Opinion: The Rays overpaid for starting pitcher Nick Martinez

Nick Martinez (YouTube)

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed right-handed pitcher Nick Martinez of Miami, Florida to a one-year deal worth $13 million according to Rogers Sportsnet on Monday. At first glance, Martinez has simply been overpaid by the Rays, who had a mediocre season with the Cincinnati Reds in 2025 to say the least.

Martinez is joining his fourth Major League Baseball franchise. He was previously with the Texas Rangers for four seasons from 2014 to 2017, two seasons with the San Diego Padres from 2022 to 2023, and the last two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.

You may wonder why there was a huge gap in Martinez’s MLB career. That is because he played professionally in Japan from 2018 to 2021, specifically the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Martinez is coming off a mediocre season to say the least, and it may be a little bit of a surprise that the Rays are paying him as much as they are. Last season for the Reds, Martinez had a losing record of 11 wins and 14 losses. It was the 10th most losses by a pitcher during the 2025 MLB regular season. Martinez also had an earned run average of 4.45. During 165 2/3 innings pitched, he gave up 158 hits, 82 earned runs, 22 home runs and 44 walks, to go along with 116 strikeouts, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.21.

The Rays will be hoping that Martinez returns to his form where he was very effective in his three Major League seasons after his time in Japan. From 2022 to 2024, Martinez had a record of 20 wins and 15 losses, and had his earned run average under 3.5.

Martinez is the second pitcher the Reds have lost in free agency the last week. On Friday, the Reds lost Scott Barlow to the Athletics.