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Former top Blue Jay prospect Orelvis Martínez released by Nationals
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Photo credit: © Jonathan Dyer - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Mar 23, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 23, 2026, 08:32 EDT
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A former top Toronto Blue Jay prospect has been released by the Washington Nationals.
On Saturday, the Washington Nationals transaction log noted that Orelvis Martínez has been released. The infielder had been reassigned to the minor leagues earlier in the month after signing a minor league deal with the team.
The thing is, Martínez didn’t play poorly in the games he played, slashing .400/.455/.400 with no home runs in 11 Spring Training plate appearances, good enough for a 129 wRC+. It seems probable that the 24-year-old will land  in another organization on a minor league deal given his solid Spring Training and power potential.
That said, Martínez has had a rough two years. The Dominican Republic product burst onto the scene in 2019, where he hit seven home runs in 163 plate appearances with the Blue Jays Dominican Summer League team. It wasn’t until Juan Sanchez’s breakout year in 2025 that the team had someone perform like that in the DSL.
Martínez continued trending upward in 2021, mainly spending the season with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays, but spending his final 27 games with the High-A Vancouver Canadians, where he hit an organization-high 28 home runs in 451 plate appearances.
At the age of 20, Martínez spent the 2022 season with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. His tenure was a mixed bag, slashing just .203/.286/.446, but hitting an organization-leading 30 home runs, which is impressive given how young he was for the level. He bounced back in 2023, slashing .243/.340/.496 with 28 home runs in 538 plate appearances, with his K% dropping from 28.5% to 23.4%.
Then, Martínez’s 2024 happened. On June 16th, 2024, the third baseman was slashing .260/.343/.523 with 16 home runs in 269 plate appearances, earning a call up to the big leagues. He even notched his first career hit in his three plate appearances, but received an 8-game PED suspension on June 23rd.
Martínez returned toward the end of the season and hit well with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, but with the Blue Jays finishing 74-88 in 2024, the third baseman missed his chance of getting a long look in the big leagues. He was a far cry from the player he was before the suspension in 2025, slashing just .176/.288/.348 with 13 home runs in 394 plate appearances for a 74 wRC+, eventually being designated for assignment and released by the Jays.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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