The Phillies have interest in center fielder Starling Marte and reliever Aaron Loup, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter links). Since the outfield and bullpen are the top priorities for the Phils this winter, it isn’t surprising that Marte and Loup have gained the club’s attention. Among the several teams involved in Loup’s market, Heyman also notes that the Mets are looking into bringing Loup back to Queens for a longer stint after the southpaw dominated out of New York’s bullpen in 2021.
Marte is really the only true full-time center fielder in this year’s free agent class, though Marte’s 2021 numbers would’ve still put him at or near the top of a deeper center field market. Marte hit .310/.383/.458 with 12 home runs and a league-best 47 stolen bases over 526 combined plate appearances with the Marlins and Athletics, despite missing about five weeks due to a fractured rib. Marte did benefit from a .369 BABIP, though his excellent speed and baserunning played a big factor in that extra batted-ball “luck.” His 8.2% walk rate was still below average, though also the best of Marte’s 10 big league seasons.
Reviews were a little mixed on Marte’s glovework, as Defensive Runs Saved had him at -4, though UZR/150 (+1) and Outs Above Average (+4) gave his center field defense positive grades. As Marte enters his age-33 season, however, he certainly still seems athletic enough to provide some quality help up the middle.
This is all music to the Phillies’ ears, considering the club has Bryce Harper and not much else in its current outfield mix. Both Andrew McCutchen and Odubel Herrera are free agents, and while Herrera had a pretty modest 2021 season, he was still the best of a revolving door of subpar options for the Phils in center. Installing Marte in center field and at or near the top of the Philadelphia lineup would fill a couple of major holes for the club.
Signing Marte would represent yet another big expenditure on the Phillies’ books, though president Dave Dombrowski had given some indication (“I don’t find it restrictive“) that ownership has given him some spending flexibility. With roughly $171.1MM committed to payroll in 2022, the Phillies could afford to give Marte a big contract and still have some significant room under whatever the luxury tax threshold ends up being next season. Or, the Phils might even be comfortable going over the tax threshold, as owner John Middleton has indicated in the past that he would be okay with paying the tax in the right circumstance.
Loup won’t cost anywhere near Marte’s price range, but after signing a one-year/$3MM deal with the Mets last winter, Loup is in line for a much more significant contract this time around. The veteran left-hander had one of the better seasons of any reliever in baseball, with a tiny 0.95 ERA over 56 2/3 innings out of New York’s bullpen. While Loup’s .229 wOBA far outpaced his .272 xwOBA, Loup also had a 50.4% grounder rate to go along with above-average strikeout (26.1%) and walk (7.3%) rates.
Even if Loup pitches closer to his 3.32 SIERA next year, the Mets would certainly still like that kind of production back in their pen, and Loup would be even more of a boost to a Philadelphia relief corps that badly struggled in 2021. Loup doesn’t much closing experience, so while he isn’t the lockdown ninth-inning answer Dombrowski is looking for, Loup can at least help the Phillies take a lead into the ninth.
The Phillies would have the out spend the Mets for loup. If the contracts are relatively the same he will probably choose the Mets
Free agents tend to go to the highest bidder, so, yes the Phillies would have to out spend the Mets. Pretty rare for a player to take the lower bid AND change teams.
Tell us more about things you know nothing about…
“he will probably choose the Mets”
Explain your logic on this one, pal. I’m not saying he’d prefers the Phillies. Only a fool would make assumptions about knowing what a player wants.
Also, Loup played for the Phillies in 2018. So it’s not like he would refuse to play with a certain team.
If you pay atttion to loup this year you would know he likes being a met.
Everyone likes or at least pretends to like the team that is paying them millions. Liking the Mets in 2021 doesn’t mean you’ll like what they offer you in 2022. Money is most likely the biggest factor. As others have pointed out, Loup is going to have a plethora of suitors, and while I don’t pretend to know what he prefers, I highly doubt he’d give the Mets any sort of discount.
I never said the Mets get a discount but I said If they are the same he will choose the Mets. He won’t choose the Mets if you offer 13 mil and we offer 8
I’m not saying he is getting that I’m just using a example
“I never said the Mets get a discount but I said If they are the same he will choose the Mets. He won’t choose the Mets if you offer 13 mil and we offer 8”
And you know this how? What possible logic are you using here? None. You’re pulling it out of the sky and expressing it as a fact for some unknown benefits. I don’t even care if it’s true. Maybe it is. Why not? Nothing wrong with playing for the Mets. But you have 0 possible knowledge on Loup’s decision making process.
He said he wants to be a met…..
I’m not saying he doesn’t. But honestly, that doesn’t mean anything. People say that all the time. Things change when offers are on the table. I am definitely not saying Philly is more desirable than NY. That has nothing to do with my point.
Source
Well technically if you were to ask mlb players where they would rather play most would say the Mets so I’m probably right
Lol. No. This is my point. This is just pure nonsense.
No one want to play for the Phillies lol. They only get FA when they pay the most.. unless they grew up in a Phillies fan. New York is actually a place where a lot of people want to live and there is more opportunities there. It’s just common sense.
Harper took less money to play for the Phillies. Zack Wheeler left the Mets disgruntled. Your response is ridiculous.
Philadelphia is less than 2 hour away from New York. (Little known fact, the vast majority of Mets players live in suburbs outside of Manhattan. The same is true for Phillies players. Vast majority actually live in Jersey suburbs.) Lol. Your comment is ridiculous. Players have a variety of reasons for playing wherever they want to play.
Plenty of players would love to play for the Mets. Plenty of players would love to play for the Phillies. The same amount of players choose to play for both teams every season. You’re better than this MetsFan22. Let’s step it up.
Wheeler wanted to stay a Met but we wrongly disrespected him. And as for harper. He took less on avg but still took more from you that other teams were offering.. and even if he did most people would rather be in by than phillidiaphai
Everything you said is incorrect in this statement.
I apologize for wasting your time. Let’s just stop responding. Believe what you want. You’re in your own world.
Wheeler wanted to stay a Met and got butt hurt when our gm said he didn’t match the value. Learn the facts
Incorrect as always.
https://www.audacy.com/sports/mlb/mets-wouldnt-let-wheeler-join-them-for-2015-playoff-run
Zack Wheeler’s animosity with the Mets started in 2015.
Bro he was mad about that. Doesnt change the fact that he wanted to be a met that offseason. I’m sure you could find an article where it says he went back to the Mets before signing with the Phillies to see if they wanted to offer that. It shoudotn be to hard. You don’t do that if you don’t want to be a met
Considering Loup is from the southeastern United States, I’d be confident in guessing that he’s a Braves fan.
Hmm…so the team that offers more wins the bid. Novel concept.
It’s very early yet. Loup has expressed a desire to return to the Mets. They would be smart to lock him up. However, I am certain that not just the Phillies will be interested in a solid lefty out of the bullpen. Multiple teams will jump in if the Mets drag their feet.
@metsie1…nice seeing you post again…been awhile…
@ metsie1;
Please name us a free agent that hasn’t expressed a desire to stay with the team he played out his option with.
I reallt hope we dont overspend on Loup coming off last year
I’m not sold on him either. Just two years ago he Gould barely get an milb deal.
Starling Marte is gonna be one of the biggest overvalued free agents this offseason. A signing someone will regret.. Already 33 years old.. Won’t be a very productive player much longer.. some even suggest a 4 year deal. Someone will be lucky to get 2 years out of him of solid baseball.
Marte would be better than most on the market at an affordable price as for Loup overpay just so he does not go to the Mets.They have no one to get a deal done now.Just the crappy owner and an idiot in Alderson.The Phils will not have to overpay Loup no one wants to play for the Mets and all the crap going on.
Mario-That may be true,but the Phillies need a centerfielder now.He should be good for two years,and decent for a third.
He was a very good player with the Pirates,although somewhat undisciplined.BC sold too low on him as he had two years to play with and should have received much more for him.He will be worth a fair amount of money even at 33,although I think his career year will be this past year.
He was also juicing with the Pirates.
Cohen wants Marte.
Loup is no brainer.
I feel like the Phils’ offense is there. Spend on pitching now and make a run at the Braves over the long run of a full season.
The Phillies offense stinks outside of 3 players. Their starting pitching is solid. Their defense stink and of course the bullpen stinks.
That’s basically it.
And with the state of the NL East, they should be contenders for the division championship again in 2022.
I respectfully beg to differ. If your three good players are Harper, Realmuto, and Hoskins, I would add to the non-stinkers Segura and Vierling. And while the bullpen smelled pretty bad, last year’s was the true stinker.
I was talking about Harper, Segura and JT. Hoskins fits the bill too when healthy, but his injuries are a concern. Vierling is far too early to call either way. The inconsistent offense cost the Phillies many games in 2021. At times, people would simply pitch around Harper because no one else was a threat. An extra bat or two would go a long way.
I concur. My point was that the other 2 players didn’t stink.
This would be a decent move. I don’t think Marte is a perfect fit but all he costs is money. I still believe DD needs to make 1-2 trades and significantly shake up the roster in addition to this.
This team needs to be reshuffled in the worst way. They need defense and the bullpen overhauled (again) . I think the only way to fix that is to rather significantly shake things up.
2021 Aaron Loup is not the real Aaron Loup. You need to be careful not to overpay here. Loup was very briefly a Philly before, but it didn’t go too well.
Agreed. Most relief pitchers are inherently unreliable. What you get in season 1 may be vastly different from seasons 2 or 3. Arms get tired, injuries happen, or a pitcher just loses the mojo.
Beyond that, a reliever is at the mercy of small sample size much more than any other player on the roster, which skews numbers to the positive and negative.
4.50 ERA while he was with the Phillies. I wonder what his career ERA is in CBP. DD should be careful not to overpay!
He has only pitched 7.1 innings at Citizen’s Bank Park, and his ERA is 0.00. His WHIP is 0.818. Since you asked.
Marte to the Phillies makes too much sense, so it probably won’t happen.
Agreed. Phillies desperately need him, but I could see the Mets as a fit, replacing Conforto. Nimmo could move to RF or even Marte.
Centerfielder might come as part of a larger trade. DD is not wed to any of the Phillies’ prospects so I expect the significant acquisitions this off-season to come via that route.
I’m nervously optimistic about DD making some big moves.
To be honest the prior regime lest little choice but to trade whatever prospects we have in the pipeline for immediate help so that Realmuto and Harper aren’t wasted
Realmuto is already declining. Dumbrowski signing him for 5 years at 25+ million a year is going to haunt the Phillies big time
Given the lack of quality catchers out there, I don’t think they’ll regret it so much. At least for the first 4 years.
I’d rather invest in a bullpen arm with a proven track record. Taking a mid tier gamble makes me feel like we will get caught holding the bag and Loup will revert to the Chase Anderson of relief pitching.
I guess the days of me looking forward to Cleveland acquiring Aaron Loup are drawing to a close. I had always wanted him to become the “First Indian On The Moon”…
Need to get Marte or swing a trade for Mullens or Reynolds and the target SS. Move DD to 3rd for a year if you deal Bohm.
SS should not be a priority. Overpaying for a SS with Stott on the horizon would be a colossal waste of money.
Marte is an interesting case, having seen him in Pittsburgh for a long time. Sometimes he’ll hit .270, sometimes he’ll hit over .300. He doesn’t have much home run power anymore, but the Phillies don’t really need that. He’ll strike out 120 times per year if healthy. He only walks about once a week…. so he’s up there hacking (the Phillies could use some contact!). Normally he only steals 25-30 bases per year, but in a contract year he showed he can steal 47. But, he has lead the league in caught stealing twice. He has an amazing arm in center field, and he tracks almost everything down, but he also makes a lot of boneheaded plays in the field and on the bases. He does give the Phillies a true lead off hitter.
For the right price he would be a great add…. but you can’t overpay, and not for 4 years. i think had the Phillies dealt for him at the trade deadline last year they probably win the East. But 2022 is a different thing altogether.
DonB-True that.The Phillies should sign him similar to the McCutcheon deal,3 years for $55M.
Starling Marte going to get a much better contract than he wanted in Miami. The only thing is that some team may regret that 4th or 5th year if he gets them.
The Mets have to re-sign Loup. 2 reasons.
Only 100% dependable arm in bullpen. Give him whatever he wants & keep him from the rival Phillies.