Red Sox pitcher Chris Martin knows a thing or two about getting traded.
The right-handed reliever has twice been moved at the deadline to a contending team and could be joining his fourth team in the last two seasons if Boston deals him in the coming weeks.
Martin talked about his trade deadline experiences while appearing on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” this week.
“I can tell you the rumors, I don’t know how much you can believe in them. A lot of the stuff, in my experience, a lot of the rumors are not true,” Martin said (14:00 in player above). “You looked at them, like ‘I could go here, here.’ It was all over the place and then a team that was never talked about is the one that actually gets you. So if I had any advice for any guys that are in the trade market it’s just compete and play baseball.”
Martin had a shaky start to his career in Colorado and with the Yankees. He settled down a bit finally with the Rangers in 2018 and then 2019, when Texas dealt him to Atlanta at the deadline.
“It was stressful. To be honest, you go and try to do too much,” Martin said. “The first week there I didn’t do so well. A lot was on my mind… You go out and stink it up, it’s not a good feeling.”
The newcomer had a perfect inning against Cincinnati in his Braves debut but then gave up six runs in his next five outings (3 ⅔ innings pitched).
“Luckily, Ron Washington was a big help for me over in Atlanta,” Martin said. “He pulled me aside and said ‘Hey man, you don’t have to do anymore. Just go out there and be yourself. Have fun.’ And I was like this guy’s been around the game a long time, he didn’t have to pull me aside and do that, and it kind of took off from there.”
Martin spent the next two seasons in Atlanta, winning a World Series with the Braves in 2021. He then signed with the Chicago Cubs ahead of the 2022 season.
After allowing 19 earned runs in over 43 innings with the Braves in 2021, he allowed 15 runs in just 31 ⅓ innings with the Cubs. Still, with Chicago in selling mode, Martin thought a trade was coming.
“I kind of expected it last year. Obviously, there’s a little doubt. I didn’t have the greatest numbers, ERA and all that stuff wasn’t great, but obviously, there are some numbers that were good,” he said. “And I knew I had experience in the playoffs and World Series. I had a pretty good chance of going to a contender.”
Martin woke up to several missed calls and was informed that he’d been traded to the Dodgers on July 30th of last year.
He once again had a less-than-ideal start, allowing one run in his first appearance, but then he was lights out. Martin allowed just four runs in 24 ⅔ innings with the Dodgers last season.
The 37-year-old reliever is once again having a great season and could find himself on a new team come August.
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