Nick Martinez accepted the Reds’ $21.05MM qualifying provide this week, making him the lone participant of the 13 who obtained a QO to simply accept that one-year deal. The 2 events talked a few potential multi-year deal earlier than the 34-year-old righty accepted, and whereas talks on a multi-year deal are reportedly on maintain for now, Martinez instructed that he’s nonetheless open to such an association and has obtained no indication from the membership that talks gained’t choose up down the road (hyperlinks by way of Mark Sheldon of MLB.com and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic).
“Accepting the qualifying provide doesn’t restrict us from speaking, so I’m positively nonetheless open to it if that helps mitigate prices for this 12 months or signal extra guys,” Martinez stated yesterday (by way of Rosecrans). Through Sheldon (on BlueSky), he added: “To my understanding, [discussing a multi-year deal] continues to be on the desk.”
Martinez’s $21.05MM wage places the Reds proper again at their 2024 payroll stage, per RosterResource’s projections. Reds COO Doug Healy stated final week that the 2025 payroll can be “at or above” final 12 months’s roughly $100MM stage. A $21MM wage for Martinez doesn’t depart tons of wiggle room, and the Reds haven’t divulged simply how far “above” that $100MM stage they’d be comfy spending. Figuring out a two- or three-year take care of Martinez which may cut back his 2025 wage would give the Reds extra flexibility and in addition permit them to additional lengthen their management over a participant who president of baseball ops Nick Krall referred to as a “nice workforce man” and a “lead-by-example man.”
Previous to the Reds’ shock resolution to tender a QO to Martinez, MLBTR had penciled Martinez in for a three-year, $39MM contract on our annual Prime 50 Free Agent rankings. The Athletic’s Tim Britton supplied a really related three-year, $40MM prediction. A deal in that vary might permit the Reds to trim a number of million off Martinez’s 2025 wage — maybe much more, if the workforce is prepared to backload the deal so Martinez’s salaries are better in 2026-27, when different contracts might be coming off the books. Emilio Pagán is incomes $8MM in 2025 however is a free agent at season’s finish. Jeimer Candelario is signed for 2 extra years and incomes extra in ’25 ($15MM) than in ’26 ($12MM).
Among the many Reds’ different targets in free company are including a bat to the lineup, deepening the bullpen and, per Sheldon, enhancing the workforce’s general protection. Touchdown a nook outfield bat has lengthy appeared like a viable goal for the Reds, with Anthony Santander, Teoscar Hernández, Tyler O’Neill, Jurickson Profar, Michael Conforto and Max Kepler are among the many non-Soto tier of free agent potentialities. Once more, bringing Martinez again at a weighty worth level complicates the pursuit of such hitters, however all ought to signal contracts which might be inside cheap proximity to the Reds’ prior free agent thresholds. Cincinnati has prior to now signed each Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas to four-year, $64MM free agent offers, as an illustration. Santander will very probably command a bigger assure than that, however the others ought to are available at or under (nicely under, for Conforto and Kepler) that sort of complete dedication and/or annual worth.
One different space of focus for the Reds this winter might be making incremental enhancements to Elly De La Cruz’s already spectacular sport, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. One of many sport’s most dynamic skills and nonetheless simply 22 years previous, the 6’5″ De La Cruz wowed with 25 homers, 67 steals and a .259/.339/.471 batting line whereas enjoying 160 video games and spending each inning he was within the lineup at shortstop. Krall particularly voiced a need to work with De La Cruz on whittling away at his 31.3% strikeout charge — a mark that’s already down a bit from his 33.7% charge as a 21-year-old in 2023.
Curiously, Krall famous that “a variety of our guys” are in that very same boat, maybe foreshadowing one of many traits he’ll search for as he seems to be to bolster his lineup this winter. With regard to De La Cruz, nevertheless, each Krall and GM Brad Meador emphasised to Wittenmyer that even with a crowded infield combine and prospect Edwin Arroyo on the rise, De La Cruz is the workforce’s shortstop for the foreseeable future. Krall and Meador spoke of working with De La Cruz to tighten up his protection on routine performs and reduce outs made on the basepaths, although the workforce is unquestionably thrilled with the general high quality of their budding star shortstop’s efficiency. De La Cruz is beneath membership management for not less than 5 extra seasons and certain gained’t be eligible for arbitration till the 2026-27 offseason.