As soon as Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson heard a report that right-hander Nick Martinez would likely accept the one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer to return in 2025, he fired off a text to the pitcher to see if the report was accurate.
Martinez texted him back and then confirmed it to the players’ group text.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen, you never know with this stuff,” Stephenson said Tuesday. “But the value he brings to the team and what he did last year, he deserves it and I’m excited that he wants to be back with the team.”
Martinez said he’s just as excited to return to Cincinnati, where he went 10-7 with a 3.10 ERA this season and earned the team’s Johnny Vander Meer Most Outstanding Pitcher Award and finished the season as the National League pitcher of the month for September.
“I believe in the guys we have. I believe in this core group of young players we have,” Martinez said Tuesday. “I think we can do something special with this group.”
In his first year with the team, Martinez not only fit in with the group of players in the Reds’ clubhouse, he quickly established himself as a leader. Second-year lefty Andrew Abbott said, “You watch him and say, ‘That’s what I need to be.’”
Martinez’s return helps solidify the Reds’ young rotation, along with Abbott, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo atop the rotation, joined by 2023 first-rounder Rhett Lowder, who impressed in his short call-up at the end of the season.
Carson Spiers could also battle for a roster spot, in addition to some of the team’s younger pitching prospects like Connor Phillips and Chase Petty.
Because there’s never enough pitching, Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said Tuesday that the team could still look for more starting pitching this offseason.
“You’re always looking to add starting starting depth and quality,” Krall said. “We’ll just continue to work through the offseason to see what’s out there and how we can make the club better.”
While the Reds dished out more than $100 million worth of contracts to veterans (including Martinez) last offseason, Martinez’s raise from $14 million last year could signify the biggest expenditure.
Earlier in the week, Doug Healy, the Reds’ chief operating officer and chief financial officer, told MLB.com that Krall’s budget for the upcoming season would be “at or above 2024 (payroll).” The Reds’ payroll on Opening Day was roughly $100 million.
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