinez could head to camp and compete for a place on the Opening Day list as a long man or medium relief figure. If he ends up in Triple-A Sacramento to start the season, he could serve as an intriguing element of rotation depth for a Giants team that has no shortage of hurlers with known injury histories (notably Rawdon, Cobb and Wood).