The Marlins offered star outfielder Starling Marte a three-year, $30MM contract extension, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Marte rejected the proposal, and Nightengale writes there’s now “a great chance” the impending free agent will be traded in advance of the July 30 deadline.
It’s not especially surprising to hear Marte and his representatives at Rep 1 Baseball passed on a $30MM proposal. Jordan McPherson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reported last month that Marte was seeking a three or four year deal that paid around $50MM.
Given how well Marte has played this year, that $50MM ask certainly doesn’t seem outlandish. He’s scheduled to hit free agency as the top center fielder available (excluding utilityman Chris Taylor) thanks to an impressive .286/.389/.443 line across 240 plate appearances. Marte has always been a productive player, but he’s hitting at a career-best level this year by virtue of a more patient approach. Marte’s chasing pitches outside the strike zone at the lowest rate of his career, enabling a personal-best 12.1% walk percentage. He’s making a strong rate of hard contact and barreling up a career-high 10.2% of batted balls, per Statcast, a mark that places him in the 66th percentile leaguewide.
Marte turns 33 years old in October, which will cap the length of any new deal. Still, he’s not yet shown any ill effects of aging. In addition to his strong offense, Marte’s still running the bases and defending at a high level. His sprint speed is down a bit relative to his physical peak, but he’s still an 85th percentile runner. And advanced defensive metrics have pegged his glovework as above-average to plus, so there wouldn’t seem to be any real concern about his ability to hold up in center field over the next couple seasons.
The Marlins’ books are almost completely empty for 2022 and beyond, so there’s room for the club to up their offer to Marte if they’d like him to stick around. If they’re unwilling to approach Marte’s asking price on a long-term investment, then a trade indeed seems the likeliest course of action. At 40-51, the Fish sit in last place in the NL East and are almost certain to miss the playoffs in 2021. The Marlins could hang onto Marte through the end of the year and make him a qualifying offer, but contending clubs seem likelier to offer a prospect return over the next couple weeks that’s more valuable than the compensatory draft choice Miami would receive if Marte rejected a QO and signed elsewhere.
A handful of contenders have received little to no production from their center fielders this season. The Yankees, Braves, Phillies, Rays, Reds, Blue Jays, Mariners, Brewers and Red Sox have all received below-average production at the position. A few of those teams (including Tampa Bay, Toronto, Milwaukee and Boston) have viable in-house alternatives that could dissuade them pursuing a center field upgrade. It’s not clear whether the Yankees and Mariners are in position to pursue an impending free agent at the deadline. The Braves’ and Phillies’ presence within the division could present an obstacle to a deal.
While there are potential roadblocks to a Marte trade in any specific case, it stands to reason a few of those center field-needy clubs will be in contact with Miami. Teams seeking corner outfield help could certainly look to Marte as well. He has plenty of early-career experience in left field, or an acquiring team could bump their incumbent center fielder to a corner to accommodate a Marte pickup. The reported lack of progress on extension talks will make Marte one of the top position player trade candidates over the next twelve days.
Giants should trade for him
Only if the prospect cost is very low. There are better areas to improve the Giants.
I dunno, they need a bat and they need a good OF. Pitching hasnt been the issue. Marte makes perfect sense for them.
A wise choice to reject that franchise. They should be relocated and renamed the New Orleans Gators.
Marlins will be competing for another world series in the next 5 years.
That depends on if Jeter and Sherman are willing to pay their players. My bet, based on this (and their past history), is that they won’t.
aloop, I don’t think this example tells us that. The Marlins aren’t likely to make the playoffs this year. Marte is not the player they need to pay.
Not paying a soon to be 33yo having a career year at the plate his desired 50 million over 4 years shows nothing but intelligence on the teams part
The deal he is asking for is the exact kind of deal that consistently hurts smaller market franchises, and results in those clubs needing to fill multiple spots from within because of the money wasted to aging, declining semi stars
Starling Marte has been good for 30 WAR over his career and typically bats a good 10-15% over the league average.
Considering JBJ just m
Nabbed 2/24. I’m not surprised Marte wants to turn this down. AJ pollock got 5/60 from a pretty intelligent baseball team. I have to imagine Marte can clear 30 with ease. 3/45 seems pretty likely to me.
Possible with that young pitching staff. Some great management too.
Get MLB out of Florida. The Marlins become the New Orleans Gators, the Rays become the Charlotte Knights and the Nashville Stars are added as an expansion team. Then add either the Las Vegas Vipers or the Portland/Vancouver (pick one) Thunderbirds as another expansion team.
Let me analyze your ideas. All of which will never happen by the way.
1. New Orleans? First and foremost who is building an indoor baseball-only stadium there? A. Nobody. What sort of TV market does New Orleans have over FLA? 50th, vs Tampa and Miami at 12, and 16. but I digress.
2. How much does MLB make when a team moves?
A. Zero
3. Is MLB going to allow a team to move? A’s or Tampa? Nope.
4. VEGAS. Another new stadium deal. Expansion only.
So the answer here is for those markets you mention to get a team All of them need a BRAND new domed stadium (maybe the exception is Nashville?)
That new owner has to foot the entire tab for the building. Maybe get some tax breaks but not public funds. And it’s expansion teams only. So good luck with those plans as they are going nowhere right now.
New Orleans can’t even keep a AAA franchise, having just seen the Baby Cakes move after the 2019 because of a lack of attendance, merchandise sales and support of the club. But they’re going to support a MLB club?
San Antonio is also fine if you guys don’t like New Orleans. I just figured New Orleans could stay in the same division more easily.
New Orleans is not an option. Try Indianapolis or San Antonio. But they’ll need a stadium overhaul to add more seating, fix lights and upgrade the facilities before attempting to build a new MLB park.
San Antonio Scorpions works for me. I’m not sure what to call an Indianapolis team.
Just a quick point: MLB can charge a relocation fee if they choose and collect money that way.
I don’t believe they did with the Expos as MLB owned the team at the time of the move when they became the Nationals.
Sorry, 48.
Neither are going anywhere.
There will be no expansion until the A’s enigma is solved. Likely need to solve Tampa and Miami too.
Lol
Montreal.
Vegas, Nashville, Montreal, and Charlotte would be my choices for new or transplanted teams in the next 5 years.
Never, ever see a MLB level franchise in Indy…. too close to Chicago (2), STL, and Cincinnati. From there, known that forever, impossible to ever occur.
Thanks for saying exactly what needed to be said. I’m tired of the knee reaction crap, Florida doesn’t deserve a team.. blah blah. Baseball’s not leaving larger markets for much smaller ones. Do these people know how much pull TV rights have in the larger markets? Charlotte?? Nashville? Why not Portland too?
Honestly they can become the Hartford Seals for all I care. They would still draw more fans than Miami.
One more note: Marlins fans need to stop acting like their team is known for winning championships. Sure, they won two relatively quickly but they have been completely irrelevant for nearly two decades now.
What fans are you talking to? I’ve never heard anyone act like we are winners. You’re hearing what you want to hear. Because what happens is the rest of the division likes to talk smack and the answer is usually “How many rings do you have?” Or “How many rings do you have since 93?”
Jeez who in Miami hurt you? It’s a fair weather city. They are doing better than they have been for years with attendance and they are like 12 under and have had pandemic restrictions. If this ownership can build something that can legit compete for a three year run you’ll see some ridiculous attendance.
I just think they would get better attendance in other Southeast cities. It stands out more in MLB because the states of North Carolina, Tennessee and Louisiana all have a team in both the NFL and the NBA. MLB only has Atlanta and the two Florida teams. The Southeast is severely lacking in MLB teams and two of the three teams that actually are in that region get no fan support.
I will give him 30 million Kohl’s Bucks
I wonder if he would like that?
Only problem, is he’d have to spend it all in a week, or lose it…..
Well they used to give a grace period
Not sure if they do it now
You could probably spend it all during the week and then gradually return all of it. Not sure if they’ve closed that loophole or not though
3 for 30 does seem a touch light. At the same time though, Marte’s a guy who value is highly derivative of his athleticism, and he’s going be 33 in October. That’s not to say he can’t continue to be productive, but these types of players carry a little more risk as they age.
I would think on a 3 year deal have to be at least for 45.
Perksy: I’m in the same ballpark as you but a little different. I’d offer a 2 yr $35,000,000.00 (18 in ’22 & 17 in ’23) w a $15,000,000.00 3rd yr club option that could be turned into a vesting option.
Giving a 33yo a big, multi year deal off his raising his OPS+ 25 points is the exact recipe for disaster we’ve seen play out countless times before
Marte has enough history to base it off his career, not just a meaningless fluctuation in his usual “sterling” numbers. Even a small market team shouldn’t find $12mm per over 4 years prohibitive.
It’ll definitely be interesting to see what he’ll get on the open market. Lorenzo Cain got 5-years and 80m; while not identical, they have somewhat similar player profiles and play the same position. Cain was a year younger than Marte was, however, and the economic climate was in a better state.
If he continues at the offensive level he’s currently performing at, I really wouldn’t be that surprised if Marte was able to net something in the 4-year 60m range.
Cain also had a higher ceiling. I think Marte is just having a career year.
I couldn’t believe Cain got that deal.
34 yr old Lance Lyyn got 14 Million a year.
Brewers would love him. We’ll give you JBJ in return….don’t worry if that’s not an even trade, we’re willing to take a little less here to get Marte. Sometimes you just gotta overpay a little.
Then the Brewers would be admitting they messed up with that Cain deal,
Messed up? Maybe they admit is was one too many years, but he helped up tremendously in 2018
The FO shrugs and says, “Well, we tried.” Yeah, whatever. Get to trading him chop-chop. They knew he wouldn’t accept a 2-year/$30M offer much less a 3-year deal for the same amount. A lot of buildup for a whole lotta nothing.
Kim Ng – “trailblazer” but only because she’s a woman, same ol same ol otherwise….
People who play identity politics want no change in status quo.
What does the sex of the GM have to do with Marte?
People reading a whole lot into this extension offer. I wouldn’t want my team to give 33 year old any more than that. His next contract is going to be a bad one for whoever signs him IMO
They could offer him a higher amount per year but on a short-term contract. Offer him $40 million for two years. Even if it doesn’t work out then the organization isn’t stuck with no way out for years.
Not if it’s just $12M/yr. That’s relatively low risk for a guy who’s averaged 4.9/WAR per 162 games for his career.
“Trailblazer but only because she’s a woman.” Wow. “Astronaut because they are in space.”
McCutchen got 3yrs 50mil from Phillies. Marte will get 50mil
McCutchen won an MVP
Whoever gives it to him will regret it quickly.
3 years 30 million. That’s borderline insulting. I don’t know what the marlins payroll situation is next year but QO him at seasons end if they decide not to trade him wouldn’t but the worst thing. You get another year of his prime and not have to extend him into ages 35,36.
If you’re going to QO someone and basically risk ending up with them for 1Y/$18+M then you should probably be willing to pay more than 3Y/$30M or a $10M AAV.
I get that they’re concerned about age on the backend but the fact that the he’s a guy they should QO basically tells you that the 3/30 just isn’t enough.
I’d rather QO him, hope he’s got one more really good year in him then cut my losses and save that extra 12 million. Decline is often quick.
Well that’s not going to happen because now that the charade of pretending to sign him is over they’re going to trade him most likely. Even if they don’t trade him, he should reject a QO because he should be able to get multiple years with a bigger guarantee.
That’s fine. The marlins would get the extra pick in the draft if he were to decline which he wouldn’t because teams would and should be scared off from the QO.
Draft money is far more valuable than anything right now.
That is an embarrassing offer. He can easily get $15 mil a year for 3years and likely more.
That’s honestly such an insulting offer. I get that you don’t want to open with what you’re actually willing to pay, but that can’t be good for their relationship.
I’d agree. I can understand them not wanting to go long in the years for the guy, and I can’t fault them for that. The AAV is an insult, however. If I were Marte I’d want to be traded because it’s quite clear I won’t be on that team next year, anyway.
Seems like a fair offer with a home team discount in mind would still be around 3 years/$38.25M or something like that. At Marte’s age, this next contract will likely be his last big one and if he can capitalize on his market, why leave even a couple of million on the table?
I don’t blame the guy and his representatives for rejecting this offer, but I don’t think he will get significantly more, either.
So I say, if he’s willing to go the route of a home team discount, meet in the middle. If people think he can get over 3 years/$50M and the initial offer is 3 years/$30M, agree to like 3 years/$43.5M or something..
But, he got traded to the Marlins, so there may not be any loyalty there and they are in the same position as any other club who will get Marte with the top bid.
In that case, seems like anything less than 3 years/$55M won’t get it done.
Never understood the “Home Team” discount. Unless a player doesn’t want to uproot his family, why should he give the team a discount?
You said it. Marge doesn’t want to uproot his family. Most of his family spend time in the DR. In Miami people think of Cubans but there are HUGE Dominican neighborhoods and influence. Then it’s a very short plane ride for a man with millions of dollars.
I’m sure he sees the Marlins could have a bright future and maybe get a ring, but that doesn’t have anything to do with his reasoning after his wife died (he considered retiring).
Oakland also needs better production out of RF, dont think of him as just a CF….
Trade him….he’s 33 in the fall and not in Miami’s winning window
Sounds like a deal Miami made to show face to say they attempted to extend him to the fan base. Now they can trade him free and clear. He wasn’t going to be a part of the next playoff Miami team anyway, the the prospects are more valuable then he is to to team.
Exactly. Pretty sure the fan base realizes this offer was not up to par for a player like Marte though.
Marte is an aging CF and doesn’t lineup with the timeline of the eta for the fish pitching prospects. Trade for a hitting prospect. When the young Marlins are ready to win in a few years, then you consider overpaying for an old player in his twilight years.
They have three top guys in the rotation right now with at least two more on the way before the year is even over. What timeline are you using? lol. Max and Edward were both big league ready like a month ago mate. They have so many aces that Sixto Sanchez might end up being the 6th man next year
I looked up the stats on MAX.. He doesn’t look like a month away to me. Lots of walks and one year in AA. I doubt they start the clock on him.
Chemo: overwhelming opinion is that the Marlins are at least 2 years from being truly competitive. That’s the timeline being used.
Not sure who’s providing these overwhelming opinions but Fish have no reason not to be contenders next year.
They have the best young pitching talent in the division and have tons of cash to burn.
Fish army nation won’t wait “at least 2 years”.
Time is now
Ok. We’ll see but I don’t know where they’re gonna get their offense from. And some of those young pitchers won’t be ready yet.
Giants weren’t supposed to compete until next year. Difference is, we have a Farhan, you have a Jeter.
Ah yes the old “price ’em out the door”.. I see what the Marlins are doing, and I can’t say I disagree. They made their token offer for the sake of posterity, let’s face it that money can be better spent elsewhere. You can recoup 80% of his production through trade or a shorter FA deal.
How are you just going to “recoup 80% of his production through trade or a shorter FA deal”?
You do realize that he’s averaged 4+ WAR per season (and on pace for that again) and the only reason he’s so cheap, right now, is because of the deal he signed with Pittsburgh, early in his career.
To find someone that is going to give you “80%” of his production, you’d have to find a team willing to trade someone that is a 3 WAR player (good luck on that) or have a FA willing to do a 1-2 year deal to play for a losing team when, if they are producing at that rate, they could get a 4+ year deal everywhere else.
If you are able to find a team willing to trade someone like that, it’s likely going to open a hole in that pitching staff everyone’s bragging about, because they are going to want your top prospects to give them up.
Even at 4/$50M, Marte is a steal.
Much of his WAR is based on his defensive prowess, his offensive output is good yes but not out of this world. I’m talking about replacing an OF bat, of which they have a few in their system and several are available via trade or through FA this offseason.
He’s a 128 OPS+ with elite CF defense and elite baserunning and back to back 4 WAR seasons, and you think you can find that for 8M or less?
Please, give me your list of players who hit those criteria. I can’t wait
Is he gonna be a steal when he’s 35 and league average? Players decline and he’s right at that age.
That’s definitely less than he can get on the open market, easy call by Marte and his team to reject this. The Marlins are signaling here that they don’t think they’re ready to contend yet
Or they don’t feel Marte is worth 50 mill. But who really knows these things
Yeah I tend to agree with an earlier poster that a shorter but higher AAV would be more ideal for him since he’s getting up there in age
Im going to have to insist that MLBTradeRumors not post articles with Negative Marlin Content that could possibly Butt Hurt Eskimo or Johnrealtime. Thank You.
Huh? I’m no Marlin fan and have no money in this game
Embarrassing lowball offer, my guess is he truly wants to stay, provide stability for his family, remember he is a recent widower
Everyone is talking about how terrible this offer is, but you have to remember that this is a player they had every intention of trading until he spoke up about wanting to stay AND he’s currently only making 12 million while just having turned 33 years old. They have a ton of outfield prospects so this was really them trying to get a nice player they probably don’t need long term at a discount. Having said that, something tells me they’re still gonna come to an agreement at 3/40 before the deadline.
Look, Marte wants to stay there. The fact he and his agent themselves set such a low, albeit fair number at 50 million indicates this guy really wants to stay there.
I’m a believer that salaries are out of control in MLB, but a 3 year contract with an average of $10 mil a year? For a 5 tool player? Damned insulting. He can probably double that in free agency.
5 tool player? He’s an aging OFr having a career year. He’s not even close to a 5 tool player.
Hmmmm….ok. Let’s see. Can he run? Check. Can he throw? Check. Hit for power? Check. Hit for average? Yep. Good glove? Yep. How many other players have this skill set? And what are their salaries?
Gold glove was a long time ago. Means nothing now. He’s well rounded but not particularly great at any category. He’s just about 34. He’s going to decline.
I definitely expected the $30M to be a two-year offer when I clicked the link. Three years makes it barely more than Ender Inciarte.
That decision didn’t go so well by the Braves…
Jesus Christ, Miami… Why?
You have a guy that truly wants to stay with your organization and would love to retire as a Marlin, and you offer him 10 mil AAV? This is a disgustingly lowball offer by the Marlins, and it is easy to see that the two sides have different views about each other right now.
Because he’s getting older and likely to decline very soon.
I think the jays have springer and have 4 solid OF options so the production from the CF doesn’t seem to be a useful metric here
3 years at $30M is an insult but the Marlins have notoriously been a cheap, bootleg organization. Good for Starling for not taking it.
Looks to me like Marte will be moved at the deadline now!
So the Marlins never had any intention to sign him. I hope the marlins fan doesn’t fall for this pathetic positive pr attempt. @marlinsfanbase
What a low-ball Marlins offer. They had to know he was going to reject that
Hoping Hahn targets him. Sox could use an OF upgrade to put them over the top.
Please don’t trade Bader for him Cards—-
The Marlins may try to claim they made an attempt to sign Marte before trading him, but that is an insultingly low offer for a player of his caliber.
It really isn’t. Someone will panic and pay him slightly more, but the year 3 of the contract is such low expectations. This year, in the entire league, there are 3 players, 35 or older, that have an fWAR of > 1.6, and one was/is a PED user.
At $7M/WAR, that’s only a 1.5-WAR season. Marte is pretty likely to blow past that each of the next three seasons.
That 1WAR is worth 7 million equation is so dumb. I don’t buy it for a second. It seems designed to justify overpays.
It’s based on historical data.
FG predicts Marte for 4.4 WAR over the next three years. At $7M per, that equates to $30.8M/3, or almost exactly what Miami offered.
That projection is for 2021-23, with 2021 protected at 1.8 WAR. He’s already at 2.8 WAR this year, so I’d expect his projection to increase for 2022-24 given a new, higher baseline.
That being said, I’m surprised how close those FG numbers and $$7M/ WAR are to the Marlins’ offer. I still think Marte will get at least $10M more in total.
It’s based on historical overpays.
The $$$ amount is too low per year, but three years is also too long. He’ll be 33 at the start of his next contract. That’s well past the point of decline. At his age, it is roughly the equivalent of signing someone that was 33, in 2018, to a 4-year contract (20+21 = one season). There are only 6 players meeting those criteria with a cumulative fWAR > 2.9.
If he is looking for 3 years at 50m, offer him a 3 year deal at 19m per year for the first two years and a mutual option for 12m in the 3rd and final year. Throw a 2m dollar buyout on the option. Then you get him for either 2yrs at what amounts to 40m, or 3yrs at 50m if he stays productive. Fair deal for both sides.
What if he gets popped for juicing again?
If he resignes in Miami he’ll have no idea who he’ll be playing beside in 2 years.
At that age I’d want more stability knowing my talent is about to move into a front office job in another couple years. Max.