Toronto Blue Jays surprisingly cut ties with former top slugging prospect

The 23-year-old Martinez, who appeared in his first and only MLB game to date with the Blue Jays in 2024, was having a miserable season with Triple-A Buffalo.

It's quite the fall from grace for Martinez, who, heading into the 2024 season, was listed as the second-best prospect in the Blue Jays system.

His stock was rising even more shortly after, as he hit .267 with 17 home runs and 49 RBI in 74 games at the Triple A level before being called up to the Blue Jays.

That stint with the Jays wound up being short-lived, however, as Martinez received an 80-game suspension just two days after his MLB debut after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

Although Martinez hit well after his suspension, the 2024 season was a perfect opportunity to showcase what he could do at the big league level had the Blue Jays had a dismal season.

The suspension got in the way of that.

What's worse is that Martinez has had a brutal 2025 season, slashing just .176/.288/.348 with 13 home runs in 394 plate appearances for a 72 wRC+.

While his 11.9 BB% is still respectable, his 28.4 K% is the worst since his 2022 season with the Fisher Cats.

MLB Pipeline ranked Martinez as their 12th-best Blue Jays prospect in the mid-season update.

Power is his calling card, but a concern that has lingered throughout his development is whether or not his hit tool would be good to tap into it.

For a while, it looked as if it were possible, but Martinez has had a pretty tough year.

Add the fact that he has a lot of swing and misses on soft stuff while not having a defensive home, and his position in the organization is a little worrisome.

Martinez hadn't played since Aug. 31 due to the injury before Buffalo deactivated him.