Pirates should snag power-hitting former Blue Jays top prospect after surprise DFA

The Pittsburgh Pirates are at the point of the year where they don’t have anything to play for. They’ve secured yet another losing record, but at the very least, now is the time they should try different young players out. One who was recently designated for assignment is infielder Orelvis Martinez from the Toronto Blue Jays. With little to lose, the Pirates should see if they can figure something out with the once-promising power-hitting youngster.

If there’s anyone who needs a change-of-scenery right now, it’s Martinez. Heading into 2024, Martinez was a consensus top 100 prospect. He was living up to his potential too, as he started the year off hitting .267/.346/.523, with a .375 wOBA and 123 wRC+. It only took 318 plate appearances for him to go yard 17 times, leading to a .256 isolated slugging percentage. Martinez’s 8.5% walk rate and 23.8% strikeout rate weren’t anything to write home about, but he was plenty good enough to make his Major League debut.

However, just two days after he made his debut on June 21, 2024, Martinez was hit with a PED suspension. Unfortunately, his return to play hasn’t been great, to say the least. In 394 plate appearances at Triple-A, Martinez is slashing just .176/.288/.348, with a .292 wOBA and 72 wRC+. Martinez is still hitting for some pop, with 13 homers and a .173 isolated slugging percentage. He is also drawing walks at a healthy 11.9% rate. But the obvious red flag is the strikeouts. He has gone down on strike three in 28.4% of his plate appearances, and has a whiff rate of 35.2%.

Why should Pirates claim former Blue Jays top prospect Orelvis Martinez?

So, what reasons would the Pirates have for claiming Martinez? First, he is still ranked relatively high in the Blue Jays’ system. Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline have him as a top 15 prospect in their farm system, at Nos. 13 and 12, respectively. Both still like his power potential, projecting it as a 60-grade item on his tool belt. He may struggle to make contact, but the Pirates could use the upside when it comes to hitting for power.

The second reason is that Martinez still has an option remaining. The Jays designated him for assignment to make room for Alek Manoah getting activated from the 60-day IL. The Pirates don’t have to immediately put him on the Major League roster if they don’t want to. They would definitely find more upside in Martinez, rather than keep rostering Ronny Simon, and especially Ryan Kreidler.

Martinez is still just 23 as well. He won’t turn 24 until November, so his foundation hasn’t set in yet. The Pirates don’t need to add Martinez to their Major League roster immediately; he’s still a fairly worthwhile prospect, and they could use a young player with that sort of powerful upside. They could get all of that for relatively cheap by going after Martinez after he was DFA’d.