Like Ryu Hyun-jin? Nick Martinez accepts QO to throw for another year in Cincinnati...12 people refuse
Nov 20, 2024
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Twelve of the 13 players who were presented with a qualifying offer (QO) from the original team on the 5th (Korea time) rejected it and went to the market. On the 20th, the deadline for deciding whether to accept the QO, only right-hander Nick Martinez accepted it and will play for another year for $21.05 million for the Cincinnati Reds.
Martinez notified the MLB players' union through his agent Scott Boras.
Most of the remaining 12 players are expected to be transferred. If the FA, who was presented with a QO, transfers, the team must hand over the draft nomination rights and the Cyning Bonus pool to the original team as compensation. Since the introduction of the QO in 2012, the number of players who have accepted it has increased to 14, including Martinez. In other words, one to two people a year accept QOs.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who accepted a $17.9 million QO from the Los Angeles Dodgers in November 2018, succeeded in re-using the FA by ranking second in the Cy Young Award voting the following year, and moved to the Toronto Blue Jays with a four-year, $80 million jackpot. For this reason, Ryu Hyun-jin is considered a representative player who makes good use of QO.
Martinez, who also serves as a starter and bullpen, pitched 142 ⅓ innings in 42 games (starting the 16th season) this season, marking a career high with 10-7 ERA, 3.10 strikeouts, 116 strikeouts, and bWAR 4.0. He signed a two-year, $26 million FA contract with Cincinnati in December last year and transferred from the San Diego Padres. QO was not offered at the time.
However, a year later, he declared FA by giving up his player option. It was the best performance of my life, and I had no reason to spend another year for only $12 million in 2025. In the end, Cincinnati offered a QO, and 34-year-old Martinez, who has a salary of more than $20 million, also chose to return to the FA, saying he would throw a season more efficiently.
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Martinez increased his average fastball speed from 91-92 miles before entering Japan to 93 miles, sharpened his changeup as his main weapon, signed a four-year, $25.5 million contract with San Diego in the offseason in 2021 and returned to the majors.
Having a successful return season in 2022, he immediately signed an extension contract for three years and $26 million by triggering the opt-out, but after the 2023 season, San Diego gave up its club options and became an FA and moved to Cincinnati. He has 774 ⅓ innings, 37 wins and 45 losses, 4.09 ERA and 554 strikeouts in 240 MLB games.
Meanwhile, 12 players, including Willy Adames, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Corbin Burns, Max Fried, Teoscar Hernandez, Sean Munnaia, Nick Pivetta, Anthony Santander, Luis Severino, Juan Soto and Christian Walker, who rejected the original team's QO, will be rewarded if they move.
jhno@sportschosun.com
