Diamondbacks Notes: Marte, Pfaadt, Ballpark

Ketel Marte’s new contract extension came as a bit of a surprise, given that the star second baseman’s previous contract already gave the Diamondbacks control through at least the 2027 season, and likely through 2028 given a club option.  However, Marte’s latest contract now keeps him in the desert through 2031 and puts an additional $64MM in his bank account, while also restructuring and spreading out the salary to give the D’Backs a bit of shorter-term payroll relief.

Most notably, $5MM of Marte’s $14MM salary for this season is deferred.  GM Mike Hazen implied that money could be quickly reinvested back into the team in terms of trade deadline acquisitions.

“This gives us more room, in terms of this year, to see what happens as we go through the season,” Hazen told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and other reporters.  “We certainly made a big investment at the beginning of the year, and this will give us that added flexibility as we move through.”

There’s no doubt Arizona is in all-in mode for the 2025 season, with an estimated $194.7MM payroll that far surpasses the previous franchise high.  Considering how many notable players (i.e. Zac Gallen, Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor, Merrill Kelly, Jordan Montgomery) on high salaries are impending free agents, the D’Backs will be getting some money off the books next winter, but for now are firmly focused on winning while the entire group is together.  The Diamondbacks are off to a decent 5-3 start, though the club has been overshadowed by the red-hot performances of the other NL West contenders, and Marte now looks to be heading to the injured list due to a hamstring strain.

While Marte’s deal was his third long-term pact with the D’Backs, Brandon Pfaadt’s recent extension represented his first multi-year contract, as the right-hander is set to earn $45MM in guaranteed money over the 2026-30 seasons.  Now firmly locked in as a big part of the Diamondbacks’ future, Pfaadt almost didn’t end up in the organization at all, due to what Hazen now views as something of a “lucky” turn of events.

As Hazen and assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, Pfaadt was one of three players the Snakes were considering with their fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft.  That was the year the draft was shortened to only five rounds due to the pandemic, creating a crunch for both players in starting their pro careers, and for teams in making the most of a drastically reduced draft system.  As always, clubs were still looking to maximize their draft pool budgets, and the D’Backs asked the three players on their radar whether or not they would sign for less than the $360.8K slot value attached to the 149th overall pick.

Two of the players balked, but Pfaadt agreed to take a $100K bonus and thus became part of Arizona’s organization.  “I think there were 11 picks left after me.  It was getting towards the end.  We took the opportunity over any money amount,” Pfaadt said.

The decision has now paid off for Pfaadt in tremendous fashion, and now the D’Backs look wise in hindsight for finding a quality starter in the fifth round.  Naturally, Hazen and Sawdaye didn’t name the other two players considered, though Sawdaye said that one didn’t make the majors and the other did, “but Pfaadt is better.”  Sawdaye also said that if the other two players had also agreed to a below-slot price, the team might have gone with one of the others over Pfaadt, just because they had less scouting evaluation and background work on Pfaadt.

“Sometimes it works out in your favor and you get the right guys,” Sawdaye said.  “Other times you look back and you kick yourself.  You’re like, ’My god, we passed up on him just to save money?’ ”

In some off-the-field news for the Diamondbacks, a bill intended to re-direct sales taxes at Chase Field towards ballpark renovations continues to work its way through the state legislature.  Arizona’s House of Representatives has already okayed the bill and it is now under review from the state Senate, with the finance committee also giving it a green light after an amendment.  However, the mayor of Phoenix and Maricopa County officials in general have increased concerns over how much taxpayer money is involved in the bill.

The project still has a major supporter in Arizona governor Katie Hobbs, who said Wednesday in an interview with KTAR 92.3’s “Outspoken With Bruce and Gaydos” show (hat tip to Alex Weiner for the partial recap) that she would sign the bill “at this point.”  Governor Hobbs acknowledged the tax implications and said “one thing that we want to make sure happens in the bill is that it doesn’t harm the taxpayers.  That’s one of the things being worked out in the details.”

“I think everyone wants to do what we can to keep the Diamondbacks here in Arizona, keep Major League Baseball in Arizona and I think we’re very close to an agreement.”