{"id":951579,"date":"2026-10-30T06:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/951579\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T06:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:34:16","slug":"diamondbacks-expected-to-field-interest-on-ketel-marte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/951579\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamondbacks Expected To Field Interest On Ketel Marte"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Diamondbacks\u2019 biggest offseason question is whether they\u2019ll line up a\u00a0Ketel Marte<\/a> trade. Arizona fielded interest in the star second baseman early last offseason, though it seemed mostly a matter of due diligence as they explored ways to add controllable starting pitching.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a good chance the team will more aggressively shop Marte this offseason \u2014 albeit with various reasons why it may be more difficult to actually make a deal. Most notably, Marte can veto any trade after securing 10-and-5 rights (10 years of service time, the last five with one club) in April.<\/p>\n

Reports from both John Gambadoro\/Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports<\/a> and Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic<\/a> indicate that the Snakes will explore Marte trades yet again. Piecoro writes that they\u2019ve received preliminary interest from other clubs, though it\u2019s obviously very early in the process with the trade market just reopening this morning.<\/p>\n

Marte features prominently on MLBTR\u2019s list of the game\u2019s top offseason trade candidates<\/a>, slotting in at #6. That\u2019s driven in large part by comments from team officials who\u2019ve become increasingly frustrated with Marte no-showing for certain games over the years.<\/p>\n

Owner Ken Kendrick said in early October he hoped the star infielder would \u201covercome his consistent acts of immaturity.\u201d Manager Torey Lovullo said he\u2019d no longer be as protective of Marte as he\u2019d been in years past, adding \u201cat a certain point, I have to allow them (players) to advocate for themselves.\u201d General manager Mike Hazen wasn\u2019t as blunt publicly but suggested the front office may need to reshuffle part of their core after narrowly missing the playoffs for a third straight season.<\/p>\n

The GM took a similar stance when speaking with Piecoro on Thursday. Asked whether they\u2019d field offers on Marte, Hazen told The Arizona Republic, \u201cI think we need to look at some ways to shake the team up a little bit. I think we\u2019ve had this team together for a long time. We\u2019ve had some success, but we\u2019re going to find ways to make some changes in some cases. I don\u2019t know where that\u2019s going to take us.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Related: Ketel Marte\u2019s Trade Candidacy<\/a>]<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tricky balancing act for the front office. It\u2019s not ideal to sell low on a player who has shown the ability to be an impact talent. Marte was arguably the best second baseman in the league between 2021-25, combining for a .279\/.360\/.498 batting line and finishing third in MVP voting in 2023. Reports emerged late in \u201925 that Marte had frustrated teammates by traveling back to the Dominican Republic and missing their first series coming out of that year\u2019s All-Star Break. That played a part in the front office gauging interest last winter.<\/p>\n

The situation took another turn for the worse when Marte no-showed for a game in Fenway Park this past August. He was reportedly frustrated with a left knee issue that hampered his performance. Marte didn\u2019t initially report for treatment or inform the team he wasn\u2019t showing up for the game. They placed him on the restricted list, then transferred him to the injured list a few days later.<\/p>\n

Marte missed two weeks. He subsequently apologized and played the final month of the season, but it clearly represented a short-term distraction. Arizona narrowly missed the playoffs, losing out to Philadelphia for the third Wild Card spot on the season\u2019s final day. It\u2019s possible that would have been the case either way, of course, but the near miss only adds to the \u201cwhat-if\u201d questions around the entire saga.<\/p>\n

Even when he was healthy enough to play, Marte didn\u2019t play up to his typical level. He hit 22 home runs with a league average .249\/.316\/.432 slash line across 624 plate appearances. The switch-hitter destroyed lefty pitching (.307\/.359\/.571) but had a bizarrely poor year against righties (.230\/.301\/.386).<\/p>\n

Some of that may be due to the knee discomfort. There\u2019s probably also some poor luck at play, as his .245 average on balls in play against righties was way down from his .291 career mark. Marte still hit the ball hard and rarely struck out. He should be better than his 2026 numbers suggest, even if his days as an MVP finalist might be behind him at age 33.<\/p>\n

Teams will need to weigh the on-field performance and the clubhouse fit against the contract. He\u2019s signed for another five years at a total of $87.5MM. His salary for next season is only $12MM, half of which will be deferred. That\u2019s a bargain, but it\u2019ll jump to $20MM in 2028 and $22MM annually for the two seasons after that. Marte can opt out of an $11.5MM salary for the \u201931 campaign.<\/p>\n

That all presupposes that he\u2019s willing to go anywhere given his full no-trade protection. Even if he embraces a change of scenery, it\u2019s possible his camp could seek some kind of contractual kicker as a condition of waiving the 10-and-5 rights. (Marte\u2019s contract itself only includes a five team no-trade list, so that full no-trade protection would not carry over to a new team if he approves a move out of Arizona.)<\/p>\n

The D-Backs also don\u2019t have a ready made replacement at second base. Prospect Demetrio Crisantes<\/a> didn\u2019t hit for much power after a midseason promotion to Triple-A Reno, which is a supercharged offensive environment. He should open next season in the minors.\u00a0Jordan Lawlar<\/a> moved to the outfield last year after struggling defensively. The Snakes may not want to move him back on the dirt, and Lawlar has had a very difficult time staying healthy throughout his MLB career. Tim Tawa<\/a> and\u00a0Jose\u00a0Fernandez<\/a> project more as utility players than everyday second basemen.<\/p>\n

Arizona is already one or two bats short. They need to upgrade first base and\/or designated hitter and are broadly seeking to add more punch against right-handed pitching. They also need at least one starter with Michael Soroka<\/a> hitting free agency and to replace half their bullpen. It\u2019s a lot to address in one offseason, especially with ownership forecasting a cut to their payroll<\/a> now that\u00a0Zac Gallen<\/a> and\u00a0Lourdes Gurriel Jr.<\/a> are off the books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Diamondbacks\u2019 biggest offseason question is whether they\u2019ll line up a\u00a0Ketel Marte trade. Arizona fielded interest in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,27438,462,82],"class_list":["post-951579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ketel-marte","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}