Nick Martinez accepted the Reds’ $21.05MM qualifying offer this week, making him the lone player of the 13 who received a QO to accept that one-year deal. The two parties talked about a potential multi-year deal before the 34-year-old righty accepted, and while talks on a multi-year deal are reportedly on hold for now, Martinez suggested that he’s still open to such an arrangement and has received no indication from the club that talks won’t pick up down the line (links via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic).
“Accepting the qualifying offer doesn’t limit us from talking, so I’m definitely still open to it if that helps mitigate costs for this year or sign more guys,” Martinez said yesterday (via Rosecrans). Via Sheldon (on BlueSky), he added: “To my understanding, [discussing a multi-year deal] is still on the table.”
Martinez’s $21.05MM salary puts the Reds right back at their 2024 payroll level, per RosterResource’s projections. Reds COO Doug Healy said last week that the 2025 payroll would be “at or above” last year’s roughly $100MM level. A $21MM salary for Martinez doesn’t leave tons of wiggle room, and the Reds haven’t divulged just how far “above” that $100MM level they’d be comfortable spending. Working out a two- or three-year deal with Martinez that might reduce his 2025 salary would give the Reds more flexibility and also allow them to further extend their control over a player who president of baseball ops Nick Krall called a “great team guy” and a “lead-by-example guy.”
Prior to the Reds’ surprise decision to tender a QO to Martinez, MLBTR had penciled Martinez in for a three-year, $39MM contract on our annual Top 50 Free Agent rankings. The Athletic’s Tim Britton offered a very similar three-year, $40MM prediction. A deal in that range could allow the Reds to trim several million off Martinez’s 2025 salary — perhaps even more, if the team is willing to backload the deal so Martinez’s salaries are greater in 2026-27, when other contracts will be coming off the books. Emilio Pagán is earning $8MM in 2025 but is a free agent at season’s end. Jeimer Candelario is signed for two more years and earning more in ’25 ($15MM) than in ’26 ($12MM).
Among the Reds’ other goals in free agency are adding a bat to the lineup, deepening the bullpen and, per Sheldon, improving the team’s overall defense. Landing a corner outfield bat has long seemed like a viable target for the Reds, with Anthony Santander, Teoscar Hernández, Tyler O’Neill, Jurickson Profar, Michael Conforto and Max Kepler among the non-Soto tier of free agent possibilities. Again, bringing Martinez back at a weighty price point complicates the pursuit of such hitters, but all should sign contracts that are within reasonable proximity to the Reds’ prior free agent thresholds. Cincinnati has in the past signed both Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas to four-year, $64MM free agent deals, for instance. Santander will very likely command a larger guarantee than that, but the others should come in at or below (well below, for Conforto and Kepler) that type of total commitment and/or annual value.
One other area of focus for the Reds this winter will be making incremental improvements to Elly De La Cruz’s already impressive game, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. One of the game’s most dynamic talents and still just 22 years old, the 6’5″ De La Cruz wowed with 25 homers, 67 steals and a .259/.339/.471 batting line while playing 160 games and spending every inning he was in the lineup at shortstop. Krall specifically voiced a desire to work with De La Cruz on whittling away at his 31.3% strikeout rate — a mark that’s already down a bit from his 33.7% rate as a 21-year-old in 2023.
Interestingly, Krall noted that “a lot of our guys” are in that same boat, perhaps foreshadowing one of the traits he’ll look for as he looks to bolster his lineup this winter. With regard to De La Cruz, however, both Krall and GM Brad Meador emphasized to Wittenmyer that even with a crowded infield mix and prospect Edwin Arroyo on the rise, De La Cruz is the team’s shortstop for the foreseeable future. Krall and Meador spoke of working with De La Cruz to tighten up his defense on routine plays and scale back outs made on the basepaths, though the team is surely thrilled with the overall quality of their budding star shortstop’s performance. De La Cruz is under club control for at least five more seasons and likely won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2026-27 offseason.
Mitigate costs? He’s had a good couple years but probably costing the Reds more with the QO AAV than the AAV he would’ve signed on extension or in the open market. Pivetta was the other guy I would’ve figured to accept the QO and that’s coming from a Sox fan
But that’s what he’s talking about. They can still get an agreement on a multi year deal and it’ll reduce his yearly average, hence ‘mitigating cost’
It’s perfectly reasonable for him to accept the offer and it’s also reasonable for both parties to find common ground on a longer deal. He gets more guaranteed money, they get a lower cap hit.
None of this about the payroll is surprising given the RSN situation.
Cincy should lock up elly while its still feasible for them
Probably too late for that. He’s made it to the majors and has already proven he’s an ever improving real deal. He’s already out of the their likely price range.
It’s somewhat realistic they can buy out his arbitration years at a reasonable price now but I agree, any hopes of a longer-term deal are out the window.
But he might be willing to take something like a 5-year $75 million deal now to bulk up his current earnings knowing he would easily command $20+ in arbitration on the back end.
Zero chance he signs. He’s waiting out his deal to play in LA
Zero is an absolute that you can’t make. Unless you are Elly himself, that is just what you think he will do. He said he likes playing in Los Angeles because he grew up playing Grand Theft Auto. He enjoyed playing the video games. That doesn’t mean he is destined for L.A.
Is everyone in the league just waiting to play in LA??? There ARE other tms
John, Elly has specially said “LA is his City”
You do realize he meant. ELLY. EL LAY. LA.
That’s why LA is Ellys city. It’s also his name.
That’s never going to happen, Reds signing EDLC. First the Reds can’t spend that large of a % of their miserly payroll on one guy. The rest of our good young talent is not too far away from arbitration or free agency and Reds will have to spend a lot to keep them as well. Second Scott Borris will never let his clients, especially a future all star not get to free agency. If the Reds can get EDLC to play even better in 25 say maybe five more homers, five more steals and five percentage points higher batting average it might not be very long before they trade him for a king’s ransom while his value will probably never be higher.
Oh His agent’s boras
Nvm then
Elly’s a goner when he hits FA
Elly is a unicorn, who knows what his potential is
Saying they have to cut down on strikeouts is laughable.Every player in baseball gets paid to swing as hard as they can and hit homeruns.Not high average and low strikeouts.Every batter i see does not shorten their swing with 2 strikes to put the ball in play.If they went back to that style i would be happy.A team full of Gwynns and Boggs.
I get your rational. Still at 2-3% reduction on a team is a whole lot of at bats ! Francona gonna make it happen !
I’d trade him with all his team control in place for a haul of prospects that has never been seen before.
31% strike out rate likely isn’t going away, his bat to ball skills aren’t there, the astounding stat is his SBs. I don’t know, I think the Red’s are better off with India at 2B, McClain at shortstop, Greene and Lodolo locked into five year deals. I’d trade him.
His value is more than just on the field. He’s the only reason national media even looks the Reds way and his jerseys sell through the roof. Kids love him, and that equals $$$ to the club.
True but not nearly enough for the Reds to be able to sign him long term.
True…I expect the Reds will follow the same path the Nats took with Soto minus the huge offer they made.
Hey bwmiller79. I agree the Reds will have to trade him and get a great haul back. He might fix his strikeouts a bit and then he can get more steals if he gets on base more as a result of putting the ball in play. His biggest plus to the team is not his homers but getting on base and causing havoc for the other team turning singles into doubles or doubles into triples and the guy at the plate getting more fastballs etc…I have no idea if Mclain can play SS. I agree with extending Green again but my next extension would be Tyler Stevenson.
McClain come up as a shortstop, that’s his natural position. The chaos on the basepaths argument doesn’t offset the K’s, I understand your argument though, turning singles into doubles is a big time advantage, those SBs are valuable.
But, if you want to get real, the big issue is that he refuses to move off SS and play 3rd base, because at 6’5, he is better suited to play third than McClain. He has the arm to play third. But he is a premadonna SS. I’d trade him.
LOL you may be right about being a primadonna although I have not seen that from him yet. I guess when you are a superstar in waiting you can kind of say where you want to play. It would be interesting seeing Mclain play SS but I wonder why he wants to play 2B? Trading Elly though would only be for the fact that the Reds will never be able to sign him long term and we need him to improve over last year as to maximise our return if/when we trade him in the next two years or so. That’s why IMHO he needs to cut down on his strikeouts. Can’t use his speed walking back to the bench.
Well you think about it as a manager, you’d love to see De La Cruz at third, McClain at SS and India at 2B. It has to be considered given the talent of the three players. McClain at 5’8 isn’t suited to play third, neither is India, so you have to move De La Cruz to third. He is built to be great third baseman, could be great at third. That length plays better at third than it does at SS.
That’s what it comes down to in my opinion, if he considers a move to third do you pay him long term? Absolutely.
Acosta will be our SS probably starting in 26 so quit moving our players positions.
You make a ton of idiotic points across several posts. What has he EVER done you give off prima donna vibes? He’s busting his butt to learn English and gives all interviews in his second language to better connect with fans. I guess long dreds and the chains make you think that? ♂️. He’s staying at SS because he’s one of the best SS in the game, errors be damned. His range and arm are elite
Again I am not disagreeing that a move to third for Elly would be good for the team as you described. I am just saying he does not seem to think so and or be willing to do it and management is not pushing him. And yet again there is no way Reds are going to be able to afford to sign him long term nor is Boris his agent going to let him sign a contract before he hits free agency. If his skills continue to improve year after year what do you think by the time he his free agency his contract will look like? In 2025 projected that STARTING bid for Soto will be 14 years 513M. Will that be peanuts for Elly in 2030 when he hits free agency?
Shortstops, if you know shortstops, love shortstop. It’s hard to move them off their position, it’s hard to explain. Only center field compares and it really isn’t even close. But a 6’5 third baseman could be fantastic.
Defense is a big part of the game doesn’t show up in the box score as closely, but length at third base plays up compared to length at SS because you have that split second less to react to the play.
Premadonna labels apply when you squeeze a teammate out of a job, but it’s nothing new for SS’s, its their nature. Come on though it’s the Red’s, let’s get our best bats in the lineup, let’s get our best team on the field everyday, we aren’t the f’in Yankees, move to third. Trade the prospects. Let’s go.
Are you giving up on Marte ? Way too soon IMO.
The prima donna label is not warranted. And EDLC should stay at SS, where his cannon arm is utilized more often.
The Reds are quite fortunate to have Elly on their team. Find a corner OFr with some thump and let’s go!
I agree reds should trade him. But they are also terrible at blockbusters. And I’m not sure if there’s a package out there yet in all baseball worth trading him now.
Also the reds are the most traditional team in baseball. Trading de la Cruz so far ahead of arb is something they’ll never consider bc they are soo stuck in their ways : /
Be cool if they could trade him to to Mets for 15 million in payroll for 10 years and then they throw in that catcher and Acuna.
Unfortunately, he will be dealt in year five. He will go to bright lights, big city.
Not seeing the prima donna. Kid worked with Juan Soto on his own to improve plate discipline. Prima donnas don’t work hard on their own.
Golly – I don’t know about all that stuff. I know this though it ain’t enough.
Jerseys gonna sell, fans gonna fan. Let’s be smart and put our money in the right baskets. Winning brings more people to the ball park than anything else. I’m a White Sox fan, nobody to the games when they lose, nobody is buying Luis Robert jerseys. But when they win, everybody is wearing a Buerhle jersey.
Everybody assumes the Reds will squander EDLC- but so far they have made him one of the most sought after young assets in baseball. Why should they trade him before he matures a bit more, or before Arroyo is ready? Interest in Elly will increase this season- the price in prospects/players will go up, and Reds will have a better idea of their middle infield post- Cruz.. I doubt the Reds can get EDLC to sgn long term, or even should. Trading Cruz now would be like selling your Nvidia stock. Let it ride.
can we please just keep elly