The Red Sox' second foray into the free agent market Friday was, like their first, a move to improve the bullpen.
According to ESPN, the Red Sox agreed to a two-year deal with right-handed reliever Chris Martin, worth $17.5 million. Martin, 36, split time between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers last season, having been dealt from the former to the latter at the trade deadline.
Combined, Martin was 4-1 with a 3.05 in 60 games and a 1.151 WHIP, with an incredible 74/5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Precise control has been a hallmark of Martin's career -- in 269 appearances, covering 251.1 innings, he's issued just 34 walks. Lifetime, his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 7.1
Martin has also pitched for Colorado, the New York Yankees and Atlanta in his career, during which he was a classic late bloomer, making his major league debut in 2014 at the age of 28.
He's not unfamiliar with the Red Sox system, having been signed by the Red Sox out of independent ball in 2011. He spent time in their system at High A, Double A Portland and Triple A Pawtucket from 2011-2014.
Over parts of seven big league seasons, he's 9-16 with a 3.84 ERA. He's also excelled in the postseason, with a 1.88 ERA over 16 games. Martin's fastball, which he throws in the mid-90s, is a pitch he throws almost half the time. He also features a cutter and changeup, and very occasionally, a curve and slider.
At six-foot-eight, Martin is one of the tallest players in MLB history.
The move comes a day after the Red Sox lost out in the bidding for pitcher Zack Eflin, who decided to take a three-year, $40 million deal from the Tampa Bay Rays rather than the same offer from the Sox. Eflin lives in Orlando, Fl., so geography and lifestyle played a role in his decision, as did the absence of a state income tax in Florida.
Eflin pitched in relief for the Phillies this past season, but has started, too. It's not known how the Red Sox intended to use him.
BSJ ANALYSIS
Martin has just nine career saves over seven big league seasons, so it would seem unlikely -- though not impossible -- that the Red Sox intend to use him in the closer's role. But with Matt Barnes as the only other pitcher in their current bullpen with significant closing experience, anything is possible.
It's more likely that Martin will join John Schreiber as the team's primary righthanded set-up man. Martin has never averaged more than an inning per appearance in his major league career, so it's doubtful he'll see much use as a multi-inning weapon.
Still, Martin fulfills two needs the Red Sox have identified two needs -- swing-and-miss ability and control. After joining the Dodgers, Martin walked exactly one hitter for them over 24.2 innings, an almost absurd level of strike-throwing.
At an average of $8.75 million per season, Martin is not inexpensive. But given the way teams now lean on their bullpens to provide nearly half -- or more than half -- of their total innings, salaries are, not surprisingly, spiking. Nick Martinez re-signed with the Padres with an AAV of better than $9 million, and Houston retained Rafael Montero with a three-year deal with an AAV of $11.5 million. Like Martin, Martinez isn't a closer, and Montero only established himself as one this past year.
Martin is the second free agent reliever signed in recent weeks by the Sox, who signed lefty Joely Rodriguez last month to a one-year deal with a club option for 2024.
Having committed approximately $10 million to their bullpen with the Rodriguez and Martin signings, the Red Sox could still be capable of another big move for a reliever. Closer Kenley Jansen remains unsigned, along with lefties Taylor Rogers and Andrew Chafin.
For now, however, a bullpen featuring Barnes, Schreiber, Martin, Tanner Houck, Josh Taylor, Rodriguez along with Zack Kelly and perhaps Franklin German represents an upgrade for the Sox.