Toronto Blue Jays officially release power hitting infielder

The initial DFA move was made in order to put pitcher Alek Manoah back on the 40-man roster. The former ace was then optioned to Triple-A.

Ordinarily, when a player is designated for assignment, a team has seven days to trade, release, or outright them. However, players on the 40-man roster cannot be traded after September 1st. That essentially gave Toronto no choice but to release him.

While the Blue Jays could have gotten creative and placed the one-time top prospect on the 60-day IL, that would have required paying him a prorated salary of $70K. It's clear that the Blue Jays weren't comfortable with that option and chose to release him instead.

After making his debut in 2024, Martinez was suspended 80 games for PED use. He then spent the rest of the season and all of 2025 in Triple-A.

His year did not go well. He's batting .176/.288/.348 while striking out at a 28.4% clip through 394 plate appearances. His power numbers of also taken a dip.

This isn't necessarily the end of Martinez' time with the Blue Jays, as Toronto could opt to bring him back on a minor league contract whilst keeping him off the 40-man roster. It's a relatively common scenario for DFA'd players.

However, with the infield essentially set for the Blue Jays and with Martinez' defence being sub-par, the Blue Jays might cut ties with the slugging infielder all together.

Still just 24, Martinez' raw power can be intriguing to a lot of teams, who could utilize him as a designated hitter.

Martinez is now free to negotiate with any team.