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Right-hander Nick Martinez has accepted the Cincinnati Reds' $21.05 million qualifying offer. Agent Scott Boras said Monday that Martinez had informed the MLB players' association he will accept. Martinez, 34, opted to stay put after a breakout season in which he finished 10-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 42 games in16 starts and struck out 116 batters in 142⅓ innings.  The deadline for players to accept or decline qualifying offers is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. Martinez is 37-45 with a 4.09 ERA in 240 games (103 starts) with the Texas Rangers (2014-17), San Diego Padres (2022-23) and Reds. After four years of middling success with the Texas Rangers, Martinez spent four seasons in Japan, thriving in 2021 with a 1.60 ERA in 140⅔ innings. He returned stateside with more fastball velocity and an elite Vulcan-grip changeup he learned while in Japan. Before he joined the Reds, Martinez had opted out of the final two years of his contract with San Diego that would have paid him $16 million after the Padres declined their two-year, $32 million club option. He signed a two-year deal with the Reds in 2023, which included the opt-out after the first season. ESPN's Jeff Passan, Field Level Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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