Texas Rangers pitcher Chris Martin officially announced his retirement today.
Martin, who turned 40 this past June, had a long and unusual career. Drafted in the 18th round of the 2004 draft out of Arlington High School by the Detroit Tigers, he passed on signing and enrolled at McLennan Community College. The following year, he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 21st round as a draft-and-follow, but ended up needing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder and thus didn’t sign then,
either.
Martin signed with the Fort Worth Cats for 2007, but ongoing shoulder issues sidelined him again, and he never pitched for them. He spent the next three years working a variety of jobs outside of baseball before trying the indy league route again in 2010. 36 innings over 13 games for Grand Prairie in the American Association that year led to him signing with Boston in March of 2011, at the age of 24.
Martin spent the 2011-13 seasons in the Boston system before being traded in the 2013-14 offseason to the Rockies. He bounced up and down between the majors and the minors in 2014, was acquired by the Yankees in the 2014-15 offseason, and spent another year going between AAA and the majors.
Following the 2015 season, Martin signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the NPB, and had two very successful seasons working in relief for them. Returning to the United States after that, Martin signed with the Texas Rangers, and pitched for them until the 2019 trade deadline, when he was sent to Atlanta for Kolby Allard.
Martin pitched for the Braves, Cubs, Dodgers and Red Sox before returning to Texas in 2025 for what he expected to be his final season. Though he had injury issues, he put up a 2.98 ERA in 49 games, and felt good enough to put his retirement plans on hold and sign another one year deal with Texas. Unfortunately, 2026 did not go as well, as he had multiple stints on the i.l. and managed just 14 innings in 16 games with a 9.00 ERA before being released in August.
Despite ending on a down note, Martin has had an impressive career, particularly given the issues he had to overcome to even get a contract with a major league team. Best of luck to him in his post-playing days.
