—Arizona Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen told MLB Network’s Jon Morosi on the subject of Ketel Marte trade rumors, “We’ll see where the conversations go, but it’s mostly unlikely for that stuff to happen.” And from the sounds of things, there are a lot of those conversations, with John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix tweeting that “no less than seven teams have already inquired about (Marte’s) availability.”

There’s no denying that Arizona needs to add pitching. And if the Snakes are ever going to consider moving Marte, now is the time. He’s a 32-year-old middle infielder with five years left on his contract, and his five-team no trade clause becomes a full no-trade clause once the 2026 season begins, per Spotrac. So far, though, it mostly seems like smoke without fire.

—Both the Marlins and Pirates have expressed a greater willingness/desire to spend this offseason than in years past, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon.

Even more so than the Orioles, we’ll believe the Pirates are ready to spend only after they actually do some spending for the first time ever. But the Marlins scuttlebutt could be legitimate. If they add a bat or two instead of doing their usual thing and trading away the likes of Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera, maybe they could win the NL East for the first time in franchise history?

—In that same article from The Athletic, Rosenthal and Sammon reported that Edwin Díaz wants a repeat of his record-setting (for a closer) five-year, $102M contract.

He turns 32 in March and is hitting free agency fresh off one of the best seasons of his career. However, with so many closers available this winter—Robert Suarez, Pete Fairbanks, Kenley Jansen, Ryan Helsley, Kyle Finnegan, Raisel Iglesias, Emilio Pagán, Devin Williams and still more viable options—there might be an awful lot of “we’ll have our people call your people” responses to his requests for nine figures.

—New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported that the Mets are among the teams who could be in on Cody Bellinger this winter.

They definitely could benefit from an upgrade in center field, and the opportunity to stick it to the Yankees for a second consecutive offseason won’t be lost on Steve Cohen. But for all their talk of “run prevention” and their clear need for help in the starting rotation, we’ll see if Bellinger is actually anywhere near the top of their wish list.

—In another report from Rosenthal, Max Scherzer wants to pitch another season and the most obvious landing spot for him is the San Francisco Giants. They desperately need starting pitchers, new manager Tony Vitello was his pitching coach in college and the Giants just last winter gave Justin Verlander a one-year deal. If only one of the rumors floating around this week actually comes to fruition, this is the obvious pick.

—Among the many things Scott Boras said on Wednesday, Tatsuya Imai’s agent stated that he will be posted by the Seibu Lions on Nov. 19. That means teams will have until Jan. 3 to sign one of the best arms available. We also already know that Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami needs to be signed by Dec. 22. Bring on the fireworks.