DECEMBER 20: The Dinos officially announced Martini’s deal (h/t to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News). He’ll receive $550K in guaranteed money, with an additional $250K available in incentives.
DECEMBER 16: Outfielder Nick Martini is in discussions with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization, according to a report from Naver Sports (h/t to Sung Min Kim). If a deal is finalized, the 31-year-old will make the jump to South Korea after spending the past eleven years in affiliated ball.
Martini has suited up in the majors in three of the last four seasons. The left-handed hitter broke in with an impressive .296/.397/.414 line across 179 plate appearances with the A’s in 2018. Martini didn’t get much of an opportunity to follow up on that strong rookie showing, though, struggling to a .226/.330/.323 mark in 109 trips to the dish between Oakland and the Padres the following season. He didn’t appear in the big leagues in 2020, although the Illinois native returned to play in 25 games with his hometown Cubs this past season. Chicago outrighted Martini off their 40-man roster at the end of the year, and he elected minor league free agency shortly thereafter.
While Martini doesn’t have a particularly lengthy track record in the majors, he owns a strong minor league resume. Over parts of six Triple-A seasons, he’s a .298/.399/.437 hitter. Martini has walked in a robust 13.4% of his plate appearances at the minors’ highest level while only punching out 17.8% of the time. He’s mostly limited to the corner outfield and doesn’t bring a ton of power to the table, but that combination of a keen eye and strong bat-to-ball skills should allow Martini to continue to post strong on-base marks if he makes the jump to the KBO.
Were Martini’s agreement to be finalized, that’d officially close the book on the possibility of Aaron Altherr returning to the Dinos. KBO teams are only permitted to carry three foreign players on their rosters, and the Dinos already employ pitchers Drew Rucinski and Wes Parsons. Altherr has spent the past two seasons with the Dinos, hitting .276/.354/.529 as the club’s regular center fielder. Naver reports that the team had interest in keeping the 30-year-old (31 next month) in the fold, but Altherr has explored the possibility of returning to MLB or making the jump to Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball this offseason.
I’ll drink to that.
They probably figure Martini can mix drinks and bat similarly to Jose Miguel Fernandez.
He’d like his contract shaken not stirred.
The Dinos prefer him shaken, not stirred. Sorry, I couldn’t resist…
Bartender, I’ll have another
The KBO is the future of baseball. MLB is not coming back for at least 3-4 years and in the meantime all of their young stars will leave for foreign leagues. This is just the beginning.
This wont age well.
You are definitely mistaken
3-4 years????
There can only be 3 foreign players per team dummy. It’s not like MLB and there is no limit how many foreign players you can have on a roster
Sounds like someone’s had too many Martini’s!
The NC Dinos are going all in!!!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz everyday we get an update on this crap.. NBO ? Seriously?who cares!
You cared enough to click on it and comment, so there’s that. Some of us enjoy news from other professional leagues, too.
@ChiefWahoopoo
Pay your tab at the COPIUM bar and call it a night
Real baseball fans care cheif.
It’s too bad Martini doesn’t hit for a bit more power or play a solid defensive centerfield. If he did either of those, I’m sure he wouldn’t have to go overseas. It’ll be interesting to see if he can make it back eventually.
He seems to be a similar type of player to Grossman. High on base, some power, not spectacular but solid defensively. Makes contact. I think he’ll be back soon.
Does he have olive skin color?
He’s never played in Manhattan!
Nick was the bartender at Martini’s in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I can’t hear anything else when Nick Martini’s name comes up, so he must go to Asia.
Exactly what I think of every ti e I see or hear his name.
Teacher says, every time a bell rings, another former MLB player signs with the KBO.
the dinos always disappoint me because they could have such cooler uniforms being, well the dinos
Every one do the dinosaur!
Was Not Was for the win? HELLO DAD I’M IN JAIL
I kind of got into KBO last year before MLB started back up. Dinos had a forever Angel or two abs a cool mascot so I licked them as my KBO squad.
Eww…
Thanks auto correct, ha ha. Wow, that’s one of my worst.
A former Angel or two so I picked them as my KBO squad.
Good for him. Bet he has a nice showing over there.
Rucinski and Parsons have not yet re-signed with NC as far as I know. But KBO teams almost never carry two foreign hitters. So yes, Altherr is gone.
NC losing a lot of power from their lineup with Altherr and Na Sung Bum both leaving.
Martini at age 32 seems old to be starting an Asian career, and he didn’t impress with the bat as an LF at AAA Iowa this past season (49th highest OPS in AAAE). I wouldn’t be on his success, even in the KBO..
He’d have never stuck around a ML roster all year to make the equivalent to the contract he just signed. Good on him. Time is limited for these types of players. Get your money how you can.
Would believe in the KBO he will do fine. The game there is geared more towards his skills. Don’t believe his game will ever play well in MLB.
Good to see a K-Stater getting opportunities. Go Cats!
Obviously, the Dinos were in the Christmas spirit after watching “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and when they made the connection between Mr. Martini the goodhearted tavern owner and St. Nick, they had to sign Nick Martini. The Dinos’ owner probably said: “We need a little Christmas, right this very minute.”
Now, if the Dinos were named after Dean Martin, everything would tie together beautifully. Dino loved his martinis.