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LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers will get to keep left-handed relief pitcher Jarret Martin in the organization as depth at least a little while longer. The 25-year-old cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Monday, the team announced.
Martin was designated for assignment on Nov. 22, removed from the 40-man roster to make room for pitcher Mike Bolsinger, acquired from the Diamondbacks for cash considerations.
The Dodgers added Martin to the 40-man roster in November 2013, but never got the call to the big club in part thanks to 48 walks in 54⅔ innings with Double-A Chattanooga, a 19.4-percent walk rate that was the highest among all Dodgers minor league pitchers in 2014 with at least 16 innings.
If anything, the Oklahoma City bullpen figures to have at least two left-handed pitchers. With J.P. Howell set for the Dodgers' bullpen in 2015, he will likely be joined by one of Paco Rodriguez and Adam Liberatore, with the other southpaw joining Martin with the RedHawks, and that is before considering the role of current starting pitcher Chris Reed.
More Martin
Martin is still technically eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 Draft, held on Dec. 11 at the Winter Meetings in San Diego, though it seems unlikely the Dodgers would lose him for a pair of reasons. For one, any team could have claimed Martin with no strings attached once the Dodgers put him on outright waivers, but no team did.
Taking Martin in the Rule 5 Draft would also involve giving the Dodgers $50,000, and his new team would have to keep Martin on the active roster for all of 2015, or they'd have to offer him back to Los Angeles for $25,000. It seems unlikely a team would take a risk on committing a 25-man roster spot to Martin next week, but even if they did he'd have to stick all year with the major league team for him to stay with the new organization, which is another long shot.
Martin was acquired with outfielder Tyler Henson from the Orioles on Dec. 8 2011 in exchange for pitcher Dana Eveland.
The Dodgers did have three pitchers pitch for them in 2014 — Daniel Coulombe, Carlos Frias and Red Patterson — who began the season off a 40-man roster. Martin, if and when he makes it back to a 40-man roster, has two option years remaining.