Kansas City Royals: Team should claim Nick Martini off waivers

Nick Martini was designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics and could be a low key solid pickup for the Kansas City Royals.

With the questions surrounding Alex Gordon‘s future with the Kansas City Royals beyond this season, the team would be smart to take a look at Nick Martini who was recently designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics. The A’s promoted first basement Seth Brown who slashed 0.297/0.352/0.34 with 37 home runs and 104 RBI’s in 112 games for Triple-A Las Vegas.

Martini, 29, was the odd man out. He played in just 6 games this season for the Athletics but slashed 0.328/0.432/0.482 with 8 home runs and 42 RBI’s in 70 games for Triple-A. The former St. Louis Cardinals 7th round pick in the 2011 draft signed with the A’s as a free agent in the 2017 offseason.

In 2018, he saw action in 55 games with the Athletics and slashed 0.296/0.397/0.414 with 9 doubles, 3 triple, 1 home run and 19 RBI’s. He doesn’t have a ton of pop in his bat but he’s a consistent line-drive hitter that has displayed the ability to hit to all three fields.

Martini can play all three outfield positions and even pitched an inning in a blowout earlier this year, so Alex Gordon truly does have some competition. Anyways, it would be a low-risk claim off waivers and they could get a look at him for the rest of the season with a potential one-year deal for next season.

I realize it’s the minor leagues but his 0.913 OPS in Triple-A this season is mighty attractive. Martini did have an 0.811 OPS in 2018 in the big leagues last year, so there is some correlation there. He’s a patient hitter that will take his walks, would would be invaluable for this Royals team.

His contract with the Athletics this season was just for $558,000. Obviously, he’s not on the Royals 40-man roster, so a corresponding move would have to be made to accommodate him.