Starling Marte is the clear top option in this winter’s free agent center field class. Unsurprisingly, early interest seems to be robust, as Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reports (Twitter links) that both the Marlins and Mets have expressed interest in the 33-year-old. Those NL East clubs join the Yankees and division-rival Phillies as known entrants in his market. There are no doubt other clubs who have or will express interest in Marte, who’s coming off a stellar .308/.381/.456 showing between Miami and the A’s.
Miami’s early interest is eyebrow-raising, since he and the Marlins couldn’t agree to terms during midseason extension negotiations this summer. Reports suggested the Fish balked at offering a fourth guaranteed year a few months back, and going to that length again figures to be necessary to land Marte’s services now that he can field offers from all 30 clubs. It’s not as if his stock tanked after the deal, as Marte continued to be an offensive force (.312/.355/.462 with 25 stolen bases in just 56 games) for Oakland down the stretch. MLBTR projects he’ll ultimately land a four-year deal worth $80MM, a figure that would come in quite a bit higher than the money Marte reportedly targeted in original extension talks.
The Mets, meanwhile, are still trying to finalize the structure of their front office. That could pose a challenge for them in making any impactful moves early in the winter, but whomever the Mets hire to lead baseball operations is expected to look for some form of outfield help. Michael Conforto has already rejected New York’s qualifying offer, and his potential departure would leave a vacancy in the grass in Flushing. A Marte pursuit would be one way to replace Conforto, with current center fielder Brandon Nimmo probably sliding over to right field were a deal to get done.
Some news on a few more free agents:
- Nick Castellanos has already rejected the Reds’ qualifying offer, little more than a formality after he opted out of the remaining two years on his contract. The 29-year-old wouldn’t close the door on a return to Cincinnati, though, telling reporters (including Adam Baum of the Cincinnati Enquirer) he’d listen to any offers from the Reds. “Of course I would. Why wouldn’t I,” Castellanos asked rhetorically. “I feel like there’s still a lot of valuable pieces that are very good to win with. Jonathan India … Jesse Winker is coming into his own, figuring out who he is, figuring out what kind of father he wants to be, he’s doing a great job at that. Joey Votto just reinvented himself. We still have pitching. We have pieces. Why wouldn’t I entertain it?” Regardless of Castellanos’ amenability, a Reds’ return seems highly unlikely. Cincinnati has kicked off the offseason by parting ways with two veteran contributors (Tucker Barnhart and Wade Miley) for little more than financial relief, and general manager Nick Krall has spoken of “(aligning) our payroll to our resources.” It’d be nothing short of shocking if Cincinnati then pivoted to make a serious run at Castellanos, whom MLBTR projects to sign for $115MM over five years.
- California natives Michael Lorenzen and Mark Canha are both drawing interest from teams on the West Coast, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Interestingly, Murray hears that at least some teams are willing to consider Lorenzen as a starting pitcher, aligning with the 29-year-old’s hopes for a rotation job. Lorenzen broke into the majors as a starter, but he’s started just five of his 268 appearances with the Reds since the beginning of the 2016 campaign. He’s had success in a multi-inning relief capacity, though, and Lorenz’s five-pitch repertoire could help him navigate an order multiple times. Canha, who has spent his entire major league career with his hometown A’s, hits the open market on the heels of four straight above-average offensive seasons, by measure of wRC+. Entering his age-33 season, the productive outfielder will probably be limited to short-term deals, which could make him a target of low and high payroll clubs alike.
OK, let’s see if we get more “Mets want [fill in the blank player or GM]” articles or more “[fill in team] wants Starling Marte” artcles.
Ng going after every free agent!
Is Deven Marrero on our MLB or AAA roster at this moment?
Weekdays he’s on the AAA roster. Weekends he’s on the big league ball club.
Ng has hinted on changing that dynamic. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it I always say…
I think when these fans from these other teams are making these trade suggestions where we’re trading Pablo, Alcantara, Eliezer, Jazz, etc. for their team’s third string 27 year old Single A catcher and 28-year old Rookie Ball third RHP reliever, we should make sure to add Deven Marrero to make sure we’re offering enough to acquire their those studs their suggesting are equal value to our guys.
Yankees will give you Sanchez to catch for 2 of your top starters and Jazz. Add in Brian Anderson and they’ll let you have Frazier.
Jeter wants to gift the Yankees more players, so he’ll definitely add Anthony Bass and Deven Marrero.
So, is it possible that Chazz Jism is just Dee Strange-Gordon 2.0?
Let’s be serious, Devon Marrero is off limits in any trades.
Not even if Ángels pay 75% of Trouts contract and offers a 1 for 1.
Marrero is here to stay
So… Nick Castellanos is willing to stay with the Reds because Jesse Winker is “figuring out what kind of father he wants to be?” Am I the only who doesn’t see the connection here? Also, aren’t there really only good dads and bad dads? Does this mean Jesse Winker is still undecided about whether or not he wants to be a bad father?
Yeah lol…I thought it was a really weird comment too…
We will get plenty of both!
Hmm… a west coast team that would allow Lorenzen to be a starter… Here’s a list of the west coast teams and I want you to tell me which one seems most likely/desperate/cheap to allow Lorenzen to be a starter:
Dodgers
Padres
Mariners
Giants
A’s
ANGELS <-
I think the Giants might be willing to take a flyer on him as a starter.
Ngl, as I was writing that comment I was actually thinking of the Giants and A’s going after him as a buy-low guy, but there’s never not a time to say LOLANGELS. It just seems like such an LAA thing to go after Lorenzen and Jordan Lyles for the rotation while also signing Javy Baez.
this is way too accurate
Remember how you pretended to be a teenager on this site a few years ago?
Welp, still am a teenager. Yeah… nothing really changed on that front.
Agree, the Giants love ex-Reds pitchers.
Honestly the padres might too
The Padres will only consider him if he needs TJ surgery.
Giants and A’s would definitely be interested, but he’d have to work his way into their rotation. Angels would likely hand over the 4 spot
I can’t see the Padres as too interested just because of how many big name starters they’ve added the last season and a half to an already intriguing group of youngsters. He’d be more insurance policy to them.
After the way the rotation got slammed by injuries, the Padres need all the insurance they can get. Plus, he can play the outfield late in games.
Right now the Giants only have one sure SP, Webb. two if you believe Beede is in their plans. Giants have a knack for taking other team’s pitching trash and turning it into gold. So, why not Lorenzen?
Angels, can play outfield also. Good arm and speed. Good fit if Trout goes down again.
2 way player in a 6 man rotation. If he does not work out as a SP still better than 90% of the Angels BP last year.
Also played at CSUF
Kim…please so please sign Starling!
I would love a Starliing signing combined with a Jorge Soler signing. Then add a real closer and drop Anthony Bass for a bag of popcorn – generic is fine.
This could be next year’s lineup:
2B – Jazz
CF – Marte
DH – Aguilar
LF – Soler
RF – Sanchez
3B – Anderson
1B – Lewin
SS – Miggy Ro
C – ??? (Contreras, Stallings, other]
Good lineup, but give Alex Jackson a chance behind plate. Would save Marlins some money for trade deadline.
It’s intriguing at catcher.
Alex Jackson showed some tools and some bat power. His flaw was that he wasn’t hitting much. We also got Payton Henry who looks like he’s all glove and no bat. And we also added Nick Fortes who looks like he can rake, but needs some work on the defensive side. The problem with all three of these guys is that they may be a little behind the Marlins development schedule because the pitching staff is just about ready to contend, and some of the bats are, but all three of these catchers need more seasoning in the weak parts of their games. Jackson does seem like the most balanced of the three.
Perhaps the Marlins get Stallings in order to compete now, while not blocking any of the three catchers mentioned.
20 out of 30 teams would be interested in Soler as a DH for the right price (assuming the NL has a DH), but playing him in LF is something you do maybe 20 games a year, not 160. But with 500 at-bats, Soler can hit 0.230 and 35 HRs and be the Duvall replacement or even better.
Genuinely curious who are your ten that wouldn’t be interested
Red Sox
Angels
Who else?
Starling won’t come back here. That ship sailed when we didn’t give him near what he wanted. If we offered him what he wanted from us right this minute he wouldn’t take it.
They have a lot to figure out. We need a catcher who is great on the defensive and game calling side. I could care less what he hits if he’s supporting the pitching staff. So I have no idea who that is.
Then like someone else said Soler is a DH. I’m sure the team is happier starting Lewin at first with Aguilar at DH and Cooper rotating around (all assuming we have the DH next year).
What they really need to do is teach Donnie Baseball how to manage a bullpen. He is so terrible at it and picks his “guys” and always goes with “his guys”. I’m ok with keeping Bass around. Because Bass had an ERA of 2.30 in the 7th inning and and ERA under 3 in any inning but the 9th. Yet he still ran him out there. Then we had Bender pitching literally every inning in a week. While I would love a proven closer, a bullpen of Bass, Bender, Bleier, Floro, Holloway, Thompson and someone like Okert could get the job done. Holloway was lights out as a reliever and we have plenty of guys with amazing stuff competing for five rotation spots. Just make sure Bass pitches only the 7th and below.
In the end the only real thing to do to get where we need is to sign one of the big FA bats (not happening) or trade a starter or two for a good OF bat. They are going to claim they went after people but I’m sure out OF next season will be something like Sanchez, BDLC, and Burdick come spring. Unless they actually do something… Which when I see it I’ll believe it.
The Mets will need to offer significantly more than other teams to sign Marte. Too much confusion and uncertainty, and a history of losing. If you’re going to come to NY and both teams are bidding on you, you’re going to the Bronx, not Queens.
I don’t think the Mets will need to offer significantly more than the Marlins. I think most players want to maximize money and player for a competitive team. Mets and Marlins will both be fighting to even be 0.500. The real question is what team will pony up four years to a good player who may have two very good years left and a couple years where he age shows. So I do think the Mets are among a dozen teams to give Marte serious thought.
Lol these two comments are hysterical
Lol wut?
Marte will be a Met.
Or a Yankee.
Along with Seager, in 2 years their contracts will be an albatross. Those teams are great at finding players like that.
(But it looked so good when we signed him.)
Which Seager? Certainly not Corey, who’s 27 and coming off a 4 WAR season in which he only played 95 games.
@Dan Hunter
Will you finally get this right? Or any trade or signing really?
You’re the @MetsFan22 of acquisitions by the Mets that are guaranteed in your predictions.
You know, you and @MetsFan22 should start a baseball show. That would be must-watch television for all of us.
Even a broken clock is correct twice a day.
Not if it doesn’t have hands
That is to say, some things are broken more severely than others; a simple reality that may fit well in this conversation
Not in military time
I guarantee Marte will either be a Met or play on another team. No matter what, he’ll be a baseball player.
he might get arrested? Retiree? I think both are close to 0 percent but who knows lol
There’s always a chance
The only thing that can go wrong for Marte is if @MetsFan22 guarantees that Marte will be worth every penny he get’s from his next team.
Lorenzen would fit in quite well with a team like the Rays (although I’m not sure any MLB team handles their pitchers like the Rays).
They don’t really have starters as such. They tend to structure their pitching schedule around who can pitch how often and for how many innings. Some guys start games, some “bulk” pitchers come in after a guy pitches the first inning or two and tries to take it for 3-5 innings. Guys that can pitch 3 out of 4 days for short sketches do that. And most of all, the Rays not only mix up RH and LH pitchers, but they scramble guys whose release slots are at different angles during a series with another team, in order to keep opposing batters from seeing the same thing too many times and consequently upsetting their timing / rhythm.
Lorenzen could not only be used pitching in different spots, but he’d fit great as a roster player that can play the field and hit as well. I would go so far as to say that Lorenzen looks like the prototype of a segment of MLB rosters that will become common in the next 10 years. He is the extension of the “Utility” position player that can pitch or hit in any spot that benefits his team that day.
I think he’s doing himself a disservice marketing himself as a starter. He has far, far more to offer that a team can use to win games.
Canha would probably be a good fit for the Dodgers if he leaves Oakland. Colorado or Arizona could be good fits as well
Seattle too. We’ll gladly take Canha.
If he’s willing to leave the west coast (and i don’t see why he wouldn’t be) Dave Dombrowski tried a few times to bring Canha to Boston and with the Phillies needing a Center Fielder (or a Left Fielder depending on what the plan for Bohm is) i don’t see why he wouldn’t be interested in bringing Canha to Philadelphia
Marte had a .372 babip this season
It was .317 from 2017-2020, never once touching .325
That is the only real difference between him hitting .283/.335/.454, 110 OPs+ in the previous 4 seasons against .310/.383/.458, 132 OPS+ in 2021
And while yes, the prior 4 seasons were solid enough to want him on a club, he’s turning 34 years old by the end of the season. Signing him to a 3-4 year deal at upwards of 20 million per is asking for disaster. 2 years from now he may be a corner OF with a sub 90 OPS+
McCutchen, Marte and Polanco. We have seen what happened to the other two-thirds. I think Marte has a couple of good seasons in the tank, but if you sign him for four, he rides the pine at the end.
As for McCutchen, I think it would be cool for the Pirates to offer him a very low base incentive contract. Maybe two years at ten million base with a million each year for at-bats 400, 500 and 600. And an opt-out after the first year. You want young guys to play, but you also want to try to get 70 wins.
What’s the value in winning 70 games with a veteran on the downside of his career? I’m all for winning 70 games, but do it by giving prospects a chance to preform. I don’t want them blocked by Cutch and his ego. I could see him back in Pittsburgh as a 4th outfielder say 2024. Give Swaggarty, Frazier, Smith-Njigba or possibly Cruz (if SS doesn’t work out) a chance to join Reynolds in the Outfield. Knowing Andrew he’d want Reynolds to move to left field so he could play center.
“Cutch” is coming back to Philly, albeit as the short side of a LF platoon. Philly fans love McCutchen. And if the NL adopts the DH, as it’s rumored to be, so much the better.
The Pirates? They’re not a good fit for McCutchen. At this stage of his career, he’d want to be with a winner if he’s no longer an everyday player.
Speed players don’t traditionally age well. Unless they took steroids of course
Your numbers are slightly off for some reason, but regardless, you are cherry picking some years and ignoring others. He’s run high BABIPs other seasons (it’s .344 for his career), because of his speed, and he’s a high average guy too (.289 career). So his 2021 line wasn’t really inflated by an aberrant BABIP. His increased offensive value was driven by that .381 OBP (36 points higher than his career average .345), which was due to the increased BB rate he had in 2021. Marte had been a free swinger throughout his career, but worked significantly more walks in 2021 – especially as a Marlin where his BB approached 12%. If that’s sustainable, it unquestionably raises his offensive floor, and it’s not unheard of for players to walk more as they age. They tend to also K more and become more 3 true outcomes hitters, but that’s not always a bad thing. Curtis Granderson is decent comp for Marte’s potential trajectory over the next 4 seasons, though Marte will bring more average and fewer walks.
“Your numbers are slightly off for some reason”
They were copy-pasted directly from Baseball-reference, so not sure how
“you are cherry picking some years and ignoring others. He’s run high BABIPs other seasons (it’s .344 for his career)”
You mean he was able to sustain a better babip as a 23-27 year old than he has as a 28-32 year old? You dont say!
Yes, of course he was a better hitter when he was at top physical ability. Then he got older.
These are his last 5 seasons
.324 – 2017 as 28yo
.312 – 2018 as 29yo
.319 – 2019 as 30yo
.319 – 2020 as 31yo
.372 – 2021 as 32yo
Nothing remotely similar to your .345 other than his fluke 2021. You have to go back to what would have been his first Arbitration year to find a number like yours
As far as you claiming he gained patience, he saw just 39.4% of pitches in the zone. Most years it sat in the 41+% range and is at 43.4% for his career. Youre giving him credit for something the pitchers did, not him.
“Curtis Granderson is decent comp for Marte’s potential trajectory”
Granderson was a low average slugger with a little speed
(.257 BA, .300 babip, 220 ISO, 130 SB up until age 33)
Marte is a high average speedster with little power
(.289 BA, .344 babip, 162 ISO, 296 SB to this point)
So no, Granderson is not a comparison
But if he were
.257 BA, .300 babip, 220 ISO, 130 SB (16 per 162g) – pre 34
.230 BA, .266 babip, 209 ISO, 23 SB (5 per 162g) – post 33
You better hope Marte is not like Grandy; the only real physical ability Granderson kept was his power, which Marte has never had to begin with
Yeah sign a 33 year old CF with 11 years in the league. Sounds like something the Mets would do
Marte isn’t a guy who projects to defy aging patterns. Meaning, he’s done
Marte is not done. He is good for another year or two.
But what do I know? I thought Votto was done.
Tell me Kershaw is done… you seem to have that type of luck
Shows what some undetected PEDs will do for you
I grew up with mark canha in San Jose. Played little league and middle school hoops with him, then against him in high school. He was always a giants fan. Would love to see him with the giants.
Was he? That’s pretty cool. I always hate how the Marlins never really gave him a shot. He had great minor league numbers at a time where they sold off everyone after 2012. No idea how he didn’t get one major league AB with them. To just let him go in the Rule V draft after doing so well was ridiculous.
No idea. He’s was a stud through high school and at Cal. He was also an all section wide receiver. If anyone was gonna go pro, it was him. Dude was hitting 400’ oppo tanks in high school.
You guys forgot that we had Stanton, Ozuna and Yelich. We also had that period when Mike Hill and Larry Benfeist were trying to convince everyone that Jake Marisnick should start over Ozuna and every other Marlins OF not named Stanton or Yelich.
Anyone wanting to sign Marte better go back and look at the Dexter Fowler signing and results before they do:
Jason Heyward, too!
With Marte in Centre, Stallings behind the plate and a top third closer in the pen, I reckon The Marlins could be buyers at the deadline.
Marte is a single father who makes his home in South Florida. The Marlins will need to pay more than they feel comfortable with, but he might turn his back on higher offers elsewhere.
As I posted to MarlinsFB, that ship has sailed. He offered us a “discount” on what he is going to get in free agency. Even if we offered him what he originally wanted now I don’t see him taking it as someone will pay more. And I don’t know if I want him for four years honestly. He probably has two good years in the tank and I think it’s weird he became more of a speedster last season with a very high BABIP. While the Fish could use a table setter do you invest so heavily in a table setter in his mid 30s?
Also getting Stallings is easier said then done let alone finding a good closer. Although I feel if Donnie finally learned how to manage a bullpen they would be ok with Floro, Bender, Bass, Bleier, Okert, Thompson and putting Holloway in the pen full time. We have some other minor league starters that may fair well in the pen because right now we have a lot of great arms competing for five rotation spots (Alcantara, Lopez, Rogers, Sanchez, Cabrera, Meyer, Luzardo) and all of them (maybe minus Luzardo) should all remain starters and on a starter workload. Cause someone will get hurt or traded. I don’t have much faith in Hernandez but he will be around too.
Wade Miley has just completed his background check and drug test to be the Mets GM.
Sorry,
I was wrong. Mets will not get Marte they will rehire Lagares.
Here is their lineup for 2022:
McCann C
Alonso 1st
Cano 2nd
Lindor S
Davis 3rd
Dom LF
Lagares Centre
McNeal L
deGROM [occasionally]
Noah [occasionally]
Walker
Carrasco
Megill
finish 4th
Dear Nick,
No team outside the top 10 biggest markets can afford to spend half their payroll on two players. You turned down pretty much the biggest contract my city’s fanbase can afford. Which makes it really hard to feel any excitement about your Silver Slugger, because we know you’re on your way to the Yankees or Dodgers or Houston where all the best players go to retire these days. Thanks for the memories but please, we don’t need jerked around with such empty, false hopes