If you're a New York Yankees fan and possess any reasonable insight into how the roster should be constructed, keep it to yourself. Because every time we vocalize something that's sensible and helpful, it feels as if the front office purposefully ignores whatever suggestions are made in an open forum.
Every once in a while, though, there's a reason why the Yankees didn't do what you had hoped they would, which was the case on Monday with veteran pitcher Nick Martinez.
The right-hander signed with the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays on a one-year contract on Monday, which is obviously something the Yankees could've reasonably done. Their payroll is already an all-time high. A few more million for worthwhile pitching insurance isn't going to change much. But, as it turns out, the Rays actually coughed up a solid chunk of change, giving Martinez $13 million for the 2026 season.
In a normal situation, the Yankees could afford that, but since they are being taxed 100% on every dollar spent after passing the Cohen Tax threshold, Martinez actually would've cost them $26 million — which is millions more the right-hander made after a down 2025 season in which he accepted the hefty qualifying offer from the Cincinnati Reds.
It's clear why Yankees lost Nick Martinez...but why did it have to be the Rays?
Martinez isn't a can't-miss high-profile talent, but he's a durable, versatile option with plenty of experience pitching out of the rotation and bullpen. Over the past four seasons with the Padres and Reds, he logged a total of 524 2/3 innings across 192 total games (61 of which were starts). He's been good for a 3.67 ERA and 3.96 FIP.
Though 2025 was technically his worst year of the bunch, he still pitched a career-high 165 2/3 innings and registered 2.3 WAR. Our best way to describe Martinez is a better, right-handed version of Ryan Yarbrough, who will be serving in the exact same role for the Yankees in 2026.
Martinez would've been an essential asset, but that possibility likely went up in flames after Trent Grisham accepted the qualifying offer. At that point, there was no way they could pay another respectable pitcher because of the escalating payroll, as well as the need to retain Cody Bellinger if they wanted a chance to sustain anything of relevance after 2026.
In theory, they have enough pitching, but it's not enough to beat the best of the best offenses, as we saw in last year's postseason (and many others before that). Far too often their bullpen implodes and their starters are exhausted by the time September rolls around, setting themselves up for October failure. Perhaps things could change in 2026 as they've structured things a bit differently, but it's hard to take that seriously with guys like Jake Bird, Angel Chivilli, Brent Headrick and Cade Winquest in the fold (and expected to play somewhat significant roles, based on how the bullpen is stacking up).
Martinez represented a known commodity that would've been worth the money prior to the 100% tax hit, which we'll admit might've never been avoidable. But that's exactly the problem. How many more offseasons is a significantly flawed roster going to be pushed up the largest tax penalty, preventing them from making the additional 2-3 moves needed to take the next step?
