Longtime Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez has agreed to a deal with the Giants, as Martinez himself announced this evening on Instagram. Martinez, an Octagon client, is signing a minor league deal that’d guarantee him $2.5MM upon making the roster, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. That salary could grow to $4MM based on incentives.
Martinez, 30, is a two-time All-Star who not long ago looked like one of the game’s best up-and-coming young arms. From 2015-19, Martinez’s age-23 through age-27 seasons, he pitched to a combined 3.22 ERA through 747 innings while spending time both as the Cardinals’ top starter and primary closer. Injuries, however, have sent the righty’s career off the rails in recent seasons.
A shoulder issue in Spring Training 2019 delayed Martinez’s start to the season and ultimately helped push him to the bullpen that season (where he fared quite well). Martinez missed nearly seven weeks in 2020 following a lengthy bout with Covid-19, and he strained an oblique muscle not long after returning, all of which combined to limit him to just 20 innings (and a grisly 9.90 ERA). Martinez had a a handful of dominant starts early in the 2021 season, but he sustained a torn ligament in his right thumb that eventually required surgery and ended his season in early July.
All told, since that outstanding run from 2015-19, Martinez has managed only 102 1/3 innings at the MLB level and been clobbered for a 6.95 ERA in that time. The right-hander’s fastball, which averaged 97.2 mph back in his All-Star 2016 season, has sat at a diminished 93.8 mph average during those two most recent seasons. His strikeout, walk and home-run rates have all gone in the wrong direction as well.
For all his recent injury troubles, Martinez won’t turn 31 until late in the 2022 season and isn’t that far removed from being a high-quality member of the St. Louis staff. The Giants don’t need him to round out the rotation — not after signing Carlos Rodon, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Alex Cobb to Major League deals already — or to handle high-leverage situations in the bullpen. Rather, Martinez can head to camp and vie for an Opening Day roster spot as a long man or a middle-relief piece. If he ends up in Triple-A Sacramento to begin the season, he could serve as an intriguing piece of rotation depth for a Giants staff that isn’t short on hurlers with notable injury histories (Rodon, Cobb and Wood, in particular).
I didn’t know he was a FA
The Cardinals were quick to decline his $18 million option this off season.
Gotcha. Thank you.
Good for Carlos. As a cards fan I hope he finishes his career strong.
As a Redbird fan you more than anyone know exactly how his career finishes.
Such a waste. That guy can’t stop getting in his own way.
If he could take his talent and his rehab/fitness seriously, he might just be able to show people what he’s capable of before it’s all over.
I’m trying to sleep and I’m getting a ton of notifications of deals. It’s good there is news but let me sleep
Turn off your notifications, princess.
Goodnight, sweet prince.
WELL TO F***ING BAD PAL!!!
He’s a punk. The strippers will love him in SF
The strippers in SF were way better about 20 years ago.
depends on what part of The City hes in OOOOHHHHHHHHHHH
not that theres anything wrong with that 😉
Aaron Sanchez 2022 edition
Still having a hard time how not playing was a better option than being a reliever on a contending team.
Good Luck to you Carlos. Perhaps a change to another club will turn your career around.
Not a lot of $$$ invested in Martinez. Giants may be the the of scenery he needs.
What he needs is to get his head out of his a$$ and be the pitcher he was born to be, but he can’t be bothered. He’d rather just pi$$ it all way.
For that money the Cubs should of been players if for no other reason to jab the Cardinals. LOL
I assure you, that would not have been a jab to the Cardinals. Carlos is the poster boy for the term “head-case”. I wish him well but I’m very happy he is not any longer in a Cardinal uniform.
who was in his head the most? besides himself, molina. there is the problems.
As a Cubs and Dodgers’ fan, there is no place that i would rather see Carlos than with the Giants. The Giants are one of the smartest and best run teams in baseball. It is nice to see a mistake slip through the cracks.
Maybe, he can hold his weight as a relief pitcher, but Martinez as a starter, nah.
classy comment freindo, kudos!
A Cubs and Dodgers fan? WT..?
@fox471 Dave The national reach of WGN in the 90s plus daytime baseball made it possible for fans of some teams to have the Cubs as a second favorite.
Don’t get your hopes up – it’s just a MiLB deal.
If Martinez can gain control of his head and command, and stay healthy, he could be a find. Farhan knows what he’s doing and this is not a problem signing. Remember, he’s only 29, not that old for a pitcher.
Zaidi dumpster diving again
He’s pretty damn good at it though.
If a team can square him away as a Pitcher, SF is one of the best candidaters……very possibly the best.
Yes that never works out…. Good chuckle doofus
Wow…what a fall. Minor league deal? Sheesh
Pretty rich minor league deal… 2.5 guaranteed for making the roster which he will…. In a ballpark that favors him… Sounds like a good move for the Giants.
“2.5 guaranteed for making the roster which he will….”
I don’t see how there’s any certainty whatsoever that he gets called up. The Giants keep a stable of journeymen pitchers in AAA – throughout the season. If they need somebody to fill a hole, he’ll have to leap-frog about a half dozen similarly situated guys. He’s minor league depth and he’s not promised any of that $2.5M. If a situation arises where they do bring him up, he’ll have to perform immediately or he’ll be outa-there.
Giants have a very interesting rotation mix heading into the season.
sub 3 era incoming
10 million dollar arm, but factor his head into the equation and you’re looking at the national deficit.
$18m… and yes.
Giants needed some pitching depth, so a guy who’s both started and relieved makes sense.
Right on and from a talent standpoint, I see no problem with this move.
Seems like this could be a steal for the Giants. Love it!
Ummmm…listen I hope Carlos the best but the guy just never could get it right…idk? Maybe the nice weather in cali will help him
Anything to get out of that Midwest…
…or maybe their pitching wizards will help him.
Thank goodness the Cards didn’t bring him back. Won’t miss him one bit.
Carlos Martinez Project
AKA The Aaron Sanchez project formerly known as the Drew Pomerantz project
Drew Pomeranz project wasn’t a failure
Aaron Sanchez actually pitched well in SF but had too large of an ego to move out of the rotation once Wood got healthy and Webb began to breakout.
Hey, Pomeranz worked out pretty well
Nice low risk move, giants can definitely revive his career plus the change of scenery.
Really good deal. Martinez was nowhere near as bad as his numbers indicate. He very well just needs a new start. Doesnt mean it will work but the risk/reward here is very good for SF.
Change of scenery might work and be just what he needs, but he was every bit as bad as his numbers indicate make no mistake about that.
(鈴木 誠也 news
This could be another arm they fix and ship off at the deadline. Worst case scenario they’re out 2.5 mill which is nothing for them any more
Carlos’s fastball probably won’t hit 103mph anymore but he did get his fastball up to 98mph last year and his 4.76 FIP was far better than his 6.23 ERA. If he gets some giddyup back he could compete for a late inning role.
A much better signing (no risk) than paying Aaron Sanchez 6mil last year. I saw Sanchez signed a minor league deal with Washington today.
This could be a classic case of a pitcher wanting to come to San Francisco to resurrect his career.
He never threw 103.
I use the pitch speed graph at Baseball Reference which gives pitcher’s fastball speed for every game of their career. CMart topped 103 many times in his career. He topped 100mph as recently as 2019.
In 2016 his average velo was 97.2. That means you throw a bunch of triple digit pitches. Very, very few starting pitchers threw that hard. Maybe Chris Sale.
Awesome signing! EXACTLY the kind of recpro we specialize in.
Now just sign Bryant and Castellanos, and were in business baby!
I like! No risk, and potentially very high reward. Haven’t paid super close attention to him over the last couple years but, if he’s willing, late inning relief would be an ideal role for him. Let him max out without overworking him. 50-60 IP?
The idea that he is perfectly suited for a late inning relief role is flawed. Maybe in a vacuum. He has strikeout stuff, that is true. He posted some solid numbers in that role for the Cards in 2019, also true. But many of those saves were adventurous. He is a very emotional player whose focus comes and goes. High pressure, late inning situations are likely to bring out the worst version of him. A team that counts on him in the late innings will probably get burned.
Fair take! 9th inning is most likely not on the table for him but start him as a 6th/7th inning guy and let him earn a bigger role is probably the idea the Giants are going for.
carlos will prosper with the giants. it will do him good in two ways. one is that his injury that did him the most damage was between his ears. number two is that his biggest detriment,molina, won’t be there.
I’m here for it, if he doesn’t crack the opening day roster, would he go to AAA until he gets called up or would he request a release? The upside is there, just a matter of getting it out of him
Ya gotta keep the Tums and Rolaids nearby when Carlos takes the mound. Could strike out five or six in a row or walk the ballpark. Never know with this guy.
Still, a nice low-cost signing by the Giants. Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice and take a shot. As my dear departed Uncle Romeo used to say, “No balls, no blue chips!”.
I hope he does well, as a cardinals fan I hope a change of scenery allows him to be an ace like he was going to be at one point .
he’ll be Cy Young once he gets to drink that SF special formula