Padres retain Nick Martinez on a three-year deal

On Tuesday night, Jon Heyman reported that Nick Martinez and the San Diego Padres had agreed to terms on a three-year contract.

Martinez opted out of his contract a few days ago, with the expectation being that he and the Padres would come to terms on a more lucrative deal to bring him back to San Diego.

Martinez played a key role for the Padres throughout last season, starting the year in the team’s rotation and ending it as arguably their most reliable reliever. After spending some time in Japan, Martinez made the trip back to the big leagues in 2022, logging 106 ⅓ innings with a 3.47 ERA. He made 10 starts, saved eight games, and struck out 95 batters.

The three-year contract will pay Martinez $26 million in guarantees with the opportunity to raise the total price of the deal to $42 million. According to Kevin Acee, the deal will break down like this, including performance bonuses as well:

+ 2023: $10 million guaranteed, can opt-out after

+ 2024: $8 million guaranteed, $16 million team option

+ 2025: $8 million guaranteed, $16 million team option

Giving him this level of incentives provides Martinez an opportunity to serve as a back-end starter in this rotation. Bringing him and Robert Suarez back keeps one of the league’s best pitching staffs intact for now and down the road.

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The Padres quest to improve their roster continues. They’ll likely look to add one more starting pitcher, while filling holes in the outfield, first base, and designated hitter. Currently, San Diego’s payroll sits at $193 million.

Diego Solares

Diego works at Prep Baseball Report as an Area Scout in Illinois and Missouri. He graduated this spring with a Bachelor Degree in Communications and played four years of college baseball, logging nearly 50 innings of work in a relief role. Diego hopes to work in an MLB front office one day and has been a Padres fan since he was six years old.