The Rangers announced Friday that they’ve traded outfielder J.P. Martinez to the Braves in exchange for minor league right-hander Tyler Owens. Texas needed to open a spot on its 40-man roster in order to finalize yesterday’s reported signing of David Robertson, and a trade of the 27-year-old Martinez seemingly paves the way for that signing to be made official. Robertson is taking his physical in Texas on Friday.
Martinez made his big league debut with the Rangers in 2023, appearing in 17 games and tallying 44 plate appearances late in the season. He hit .225/.250/.325 with a homer, a double and an unsightly 16 strikeouts (36.4%) during that cup of coffee. His output in 77 Triple-A games (353 plate appearances) was far more encouraging. The lefty-swinging Martinez slashed .298/.418/.543 with 14 long balls, 21 doubles, four triples and a hefty 38 stolen bases in 42 attempts. The small-sample strikeout woes that plagued him in the majors weren’t present in Triple-A; he walked at a 15.6% clip in Round Rock and fanned at a much more manageable 22.9% rate.
It’s worth noting that Martinez was older and more experienced than much of his competition in Triple-A. In addition to five minor league seasons, he played five years in the Cuban National Series (Cuba’s top professional league) and spent two seasons in the independent Canadian-American Association. Be that as it may, it was still an impressive showing and far and away his most productive minor league performance to date since signing with the Rangers organization in March of 2018. Martinez at one point ranked second among Rangers prospects, per Baseball America, but he dropped to 27th the following year (2020) and has been off the radar on major prospect rankings for the organization since.
The Braves’ outfield is full with Jarred Kelenic in left, Michael Harris II in center and reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. in right field. It’s feasible that Martinez could compete with Forrest Wall and non-roster veteran Jordan Luplow for a bench spot to begin the season. Martinez (two) and Wall (three) both have minor league option years remaining, so either could be sent down without needing to first be exposed to waivers. Luplow isn’t on the 40-man roster and would need to earn a job this spring.
