On Friday night, the Washington Nationals came up just a little bit short in what might have been their wildest game of the 2025 season so far. With only 2 games left to play in this nightmare campaign, all attention will now shift to the departure of legendary Nationals broadcaster Bob Carpenter, before fully embracing the future and beyond by looking ahead to the 2026 season.
Part of that future equation has already been decided, as the team hired a new President of Baseball Operations earlier this week in Paul Toboni. He is expected to spearhead the organization beginning in just a few days, and it will be interesting to see how he decides to address his hire for General Manager to work alongside him before filling out a coaching staff.
However, interim GM Mike DeBartolo is still at the helm for at least the next few days, and he just made a really interesting signing that has the potential to be a true lottery ticket if it pans out. After being designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the week, the Nationals signed infielder Orelvis Martinez to a minor league deal for next season.
So what makes this signing such an intriguing one for the Nationals? Martinez is a former Top 100 prospect who is still just 23-years-old, and will be just 24 at the beginning of next season. According to Baseball America, Martinez ranked as highly as the #75 player in the minors back in 2022, and was ranked as #90 before the 2024 season. According to MLB Pipeline, he was ranked at #89 before the 2024 season, so the prospect pedigree is still there for Martinez.
However, the wheels fell off his prospect hype following a 2024 suspension for PED's, which he later said was for fertility issues, as him and his girlfriend were attempting to have children. Regardless of that, his numbers since coming back from that suspension have not been great, and the shine on the former top prospect has almost completely fallen off.
The 2025 numbers for Martinez were ugly, with a .176/.288/.348 slash line that was good for only a .636 OPS in AAA after posting an .869 OPS in AAA back in 2024 before his suspension. It's fair to wonder how much the pressure of living up to his former hype was bothering him this past season, but it is still a worthwhile pickup for the Nationals to see if he can tap into his 60-grade power and recover some of his previous form.
For Martinez, it's a really good landing spot in theory, as the Nationals are still trying to figure out how their infield will be structured for the long-term future, and Martinez might just get an opportunity to prove he belongs if he can tap into his raw talent that once made him such a coveted prospect. Hopefully for the Nationals, Martinez can prove that his previous numbers were not a result of PED's only, and he can establish himself as a legitimate lineup option alongside guys like James Wood, Daylen Lile, CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews, and the rest of the Nationals youngsters.
What do you think of the Orelvis Martinez signing? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.