The big question of the D-Backs offseason has been whether to trade Ketel Marte. They’ve reportedly fielded calls from upwards of a third of the league with teams like the Mariners, Red Sox and Reds most prominently linked. Although general manager Mike Hazen called a trade of a star hitter “mostly unlikely” at the GM Meetings in early November, they’ve kept the line of communication open given their needs around the roster.
According to Hazen, they’re not going to maintain that posture for the entire offseason. “We’re very likely to put an end to (Marte trade talks) shortly,” the GM told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. When pressed for specifics on the timeline, Hazen said that he “(hasn’t) figured that out yet” but said they can’t afford to remain in a holding pattern for much longer. He implied they were likelier to take Marte firmly off the table rather than nearing agreement on a deal.
“We need to focus our offseason. Again, my gut this whole time was that (a trade) wasn’t going to happen, and I think it seems likely that that’s the case and we want to focus on other things we need to do,” Hazen said. The GM added that talks to date haven’t gotten “anywhere near” the significant asking price they’ve set to move their star second baseman.
On one hand, it’s easy enough to write this off as a general manager trying to pressure interested clubs to raise their offers. Even if Hazen isn’t setting a public deadline, the Snakes could do so internally to get teams to make their best and final trade proposals. At the same time, this generally aligns with the GM’s stance on Marte trade rumors dating back to the summer. Speculation has abounded since August when multiple reports emerged about some of Marte’s teammates being frustrated with the number of off days that he took.
Hazen spoke with Wolf & Luke of Arizona Sports at the time and was naturally asked about the possibility of a trade. “Ketel is one of, if not our best player,” the GM said then. “He’s a superstar in this league. You win with superstars in this league. Yes, I do know it’s a team game and putting a team together to win baseball games is also equally important. That’s on us to figure out what the right mix of players is.
We went to the World Series with this player on our team (in 2023). … So this mindset of where he is on our team and his inability or ability to help us win is hard for me to just take that. … Where this lays down at his feet and where it’s coming from now is a little bizarre to me. I’m not ignoring the inconsistencies with some of the things that have happened. He’s addressed those things. We’ve addressed those things with him.
We’re not blind to having an imperfect clubhouse and an imperfect roster. … I’m also in a job and position to put players on the field that can win you baseball games, because ultimately that’s what this comes down to. We are going to put the best team on the field every single day we can.”
The D-Backs have nevertheless heard teams out as the clearest way to acquire controllable starting pitching. They’re expected to scale back payroll from this past season’s franchise-record $195MM mark. RosterResource currently projects them for $168MM in spending. Marte is set for a $15MM salary next season, but $6MM of that is deferred until 2036. They’re not under any financial pressure to move him, nor are they entering even a soft rebuild. The goal in trade talks would be to acquire multiple MLB or near-ready pieces who could deepen the overall roster.
Despite the payroll limitations, Arizona has addressed the rotation with a pair of free agent pickups. They brought back Merrill Kelly on a two-year, $40MM deal and added swingman Michael Soroka for a $7.5MM guarantee. They could certainly still upgrade a rotation comprising Kelly, Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Soroka. It’s not as pressing a need as it was two months ago, however.
The bigger focus now should be the bullpen, which was decimated by injuries last summer and is still without top two arms Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk. The Snakes also need to decide whether they’re content with Jordan Lawlar as an everyday player (either at third base or in the outfield) and could upgrade in center field or at first base. The Marte trade rumors have come alongside reporting that the Snakes could make a surprise run at Alex Bregman.
“We’re going to need to start focusing on our position player group at some point a little more specifically,” Hazen noted to Gilbert. “That’s the other reason to finalize what we’re doing with other players, so we have a little more direction on what we can do and what it might look like.” Readers are encouraged to check out the MLB.com column for the full scope of Hazen’s comments.
Hazen at least talks turkey to the fans, instead of indulging himself in evasive circumlocutions like most GMs. And he doesn’t seem annoyed that people are interested in what he does.
If I were running a team, especially one coming off a very disappointing season, I wouldn’t trade a star like Marte.
Yoshida and Duran for Marte
Marte is better than Duran. Tossing in Yoshida’s contract for one of the best players in baseball is silly.
By a mile. The resident “there are baseball teams not on the coast?” folks here seem to have zero idea how good Marte is.
Weird that “red sox for life” guy would propose something ridiculously one-sided.
What may have been inferred is the length of the deal and how the deal will age. I agree with the “East Coast” bias comment as while I can read stats, I haven’t seen enough of Marte live to make an assessment. It appears the contract is team friendly but then one must have to factor in the rumors about Marte not being a clubhouse leader and actually being a problem. That might explain why there has bern so far a huge difference between the asking price and rumored offers. This contract reminds me of McNeil’s with the Mets. When it was signed, no one talked then about it being underwater yet most were talking that way years later, this off season.
His contract is extremely friendly. He’s a terrific hitter – switch hitter in fact – and plays solid defense too. Only question is how he sees himself relative to everyone else. Is he a team player or a bit of a primadonna?
Marte is miles better than McNeil. And the stats will tell you more than any live assessment or “eye test” ever will.
Cub fan here and get to see a decent amount of Marte. Guy is an absolute stud and an underrated one at that. Not sure why Carroll gets the acclaim as Marte always is getting the clutch hits and plays great defense. No idea about the clubhouse stuff other than what was reported, but that was the first time I’ve seen/heard anything negative about him. Very valuable player and won’t come cheap in trade.
Most ‘coast fans ‘ were shocked that McNeil was extended so ridiculously cheap. lol
Imagine if the high asking price has everything to do with the fact that he’s the best second baseman in the game, his hitting profile should age well, and the very real possibility that Arizona isn’t keen on moving him unless they can get a haul in return because he’s a star and an asset.
That was such an odd comparison..
No, they should trade him to my team for all of their spare parts!
No fair bringing the Yankees into this, roob
@WashedUp- Marte has the Yankees already on his no trade list, so do you’re homework.
It was a joke, Cap. Referring to roob’s post
WashedUp- where do you think Marte’s goin? I was thinking Boston.
I would have agreed with you but after reading some comments about the asking price, I’m not sure he’s going anywhere
Redsox for life,
Ha!
Yoshida, Duran, and Early.
Done.
Red Sox
Try Tolle, Early and Campbell. And paying part of Campbell’s salary.
If that’s what Arizona is expecting Marte most definitely won’t be traded.
Or Tolle, Early and Arias. And Arizona sends $5 million in cash.
The reports coming out the past couple of months have stated that if the Red Sox were willing to part with Tolle OR Early then Marte would be in Boston already. We don’t know what else would be included, but putting them together in a deal for Marte would be very silly and a gross overpay.
Will be interesting to see if Dbacks are willing to hold onto him or simply pushing for a last/best offer. That contract looks great now, but could be ugly in a couple of years given his it’s structured (82mil remaining in escalators).
Like I said if that is the kind of return that Arizona expects then they aren’t trading him.
Yep you seem to get it. That’s the asking price. Its a lot, sure, but Marte is a very good player.
Look, nothing wrong with putting a.lure in the water. See what you can catch.
Thats nit even close. That is bn a terrible offer bordering on insulting. Add Tolle and then at least start talking
“So this mindset of where he is on our team and his inability or ability to help us win is hard for me to just take that. … Where this lays down at his feet and where it’s coming from now is a little bizarre to me. I’m not ignoring the inconsistencies with some of the things that have happened. He’s addressed those things. We’ve addressed those things with him.”
Seems more like talking Turkish. Whatever language this is requires a translator.
That’s means the genie out of the bottle and in an ideal situation we’d move on, but if we don’t get want we want in a trade, we are willing to forego the ideal for practical.
Blue Skies
I have a universal translator:
“Ketel has ruffled some feathers, but he’s really good, we are happy to trade him for full value in return with the emergence of Perdomo and possibility of Lawlar, but only if we get full equal value in return.”
This is five years of a guy at $18.2 million a year who is worth $30 million per year.
The price will be very high.
All relevant when this is dump of salary.
its not about that.It’s trading one star to fill multiple holes on your roster.
@MLB top 100
The contract is for 19.7mil over 5 or 18.08 over 6. The AAV is much lower as 46mil is deferred, so the receiving team’s AAV would start a bit below 15mil.
All that said, the escalators could raise the contract by as much as 82mil, which could raise the AAV by as much as 13.67mil per year. This is the part the most people don’t get about his contract, when he signed it, over 50% of the contract was incentive based escalators.
WCSox
I just used the Baseball Reference salary numbers, so you are probably right that my numbers are off.
My analysis does not change. It would take Tolle and Early and a third piece, or the equivalent. And the snakes are not taking back a bad contract like Yoshida.
It still sounds like Klingon to me. Thought was funny someone thought this gibberish came across as straight talk.
Qapla’!
@MLB Top 100
As mentioned before, all reporting has said that if the Red Sox were willing to offer Tolle OR Early then they get Marte – their unwillingness to do so is the reason a deal hasn’t gotten done.
Now if we really want to evaluate in a vacuum without reporting then we can use prospect grades (55 for Tolle & 50 for Early according to Pipeline) and use valuations from past data to apply to these numbers 55 = 56mil and 50 = 34mil for a total of 90mil (these numbers are taken from driveline using two well researched studies then inflated at just under 5% per season). Using your previous estimate of a 70mil surplus, we can see that combining both players in this trade is a bit of an overpay.
All that said, Pipeline’s 50 grade hasn’t been updated yet and a Tolle is only 8 spots on their top 100 from a 60 FV grade, so they’re likely closer to 55+ and 55 respectively so a trade of both would be closer to 124mil in surplus value, which of course would be a gross overpay.
MajQa’!
WC Sox
Good analysis.
Snakes are not taking Yoshida. That was another poster, not you anyway.
But maybe there is a batter who could be paired with Tolle and Early stays with Sox
That sounds like what has been reported as the Diamondbacks ask. Perhaps the Red Sox will eventually cave, they mostly caved last offseason for Crochett, but I think Bregman would have to be off the market before that’s a serious consideration.
If the Red Sox choose not to trade Duran/Abreu and choose to pay down Yoshida’s contract nearly entirely in order to reduce the prospect return, then I could see it. Guessing that until Yoshida proves he can stay healthy that ~8mil/yr is the break even point, so paying it down another 6mil/yr (12mil) could save a prospect or two from the deal. (that would be 32 of 36mil in totality).
I’d be looking younger and toward the future if I were the Diamondbacks, but it seems they are going into 2026 with the plan to contend after their currently injured right fielder, top starting pitcher and top two relievers possibly all come back from injury in the second half.
Those talks won’t last, because he will be moved immediately!!!
Alan – You’re absolutely right. Hazen is handling the situation very well, what a contrast with Breslow’s handling of Devers.
Did Hazen rush to unload Marte and get virtually nothing in return? No.
Did Breslow rush to unload Raffy and get virtually nothing in return? Yes.
“He’s a superstar in this league. You win with superstars in this league.” – Hazen justifying keeping Marte.
“We will win more games without Devers”. – Breslow ignoring Raffy’s value.
Teammates complained about Marte.
Not one single teammate complained about Raffy.
Ironically Marte was criticized for missing too many games, while Raffy played hurt for an MLB-leading 163 games this year.
Hazen is absolutely schooling Breslow on how to handle superstars.
Fever, Devers will bother you until your grave. We respectfully still disagree, that deal was three times Marte’s and the return was never going to be big. Devers was acting like a spoiled brat plain and simple (in my opinion).
dewey – No not really. He was never one of my favorite players, and there’s always the chance his health issues get worse. I just hope the Red Sox learn from the experience.
You know who Roman reminds me of? Nomah. The same all-business type that doesn’t like to talk much and isn’t necessarily team leader material. I just hope Roman sticks around at least until the end of his contract.
Yep, that’s what they gave him the contract for, his “team leader material.”
Fever Pitch Guy — Hazen has used the public statement to try reframe the market. It’s from his backfoot though, as Mariners and Red Sox have been deflating his leverage in negotiations for the past week. Ever since Marte released his list, the market has cooled badly for the Dbacks. The rumors Sox were not interested in Marte after Contresas trade and the Bello rumors, and the Mariners not interested in trading MLB talent just highlight how they plan to play the waiting game to enhance the pressure on Hazen. Which has forced Hazen to make an ultimatum-esque bluff in effort to relight his leverage. It highlights how a tight spot Hazen finds himself. The only solace Hazen might have is other ways to find the salary relief the organization wants to accomplish. The issue with the other directions than a Marte trade is they may not improve the roster and returning back to the World Series, while the window with their young stars narrows.
Cleveland – You could be right. I don’t follow the DBacks close enough to know how imperative it is for Marte to be traded, maybe Hazen is just posturing or maybe he really does feel fine holding onto Marte if no team blows them away with an offer.
Time will tell.
Fever Pitch Guy — I’m right there too. I suspect understanding where Hazen’s option lay are critical to understanding what is behind this move.
Hazen needs slightly more than just enough to balance potentially those two sides to make the deal. That’s at least his bottom line, assuming the other ways are hairier.
Breslow understands that a divided clubhouse won’t win. Yes there were guys quietly questioning why he wouldn’t play first base when needed. Simply not a team player. Addition by subtraction.
Coop – No need to rehash it again, but there were no players on the record or off the record who were critical of Raffy. The most they would say is it’s not their business, which is reasonable.
Every teammate knew he was disrespected and lied to, so it’s hard to believe any of them didn’t understand why he felt the way he felt.
Fever Pitch Guy — makes you wonder if this is why they haven’t signed any free agents. If this stuff spread around the agents that their clients get blamed and shipped out with bruised reputations, why get involved.
Nah, they just haven’t been offering enough dollars to sign any. Players don’t care about this stuff, they just want to get paid.
Hammerin’ Hank — If they are offering the same money to guys they actually want, not the fake interest, and the players are going elsewhere. At that point, there would be issue. A doing-business tax is not something you want to deal with as a cheap organization.
Why are baseball players different than other people? I assume most people factor in more than salary when choosing a job. I know I do.
I find it interesting to say the least, that they are at any level open to trading Marte, while simultaneously being in play for Bregman, and regularly speaking to payroll constraints.
They have so far.
Big GM talk – he is looking for a ridiculous package that he will not get
As they should
When it’s the best 2nd baseman in all of baseball of course you should have a high asking price
The question is whether to accept the best offer right now or just hold on to him
No, the BIG question is: if he is soooo good and sooo underpaid why are they looking to trade him?
@Cleaver: That’s easy. AZ pitching being really bad couldn’t be overcome even with its strong offense. Marte is best chance to get an immediate strong cost controlled young starter back (remember Burnes making over 30mil recovering from TJS) and still likely have decent offense.
Ridiculous= POBO of seller bored with whatever team you are a fan of lowball offers and effort to block starting pitchers that would hurt to give up.
Free agents are making a lot. The trade route is not a loophole/flea market to get good or great players for chump change.
He is doing what GM’s do when they aren’t especially interested in trading a player. You have to motivate him and if you dont he is happy to keep him.
I don’t know how trading him makes them better.
Really depends on the haul and the perspective. You can be worse short term and better long term, esp. with TB that has a top-20 farm better than many teams’ top-10.
Why are you talking about Tampa, which has a mid farm (so does AZ)?
Marte and TB have been linked all offseason and are presumably a finalist in any trade. TB is a top-10 farm ranking in most midseason and post-season farm rankings — and that was before they loaded a half-dozen quality prospects trading away Brandon Lowe/Baz (4 alone in their top-20). I’d imagine they’ll have a top-6 -ish farm ranking, fwiw, unless they graduate a few.
Above average projections at C, 2B, SS, and RF; below average projections 1B, LF, RF, DH, and the entire pitching staff
They’ve got an average projection at 3B (covered by Alexander/Lawlar) and a (theoretical) match with Bregman. Assuming they could sign him to cover 3B, they would have Blaze and Jordan cover 2B (and both came up as SSs). Both of the SSs have also been getting reps in CF (and Blaze looked quite good in his limited time out there).
I’d guess that Hazen thinks at least one of the SSs can give the team league average production at 2B (with long odds that the other can give league average production in the OF).
Assuming that he sticks to his guns on the return being multiple MLB caliber pieces (at least one of which being a high-end, controllable SP), I could see why he’d think the team would have a better chance after trading Ketel.
I don’t think they’ll even wind up trading (because I don’t think teams will meet the asking price, logically so); if Hazen could get Duran and Tolle back for him, the team is definitely better (I don’t see that happening, though)
“High end controllable starting pitching” is the hang up. Most contenders don’t have excess to trade away to acquire him. Even if they let said pitcher go, how would they replace them? The free agent route is insanely expensive. I totally get teams reluctance to trade it away.
“…it’s easy enough to write this off as a general manager trying to pressure interested clubs to raise their offers.
That is exactly what this is all about. No one wants the contract (with deferred $ until 2036) or the baggage Marte brings.
Keep what the Red Sox would have to give up to get him and give the 2B job to M. Mayer.
Everyone wants him. There is no baggage, and he’s on one of the most team friendly contracts in baseball.
No baggage? Google search. Apparently his teammates were frustrated in both 24 and 25 when he requested time off for various reasons like after the ASG and after his home was burglarized. While the latter was unfortunate, players know the length of the schedule and absent a family health issue, should be able to play through personal issues.
I’d rather see him stay in Arizona than go to any team other than Seattle.
That said, I really hope Seattle can find a way to land him.
Seattle has the prospects to land him easily. It’s just a question of if they want to pull the trigger or not. I would because with a team like Seattle prospects are not going to find the field, especially as many as they have, unless you have a LOT of injuries. It is much better to use them as currency to get specific needs. Will you occasionally trade away a future star? Yes, you will. Will you regret it? Totally depends on if you win a World Series. Would you do it again> Absolutely. The goal of every MLB team is to win the World Series, not to have the biggest collection of prospects.
@hlflew
Absolutely. One other thing: If winning a World Series is the goal, Marte has a proven record of showing up when it counts. In 21 playoff games, he is .344/.385/.589 with a post-season record 20-game hitting streak. He is precisely the kind of player Seattle needs.
It may take players from the active roster as well as prospects, but that shouldn’t be a dealbreaker, either.
Seattle can easily attract pitching. Players like Marte don’t grow on trees, so yeah, I agree with you.
And he would fit so perfectly. Seattle arguably needs a leadoff hitter. They need to replace the power they lost with Polanco’s departure. They need better defense (the team ranked 26th overall via FanGraphs; 28th in OAA). and they always need more disciplined hitters.
He checks all the boxes.
“Player’s like Marte don’t grow on trees….”
Yeah, Marte was grown in SEA…. and then traded away too early…
Very true. Seattle has 6 guys that belong on a big league rotation. Sending one of them to Arizona will hurt if someone gets injured, but solves the problem of too many starters otherwise. Obviously Woo would not be available, and probably not Kirby or Gilbert either. But sending out Hancock or Castillo or Miller along with a prospect or two would allow Seattle to keep most of the top of their farm.
Seattle got some pretty good production out of Mitch Haniger, so it is not like they got nothing out of the deal. Granted Arizona got more, but Seattle wasn’t fleeced by any means.
I’ve wondered if Miller, Bazardo, Young, and maybe Cijntje would get it done.
Seattle could easily backfill the 5 slot with a free agent and trade for relievers if they couldn’t find a free agent replacement.
Another reason Marte fits so well is that he could give them a couple of years at the keystone, then slide into a similar role that Polanco had this last season.
I think his bat will age well, too.
Those that know me from Shannon’s blog know that I advocated for the acquisition of Haniger before he became a Mariner.
At the time of the trade, most people dismissed Marte. I said that it stings, because I felt he was going to be good.
But getting Segura was huge at the time, too. They desperately needed a shortstop as well as a right fielder, and it’s worth noting that Segura eventually led to Crawford.
I don’t think Seattle regrets that trade, and Marte needed another year before breaking out (and an extension to stick around), but that worked out really well for Arizona.
It’s funny how things come (or may come) around full circle sometimes.
Arizona won the trade but 2 years of segura (which became JP Crawford) and Haniger becoming a franchise face was nice
Above average controlled starter plus 2 top 100s by itself is a lot by itself, I would hate to trade our bullpen pieces when we need to add more there
This makes a lot of sense. Seattle should be the AL favorite along with the Blue Jays if they can land Marte and their starters stay healthy.
They still have some work to do with their bullpen, but Marte would do wonders for the position side.
Lots of teams (save the Padres and Angels) have the prospects to “land him easily”.
Come on, Rays. You’ve traded the few guys besides Caminero that could’ve helped the team. Let’s trade Rasmussen and McClanahan and Pepiot for an aging Marte, and then replace the pitchers with Alex Cobb, Nestor Cortes, and Martin Perez. All will be well cause brainwashed fans will be happy when Rays stumble into a first round exit in the playoffs, and ownership won’t have to pay anything to players that can contribute. Nevermind the lifelong Rays fans like me who want this team to win a ring. You can also trade Marte for minor league no names if he does actually put up good numbers.
Could be talk, could be real. Regardless, the question is more do they see if as part of their future long term plans? Per cot’s, his 10-5 rights kick in at the beginning of the season so any trade goes through Marte. It would making trading him a little more difficult.
In that situation, you’d have to bring in a 2B who can compete for the position and then get the media to question his commitment to the team, and then dump him as the relationship sours and Marte wants out.
You know, the Devers play. Hazen should be fairly familiar with it given his time in Boston.
At this point he has to be traded I would think.
To Toronto for Barrios (and other pieces).
@BetterMuppet:JUDGEorKERMIT?
If those other pieces included Yesavage and Teideman/Nimmala, then ya, it could happen.
🙄😞
At this point Berrios has very little trade value. No chance he could headline a deal for a star player.
When you factor in Marte’s contract he is probably wanting something from Boston like Duran or Abreu and Early or Tolle. With Seattle he probably wants one of their controllable young pitchers on the major league roster. This explains why Seattle came out and said they won’t trade anyone from that.
Boston seems more willing to deal bello than early or Tolle
Bryce Miller vs Bello is probably what Dbacks prefered. But Mariners holding put on MLB guys hurts, and explains why Hazen is calling them out in desperation. Hazen needs to shift their focus away from the waiting game Mariners and Red Sox have been playing with him.
Hazen needs them to bid against each other, and they aren’t. This bluff might work to drag Toronto or another team into the situation thinking they could pull the wool over the teams waiting it out.
So a trade is unlikely and should be occurring soon if at all, that was not terribly helpful. I assume they are waiting for this weekend to see what happens.
Briceno, Hamm and Olsen for Marte who plays 3B or OF for the Tigers.
To me, Marte is more valuable to another team. Decent contract, elite 2B but once he hits 10 and 5 rights will he still be motivated? That no trade clause increases the risk on his contract.
“We’re not blind to having an imperfect clubhouse”
GM speak for “yeah I know our players don’t get along but that’s work”
Once you publicly put your star player on the trading block, it’s not always easy to bounce back to “we love him and can’t wait to have him retire with our team”
Thats a good take..I get they can fill multiple needs but a star on a very team friendly deal shouldn’t be in these rumors…see jose Ramirez as a comp..you rarely hear about him too long before Cleveland slams the door..this not happening with marte says alot
I don’t remember them ever publicly putting him on the block, and having a really high asking price seems like it would bode well with shows my a player how much you value them.
It’s not straight from the horse’s mouth. However, Hazen acknowledging and managing the trade negotiations like this is about as close to one as we’ll get.
A typical situation where a player is rumored to be available like this, the team either shrugs it off or not. The continuation and this current statements suggests they are actively looking to move him. And in the case of Marte and Dbacks, there is the Dbacks interest to cut salary commitments, and Marte’s 10 and 5 kicks in right before the season starts.
This naturally means there is a deadline to follow down this pathway for the Dbacks. Hazen knows this, however, he doesn’t want to get stuck without any leverage, hence he is trying to stir up commitment from the other teams.
If they don’t commitment to making a deal, he can just try to figure out another way to improve the team that is not as simple as moving the best player.
Travis Bazzana for Marte straight up!
Lowder petty and collier for Marte. Hits second in front of Elly and starts LF
Diamondbacks say no but I say hell yeah
That’s all they need, another infielder trying to play the outfield.
Atleast we’d have someone who can hit the damn ball lol
Abbott as instant win now reliable part and the kid Watson to dream on for development is more like it. Petty has to be fixed b/c he looks like a common 1st round draft out of high school miss.
I’m high on Abbott and think he’s an excellent trade chip but I think j got Lowder a notch above him. He’s got a little more control and a higher pedigree coming into pro ball
Rather Grey Goose than Ketel
Translation: “no one is offering us close to what we want in return”
Logan Gilbert for Ketel Marte.
Might have to balance it out but this trade makes sense for both.
It’ll never happen though. Both GM’s would be scared to “lose” the trade down the line.
He’s 10/ in early April 2026. If they are putting him on the table now and being so open about their inner thinks then I’m willing to be he’ll be gone by March 2026.
I meant 10 and 5
The Dbacks are ruining baseball.
Just look at them, deferring $6 million.
I think hes gone before his 10-5 rights kick in.
Still not sure why they’re trying to trade him after extending him 9 months ago, why not trade him last season?
@Change
Why do ppl get divorced so soon after getting married?
There are a few reasons:
1. He will receive full no-trade rights just after the start of the season
2. DBacks likely won’t contend in 2026 so the prospect return could be more valuable for their future
3. He has ruffled some feathers from his non-baseball issues last season
4. The extension initially included 115mil in bonus escalators, but he only receive 6mil of the possible 33mil from last season, so now that the escalators are down to 82mil (+ 6mil earned) the contract is more valuable than it was a year ago.
5. There appears to be pressure from ownership to reduce payroll.
Hurry teams
Marte Must Go
What are alternative methods for the Dbacks to cut salary and improve the roster?
Those are the routes he is bluffing with to get other teams to bid against themselves.
The Mets have the depth to trade for Marte, which would push Semien to a super utility role (basically replacing Jeff McNeil) and help replace the offensive production from Nimmo and Alonso. As for the cost, I’d think it’d be Sproat (#5), AJ Ewing (#7), and Mauricio (2B, 3B, SS) in an ideal world for the Mets. Ewing has upped his profile, especially if he can play a solid CF. The Mets already have Jett Williams and Carson Benge competing for CF in Spring Training, so moving a rising Ewing could be a win/win for both clubs. Sproat was ranked ahead of McLean before last season and his floor should be a #4 w. cheap years or possible a #3.
If I were AZ, I’d ask for McLean but settle for Tong/Sproat, ask for one of Jett Williams/Ewing (both are best case CF’ers), and then a lotto ticket if they don’t want an MLB’er. Maurico is a guy who has shown flashes of being above average at the plate, but his plate discipline is meh, but he’s a toolsy player that doesn’t have a path to regular playing time and he’s out of options for the minors. Senga could be stolen in a Marte deal, but I hope the Mets are smart enough to gold onto a Cy Young possible Senga if he can stay healthy…but he’s a dice roll if he can’t stay healthy. I don’t know AZ’s prospects, so I’m not sure what they’d prefer outside of the Top 100-150 guys I mentioned on the Mets side.
I’d love for the Mets to move Peterson instead of Sproat, but AZ would want cheap years with more upside of Sproat/Tong. Carson Benge is likely untouchable like McLean, but they know they’d need to pull a couple of guys from #3-#10 to make a competitive offer bc you gotta give value to get a premier player like Marte.
Would Hazen dump E. Rodriguez using Marte to get a controllable SP?
No. Rodriguez’s contract has negative value at this point, and Hazen is trying to maximize the return for Marte.
Why is he trying to trade him then? There isn’t an impetus for getting rid of such a good player if we rule out removing salary as was reported.
Ketel gets his 10/5 rights soon, so this is the last real chance that (most of) the league has to acquire him; it becomes much more difficult once he can veto any deal.
He’s trying to trade him for multiple MLB level pieces, including a controllable, high-end SP (and preferably multiple of the pieces are pitchers). Kelly, Nelson, Rodriguez, Pfaadt, and Soroka is not a Postseason caliber rotation, and I reckon it’s questionable even with a healthy Burnes (and he has the opportunity to opt out after this season).
At least one more quality SP certainly makes it more feasible, and since Alexander/Lawlar are in-house a Bregman signing would push one (or both) to 2B.
Can the fielding/pitching gains offset the hitting losses? Who knows, but that’s at least why Hazen would be entertaining the idea of trading Marte.
I guess I just find it weird that they be trading him after they just signed him to a great deal because of 10 and 5 rights. It may be the downside to the leverage of trading Marte for a return. But it doesn’t feel like a good enough reason to trade their best player.
arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/payroll….
This has statements from the owner late september about payroll for ’26
He’d love to if he could.
“Players who have accrued 10 years of Major League service time and spent the past five consecutive years with the same team are awarded 10-and-5 rights. Under these circumstances, a player can veto any trade scenario that is proposed.”
This is the primary reason they want to move him. He will soon qualify & they will be stuck. He has a selfish reputation so really, possible acquiring teams have a lot of leverage.
Jerry Dipoto always gets his guy. Marte to the M’s
Ms will have the Best lineup in the league
I don’t believe Marte will be traded due to mismatched agendas. Prospective buyers want to buy low on Marte due to the clubhouse rumors. The Dbacks, on the other hand, want a premium return on a guy they dont need to trade who is an elite switch-hitter with a club friendly contract. The gap between potential buyers and the seller, imo, is too much to overcome.
I think the Red Sox and D-Backs match up well for Marte. It seems that the Sox are reluctant to give up Mayer though. I would trade Mayer, Early, and some other prospects beyond the top 5 for Marte and Lawlar. It seems that both Lawlar and Mayer haven’t been able to crack the major league roster as of yet. Just wondering why the D-Backs were insistent on Mayer, when they have Lawlar and Troy ready to take the next step. Have they soured on Lawlar? Thoughts on the the 2 players headlining the deal?
RedSox, I think you have confused the source of information that the Dbacks are insisting on Mayer. Hazen has never specified any specific player(s) or any specific team in trade talks. All of the speculation comes from fans on these threads.
Hazen doesn’t negotiate with other GMs on media platforms like this. He is very close to the vest. His moves have always come as a surprise because he is so discrete.
The only information he gives out is that it will take a huge return package offer to listen on any trade of Marte. And that is a truthful statement.. He doesn’t have to trade Marte. It is one option available to him to get pitching solidified, but there are other options. If he did trade Marte, he would have the option to try and get Bregman to offset the loss of Marte on the position player side of the roster.
Because he is likable and a good guy, people have ignored the fact that Hazen has left this team depleted in too many areas to be considered competitive. His reluctance to build up and develop a solid pitching staff has come back to haunt the team. I realize as he does that injuries altered the pitching staff, but injuries are part of the game and must be considered when putting together a roster, so don’t sell us that the team lost just because of injuries. Just how many smallish players can you draft and expect to fill all needed positions? Trading Marte could be the answer provided that the other trade partner is willing to send quality pitchers for Marte. So far not looking good. Hazen has a big problem he is now having to confront.