The Cincinnati Reds continued to add to their bullpen depth this week, albeit again on the frugal side of the transaction tree. As Francys Romero reported, the Reds are bringing in right-hander Yunior
Marte on a minor league deal that includes an invite to spring training in Goodyear, a deal that will pay him some $1.05 million should he make the big league roster come Opening Day.
Marte, who’ll turn 31 in February, spent a good chunk of the 2022, 2023, and 2024 seasons in Major League Baseball before spending 2025 in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons. His big league time was marked by elite fastball velocity (98.3 mph average across 39.1 IP in 2023) and admittedly iffy results (just a 74 ERA+ and 4.77 FIP in 113.1 total IP) while splitting time with the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies, but his work with Chunichi in the Japan Central League last year was much better (32.1 IP, 1.95 ERA, 3.35 FIP).
Originally signed by the Kansas City Royals back in 2012, Marte landed with the Giants as a free agent in December of 2020 before later being traded to the Phillies for Erik Miller. The Phillies granted him free agency at the end of the 2024 season and he briefly spent time with the Seattle Mariners in early 2025 before they released him to pursue opportunities abroad.
With Chunichi in 2025, he was teammates with Michael Chavis, whom the Reds also recently signed to a minor league deal. That club also featured on Jason Vosler, whom you may remember from that one ridiculous week in April 2023 with Cincinnati in which he socked dingers in three straight games during the season’s first homestand while serving as the unintentional replacement for Joey Votto at 1B.
Marte, it’s worth pointing out, is out of options at this stage of his career. So, if he somehow forces his way onto the Reds active roster they’ll have to pass him through waivers to again ship him back to the minors. That means they’ll need to be pretty firmly convinced he’s ready for big league action when they finally decide to promote him lest they risk losing him for being used merely as a short-term injury replacement for a different arm.
