Ex-Reds pitcher provides ideal blueprint for Nick Martinez qualifying offer decision

Nick Martinez’s decision to accept the Reds’ $21.05 million qualifying offer was rare, but not unprecedented. Accepting this offer allows Martinez to solidify his identity and marketability in hopes of negotiating a better deal with Cincinnati or entering free agency next winter. Both the Reds and Martinez will hope the right-hander will follow in the footsteps of one of the great QO success stories: Kevin Gausman.

Gausman, like Martinez, was riding several seasons of uncertainty when the Giants extended him an $18.9 million qualifying offer prior to the 2021 campaign. Over the previous two years, he had played for three teams, including the Reds, and had lost himself.

When Cincinnati claimed Gausman off waivers from Atlanta in 2019, he moved from the rotation to the bullpen, finding limited success. He found himself a starter again in San Francisco in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Nick Martinez will hope to replicate Kevin Gausman’s post-qualifying offer success

Gausman had a decent year in 2020, but just under 60 innings of ball in the strangeness of the pandemic wasn’t enough to convince the Giants to lock him down long-term. Thus, the qualifying offer was sent his way.

Martinez’s story mirrors Gausman’s in many ways to this point. He, too, has bounced between the rotation and the ‘pen; although, the Reds view this flexibility as an asset rather than a concern. Considering the promising young starters on the way, Martinez could be the piece that provides both time for growth and an open slot when the rookies are ready. Like Gausman, Martinez doesn’t have the track record of long-term MLB success, having spent four seasons in Japan (2018-2021).

Gausman was able to shut down the doubters with a breakout 2021 campaign. He blossomed into a perennial Cy Young candidate and earned his first All-Star nod. He maintained his impressive control while bumping up his strikeout rate, and he helped march the Giants to an NL West division title.

And then Gausman walked. He took a five-year, $110 million deal with Toronto, where he has continued to be a workhorse and a strikeout machine. That, of course, is where the Reds hope the similarities between Gausman and Martinez meet.

2025 feels like a year in transition for the Reds. Players returning from injury, new faces on the horizon, and perhaps a couple more free-agent signings will turn Cincinnati upside down. Amid all the changes, Martinez will have a chance to define himself, and the Reds will have an opportunity to figure him into (or out of) the long-term plans for the future. For both parties, a breakout season would put quell some of the uncertainty and chaos.