Ketel Marte

Diamondbacks To Extend Ketel Marte

By Connor Byrne | March 27, 2018 at 11:46am CDT

TODAY: The deal is now official.

YESTERDAY, 4:26pm: Zach Buchanan of The Athletic has tweeted the full breakdown. Marte will receive a $2MM signing bonus and $1MM salary for the coming season, followed by $2MM, $4MM, $6MM, and $8MM salaries through the guaranteed seasons (2019-22).

The options are valued at $10MM and $12MM, each of which come with a $1MM buyout. Incentives (details of which remain unknown) could tack on another $4MM overall.

11:41am: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a five-year, $24MM extension with middle infielder Ketel Marte, Robert Murray of FanRag reports. The deal also comes with a pair of option years worth a combined $22MM, which could make it a seven-year, $46MM pact. Marte is a client of the Legacy Agency.

The Diamondbacks already had Marte under control for the next half-decade, including four arbitration-eligible years, but the extension means they won’t go through that process at all with him. The Phillies made a similar decision Sunday when they signed infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery to a five-year, $24MM guarantee of his own.

The 24-year-old Marte is about to begin his second season in Arizona, which acquired him from Seattle in a blockbuster November 2016 trade. Because the deal also featured Taijuan Walker, Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger, Marte flew under the radar at the time, especially after enduring a rough 2016 with the Mariners. Marte impressed his new team last year, however, even though he didn’t post eye-popping offensive numbers in the majors.

After spending nearly the first three months of 2017 at the Triple-A level, where he raked over 338 plate appearances (.338/.391/.514 – good for a 135 wRC+), the Diamondbacks promoted Marte in late June. The switch-hitter went on to bat .260/.345/.395 (89 wRC+) with five home runs and three stolen bases in 255 PAs. To his credit, Marte collected nearly as many walks (29) as strikeouts (37), and as Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs wrote in December, there’s data suggesting he could be in line for a breakout. Marte was somewhat of a Statcast darling last year, evidenced by his 19th-place ranking in sprint speed and a quality xwOBA (.342).

While Marte’s only a .265/.319/.361 hitter (84 wRC+) with eight homers and 22 steals in 968 major league PAs, the D-backs seem optimistic he’s indeed capable of more in their uniform. And they saw him fare nicely in the field last season, where he logged four Defensive Runs Saved and a 1.1 Ultimate Zone Rating in 507 innings at shortstop. Marte’s now likely to give up short in favor of Nick Ahmed, a gifted defender who missed most of last season, and move to second. It’ll be a relatively new position in the bigs for Marte, who hasn’t lined up at the keystone since logging 31 innings there as a rookie in 2015.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Kershaw, Hamels, D-backs, Padres

By Connor Byrne | March 3, 2018 at 6:25pm CDT

There continues to be hope that the top pitcher in the game, left-hander Clayton Kershaw, will remain with the Dodgers beyond the upcoming season. Kershaw, who could opt out of the final two years and $65MM on his contract next winter, said last week that he and Dodgers management are “on the same page.” Then, on Saturday, Dodgers owner Mark Walter told Jon Heyman of FanRag that “[Kershaw] should be a Dodger for life.” While it doesn’t seem as if a new deal is imminent – both Walter and Kershaw suggested to Heyman that the hurler wants to wait until the end of the year to sort out his future – the three-time Cy Young winner gushed over his long tenure with the franchise. “I love it here. It’s great,” said Kershaw, who’s entering his age-30 season. “I’ve had an amazing run here. And I don’t take that for granted. Not many guys can say they get to go to the playoffs (almost) every year, or even that they have a chance to go to the playoffs every year.”

More from the majors’ West divisions…

The Rangers could elect to use a six-man rotation this year, but their best starter, Cole Hamels, isn’t on board (via Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News). The 34-year-old southpaw opined Saturday that a six-man starting staff isn’t “appropriate for where I am at this stage.” Hamels also took a shot at the idea in general, saying: “It’s not part of baseball. I know that’s the new, analytical side, trying to re-invent the wheel. … that’s just not what MLB is to me. That’s not how I learned from my mentors. That’s not the way I’m geared to pitch.” Unfortunately for Hamels, manager Jeff Banister favors the six-man alignment and seems more likely than ever to try it this season, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Regardless of how Texas’ rotation plans shake out, it’ll probably need a bounce-back year from Hamels to have any chance at a playoff spot. The longtime front-end starter endured arguably the worst season of his career in 2017, when he logged a 4.20 ERA/4.62 FIP with 6.39 K/9 and 3.22 BB/9 across 148 innings.
The Diamondbacks are still determining their starting middle infield for 2018, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com writes. Either Ketel Marte or Chris Owings could start at second base or shortstop, while Nick Ahmed is also in contention – but only at short. “I’d say on that front, we value Nick as a shortstop,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I haven’t had a conversation with him beyond playing shortstop at this point.” With the exception of an 11-inning stint at the keystone in 2014, his first taste of major league action, Ahmed has spent his entire career at short. He has dazzled defensively, evidenced by his 37 DRS and 19.6 UZR, but has only managed a .226/.273/.345 batting line in 1,020 plate appearances.
The Padres have temporarily halted right-hander Colin Rea’s throwing program after he experienced soreness in his pitching shoulder Friday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports. Rea, who’s working back from 2016 Tommy John surgery, is now unlikely to be ready for the start of the year, Cassavell suggests. Consequently, it appears he’s out of the running for a spot in the Padres’ season-opening rotation, though Cassavell notes that they still have seven other candidates for their starting five.

D’Backs Notes: Marte, Drury, Rodney

By Mark Polishuk | December 15, 2017 at 12:12am CDT

The latest from the desert, as per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic…

According to a source on a rival team, Ketel Marte is the only infielder that the Diamondbacks aren’t willing to consider in trade offers. Splitting his first season with the D’Backs between Triple-A and the big leagues, Marte tore up minor league pitching and then hit .260/.345/.395 over 255 plate appearances for Arizona. Marte, one of the key parts of Arizona’s big multi-player swap with the Mariners last year, is clearly seen as the shortstop of the future, plus he will be under team control through 2022 as a probable Super Two player.
The infielder drawing the most buzz may be Brandon Drury, who has received interest from more than a half-dozen teams. The Yankees were reportedly talking about Drury and D’Backs starter Patrick Corbin during the Winter Meetings.
The D’Backs were linked to former closer Fernando Rodney on the rumor mill, though they didn’t make Rodney an offer before he agreed to join the Twins today. Arizona still has offers out to multiple free agent relievers, GM Mike Hazen said on Monday.
In other Diamondbacks news from earlier today, the team checked in with the Orioles about Manny Machado…the Yankees discussed Jacoby Ellsbury with the D’Backs, who aren’t too keen on Ellsbury’s contract…three teams are interested in a Zack Greinke trade, though talks with a fourth club (the Rangers) have reportedly gone nowhere.

West Notes: Rockies, D-backs, Rangers

By Connor Byrne | September 17, 2017 at 11:54am CDT

Rockies outfielder/first baseman Ian Desmond has shown troubling signings in the first season of a five-year, $70MM contract, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com notes. Along with a .273/.319/.367 batting line that’s 35 percent worse than league average (per FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric), Desmond’s groundball rate and exit velocity have trended in the wrong direction. His 63.1 percent grounder mark is nearly 12 percent worse than his yearly average and ranks last among hitters with at least 300 PAs. At the same time, Desmond’s exit velo has dropped from 90.5 mph last season to 87.4 mph this year. But health issues have likely contributed to Desmond’s drop-off, as the soon-to-be 32-year-old has been on the disabled list three different times. Indeed, Desmond told Randhawa that the injuries – including the fractured left hand he suffered in spring training – have made it difficult for him to establish himself this season. Based on his track record, Desmond expects to return to form. “Line drives and hard contact. For me, that’s my game,” Desmond said. “I’ve got to utilize my speed, and I think there’s complete validity in hitting the ball in the air and launch angle and all that stuff, but at the same time, my swing and the results I’ve been able to produce over the years is plenty for me. And I think that game plays anywhere. The thing is just a matter of getting the swings off and timing.”

D-Backs, Emilio Bonifacio Agree To Minors Deal

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2017 at 11:03am CDT

The Diamondbacks are in agreement with veteran utility man Emilio Bonifacio on a minor league pact, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.

Bonifacio will join the D-backs in the midst of a difficult situation, as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert tweets that the club is preparing to place infielder Ketel Marte on the bereavement list due to the tragic death of Marte’s mother in a car accident. We at MLBTR express our most heartfelt condolences to Marte and his family.

With both Marte and Chris Owings (fractured finger) unavailable for some time, Bonifacio can step up and play a variety of positions around the diamond. The 32-year-old batted just .132/.150/.211 in 44 plate appearances with the Braves earlier this year but is a career .256/.313/.333 batter in nearly 2900 MLB PAs. Bonifacio has played second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions in his career as well.

Injury Notes: Bird, Austin, Ahmed, Gsellman, Anderson, Jackson

By Steve Adams | June 28, 2017 at 7:30pm CDT

There’s concern within the Yankees organization that Greg Bird won’t make it back at all this season, manager Joe Girardi admitted to the YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits (Twitter link). Bird is still feeling soreness in his injured foot/ankle — an injury that has limited him to just 25 games between the Majors and Triple-A this season. Further complicating the situation is that Tyler Austin could be DL-bound, per Girardi (via ESPN’s Andrew Marchand). Marchand notes that if Austin does indeed land on the disabled list, Chris Carter could make a quick return to the lineup after accepting today’s outright assignment to Triple-A.

More injury news from around the game…

The Diamondbacks announced today that backup infielder Nick Ahmed has been placed on the 10-day DL with a fractured right hand, and offseason acquisition Ketel Marte has been recalled from Triple-A Reno in his place. Per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, Ahmed had three pins inserted into his hand and will be shut down from baseball activity for the next six weeks (Twitter link). It could be eight weeks before Ahmed, the team’s best defensive infielder, returns to the team. Ahmed is hitting just .251/.298/.419, but his glove will be missed. From 2015-16, Ahmed posted a +32 mark in Defensive Runs Saved and a +19.9 mark in Ultimate Zone Rating. As for Marte, the second key piece acquired in this offseason’s Taijuan Walker/Jean Segura/Mitch Haniger trade, he’ll debut in Arizona on the heels of a .338/.391/.514 batting line thus far in Triple-A.
The Mets will be without Robert Gsellman for a few weeks, writes Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. Gsellman landed on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, becoming the seventh Mets starting pitcher to land on the DL this year. Gsellman is the 17th Mets player to land on the DL this season, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo notes. Rafael Montero will assume Gsellman’s spot in the rotation, though Ackert notes that the Mets were already considering that move due to Montero’s strong results as of late. Gsellman, meanwhile, has a 6.16 ERA in 76 innings this year, though that mark is partially skewed by a pair of outings this month in which Gsellman allowed a combined 14 earned runs in 9 1/3 innings.
Right-hander Chase Anderson exited tonight’s game with what the Brewers have announced as a strained left oblique muscle. There’s no word on how long he’ll miss and won’t be until after the game, but oblique injuries more often than not mean a month or so on the disabled list for a Grade 1 strain and even longer for more severe strains. That’s a brutal loss for the Brewers, who have enjoyed a breakout year from the 29-year-old Anderson thus far. Through 90 1/3 innings, Anderson has a 2.89 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 38.1 percent ground-ball rate. There are occasionally oblique injuries that don’t require such a lengthy absence, though history isn’t on Milwaukee’s side there.
The Indians placed Austin Jackson on the 10-day disabled list yesterday after an MRI revealed a strained quadriceps, president of baseball ops Chris Antonetti told reporters (via Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer). Antonetti said that the team’s expectation is that it’ll be three to four weeks before Jackson is able to return to the big league roster. Jackson, 30, is in the midst of a rather quiet rebound season, as he’s hitting a robust .304/.383/.500 through 120 plate appearances this season.

Knocking Down The Door: Delmonico, Dziedzic, Lamet, Marte, Pivetta, Smith

By Jason Martinez | April 24, 2017 at 6:32pm CDT

The 2017 debut of “Knocking Down The Door” is here!

Over the next four months, I will be identifying Minor Leaguers who I believe are putting themselves in position to earn a big league call-up in the near future. In some cases, they get the call before the article is even published. In many others, they end up staying in the Minors for one reason or another and end up on my All-Snub team.

Here’s a look at six Minor Leaguers who are currently “Knocking Down The Door” to the Major Leagues.

Nicky Delmonico, 3B/1B, Chicago White Sox (Triple-A Charlotte)

In what was a heated spring competition to become the team’s designated hitter versus right-handed starting pitching, the White Sox went with the known commodity, former Phillie Cody Asche, over fellow lefty batters Delmonico and Danny Hayes. But with Asche’s subpar big league track record—he posted a .669 OPS in 371 games before the Phillies non-tendered him this past offseason—he wasn’t going to enter the season with much of a leash. And after a 2-for-35 start with the White Sox, his opportunity could be coming to and end.

Delmonico, a former 6th round draft pick of the Orioles who was traded to the Brewers in 2013 and released prior to the 2015 season, resurrected his career with a breakout 2016 season with the White Sox (.837 OPS, 17 HR, 30 2B between Double-A and Triple-A). While he fell short of making the 2017 Opening Day roster despite an impressive spring, he has continued to make noise down in Triple-A, where he’s slashing .328/.397/.492 after a 10-for-18 week in which he walked twice and struck out just one time. The 24-year-old will get a shot at some point in 2017 and it wouldn’t be a surprise if it happened before the end of April.

White Sox Depth Chart

Jonathan Dziedzic, SP, Kansas City Royals (Triple-A Omaha)

Barring injuries, cracking a spot in the Royals’ rotation will be no easy task in 2017. Even No. 5 starter Nathan Karns, who has a career 4.53 ERA and a Minor League option remaining, should have enough job security to get him through a few bad starts. But pitching well out of the Triple-A rotation, as the lefty Dziedzic has done through four starts, will not go unnoticed.

With a 1.09 ERA, two walks and 23 strikeouts in 24.2 innings pitched, the 26-year-old Dziedzic is putting himself in position to be next in line for a big league rotation spot. Whether that happens in the near future could depend on Karns, who was knocked around in his last start (4.2 IP, 6 ER, 4 HR). The Royals could also decide that Karns is a better fit out of the bullpen, an idea that has been floated around occasionally over the past few years as he’s struggled with consistency during stints with the Rays and Mariners, which would open the door for a deserving candidate like Dziedzic.

Royals Depth Chart

Dinelson Lamet, SP, San Diego Padres (Triple-A El Paso)

After the Padres re-signed Clayton Richard this past offseason and filled out their rotation with three other veteran starters, the big league ETA for rookies like Lamet and Walker Lockett was seemingly pushed back to at least the 2nd half of 2017. But with the aforementioned veterans each pitching well early on and teams with playoff aspirations already in need of rotation help—the Braves traded Jhoulys Chacin to the Angels after five starts in 2016—there’s a decent chance that a rotation opening will be created by an early-season trade.

Allowing only one run over his first three starts, including a 13-strikeout performance on April 20th, will also help Lamet’s cause as he battles Lockett in a race to the Padres’ rotation. After throwing 150 innings between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A in 2016, the 24-year-old Lamet should be ready to take on 20+ starts in the Majors this season.

Padres Depth Chart

Ketel Marte, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks (Triple-A Reno)

Last offseason’s five-player trade between Arizona and Seattle has swung heavily in the Mariners’ favor early on. Surprisingly, that doesn’t have much to do with the players who were considered to be the key components of the deal.

Taijuan Walker has been decent in his four starts for the Diamondbacks, while Jean Segura landed on the disabled list after 35 plate appearances for the Mariners. It’s outfielder Mitch Haniger, acquired with Segura and lefty reliever Zac Curtis, who is emerging as an MLB star (1.020 OPS through his first 20 games) and, therefore, making the trade seem a bit lopsided.

The Diamondbacks’ hopes of balancing things out some could ride on Marte, the 23-year-old shortstop who failed to live up to big expectations with the Mariners in 2016. While the versatile Chris Owings and light-hitting defensive whiz Nick Ahmed keep the spot warm in the big leagues, Marte is doing all he can to make his way back to the Majors. In the midst of an 11-game hitting streak—he’s had at least one hit in 16 of 17 games—the switch-hitter is slashing .419/456/.459 with three stolen bases, five walks and five strikeouts.

Diamondbacks Depth Chart

Nick Pivetta, SP, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley)

There’s no guarantee that Pivetta will be joining the Phillies on Wednesday to replace the injured Aaron Nola, but he is in line to pitch—his last start with Lehigh Valley came on April 20th—he’s already on the 40-man roster and he’s been one of the most dominant pitchers in the Minor Leagues in 2017. We’ll have to call this pick my “uncontested layup” of the week.

Acquired in the July 2015 deal that sent Jonathan Papelbon to the Nationals, the 24-year-old Pivetta has separated himself early on from a talented group of Triple-A rotation-mates with three terrific starts, the most recent being a six-inning, 11-strikeout performance.

Phillies Depth Chart

Dwight Smith Jr., OF, Toronto Blue Jays (Triple-A Buffalo)

The Blue Jays might not have a prospect capable of jump-starting their struggling offense at this point, but that doesn’t mean help isn’t on the way. Smith, the 53rd overall pick in the 2011 draft, has quietly made his way to Triple-A without putting up huge numbers or attracting much attention. But now that he’s one level away from the Majors, the left-handed hitting Smith is heating up at what could be just the right time.

Through his first 15 games, the 24-year-old has slashed .333/.403/.537 with three homers, three stolen bases, seven walks and nine strikeouts. He reached base in 12 of his 23 plate appearances last week while striking out only twice. Personally, I hope he gets the call on May 1st, which would be the 28th anniversary of his father’s MLB debut with the Cubs. Dwight Smith Sr. finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting in 1989.

Blue Jays Depth Chart

“Knocking Down the Door” is a weekly feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Giants, Halos, D-backs, Dodgers, Mariners

By Connor Byrne | March 28, 2017 at 8:58pm CDT

The Giants have informed 38-year-old shortstop Jimmy Rollins that he won’t make their roster, Andrew Baggarly of the East Bay Times was among those to report. San Francisco is now awaiting word on whether the longtime Phillie and 2007 NL MVP will accept a minor league assignment, per manager Bruce Bochy, but Baggarly notes that Rollins has a Thursday opt-out in his contract. This could conceivably be the end of the line for Rollins, who posted subpar seasons with the Dodgers and White Sox over the past two years. Chicago released him last June after a 41-game stint on the South Side, and he went on to ink a minors pact with the Giants in December.

Mike Hazen, Jerry Dipoto Discuss Segura-For-Walker Trade

By Steve Adams | November 24, 2016 at 8:47am CDT

The Mariners and Diamondbacks completed one of the largest trades of the young offseason last night, as Seattle sent right-hander Taijuan Walker and infielder Ketel Marte to Arizona in exchange for shortstop Jean Segura, outfielder Mitch Haniger and lefty reliever Zac Curtis in a trade that should have a longstanding impact on each organization. The lack of available starting pitching, both in free agency and in trades, has been well documented and played a role in the deal for both teams, as Arizona GM Mike Hazen and Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto explained to reporters in a pair of Wednesday night conference calls (links via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times).

“When we looked at the pitching that’s out on the market, we felt like this was an opportunity we had to take right now,” said Hazen of the trade. “Obviously, Jean is a great fit for them and was for us, but in order for us to get a starting pitcher the caliber of Taijuan, we felt like this was the opportunity we had to take given the market. It takes a lot of starting pitching to get through the season.”

Indeed, the D-backs will add Walker to a rotation mix that features Zack Greinke, Shelby Miller, Patrick Corbin, Robbie Ray, Rubby De La Rosa, Braden Shipley and Archie Bradley. The magnitude of this trade and Walker’s solid results to this point in his career — 4.18 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 41.5 percent ground-ball rate in 357 innings — should effectively guarantee him a spot in new manager Torey Lovullo’s rotation. Piecoro projects Walker to be joined by Greinke, Miller, Corbin and Ray on that front, and the remaining three righties could serve as either bullpen pieces, depth options in the minors or trade fodder thanks to the increased depth brought by Walker’s acquisition. Parting with Walker was painful for the Mariners, Dipoto admitted.

“It’s always hard when you give up talent like Taijuan,” said Dipoto. “You have to give to get and in this case we feel like we are getting a little bit more of a known commodity and we understand that Taijuan takes with him the upside to achieve something greater than we’ve seen. I know that’s real. At some point, Tai is going to put it all together and he will find himself as a pitcher.’

Walker, though, was only one part of the equation for the Snakes, and Hazen sounded excited about the opportunity to add a high-upside middle infielder like Marte. The switch-hitting 24-year-old already has parts of two MLB seasons under his belt, and though his sophomore campaign didn’t live up to a tremendous rookie season that came at the age of 21 (.283/.351/.402, two homers, eight steals in 247 plate appearances), Marte still carries plenty of upside and could be a long-term piece at shortstop or at second base.

“We think there’s definitely some upside in the bat and the defensive ability, and the speed and the athleticism,” said Hazen of Marte. And, as Piecoro notes, the trade could free up some at-bats for Brandon Drury (at second base), which Hazen acknowledged was a contributing factor in the decision. Drury hit .282/.329/.458 in his rookie season last year, showing great promise at the plate, but the presence of Segura at second base and Jake Lamb at third base pushed the natural infielder to left field. Drury struggled in left (-7 in both DRS and UZR), but he’ll have an opportunity to compete for regular time at second base next year.

Both GMs noted that Segura comes with significant appeal, and Dipoto offered confidence that his new shortstop’s 2016 breakout wasn’t a flash in the pan. “Segura was one of the premiere offensive players in the Majors last season,” said the second-year Mariners GM. “His combination of average, power and speed is extremely difficult to find, especially at a position like shortstop and at the top of our lineup. We believe pairing him with Robinson Canó gives us tremendous offensive potential in the middle of our infield.”

The Mariners, though, acquired a pair of pieces that could contribute to the team as soon as the 2017 season as well in Haniger and Curtis. Their proximity to the Majors also played a role in making this trade, according to Dipoto, who spoke quite highly of Haniger in particular. “We see Haniger as a high-ceiling prospect who projects to join our outfield as soon as next season, while Zac Curtis’ track record in the minors gives us great confidence in his future as a big league pitcher,” Dipoto explained.

While neither Haniger nor Curtis has been regarded as a premium prospect, Haniger laid waste to the admittedly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League last year, batting .341/.428/.670 with 20 homers in just 312 Triple-A plate appearances. With Nori Aoki departing via waivers while Franklin Gutierrez hits the open market and Stefen Romero heads to Japan, the Mariners have some outfield at-bats up for grabs. The right-handed-hitting Haniger could complement lefty swingers Ben Gamel and Seth Smith quite nicely in the corners, and his Triple-A success lends some hope to his ability to be a starter.

As for the lost rotation depth, Dipoto expressed confidence that the organization has enough remaining talent to survive a full season, but he also acknowledged that he’ll pursue additional help. “We are going to look at the free agent market,” he said. “We are certainly not opposed at potential for trades. We still feel like in the big picture that we are 10-11 deep with guys that we feel secure in starting a Major League game. We are comfortable with that group, but we’d like to augment it.”

While the trade market offers a limitless number of avenues for upgrade, free agency brings a lesser supply. Rich Hill, Jason Hammel and Ivan Nova are the top three starters on this year’s free-agent market, though Seattle’s pitcher-friendly environment could certainly be an appealing setting for one of the numerous rebound candidates that are available. Names like Brett Anderson and Derek Holland are both available, as are former Angels C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver, each of whom pitched for Dipoto’s teams in Anaheim.

Diamondbacks Acquire Walker, Marte From Mariners For Segura, Haniger, Curtis

By charliewilmoth | November 23, 2016 at 9:43pm CDT

The Diamondbacks have announced that they’ve acquired starter Taijuan Walker and shortstop Ketel Marte from the Mariners for middle infielder Jean Segura, outfielder Mitch Haniger and lefty Zac Curtis. The Mariners also announced that they’ve designated switch-pitcher Pat Venditte for assignment. Yahoo! Sports Jeff Passan was first to tweet that a deal was close between the two teams.

The trade marks quite the opening salvo for Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen, who has added two very intriguing young players to his new organization. Walker, 24, began his career as a top-ten prospect in all of baseball, and while he hasn’t yet emerged as a standout starter, he also hasn’t done much to dim his status as a top young talent. His name had repeatedly come up as a speculative possibility in potential blockbusters, including one in 2014 involving David Price, but he managed to stick with Seattle and put in two-plus seasons in their rotation before finally being dealt. In 2016, he posted a 4.22 ERA, with 8.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 134 1/3 big-league innings, bringing a strong mid-90s fastball in the process.

Walker’s upside remains considerable, and he’s under control for the next several seasons — he’s eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter as a Super Two player (and is projected to make $2.8MM), and he can’t become a free agent until after the 2020 season. He battled a foot injury in the middle of the 2016 campaign and had surgery to address it after the season, but there’s no reason to expect that to be a major issue going forward. He’ll join some combination of Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray, Patrick Corbin, Shelby Miller, Rubby De La Rosa, Archie Bradley and Braden Shipley in the Diamondbacks’ rotation.

Marte is a not-to-be-overlooked component of Arizona’s side of the deal. He only recently turned 23 and already has the equivalent of a season’s worth of big-league plate appearances under his belt. While he struggled both offensively and defensively in 2016 (posting a .259/.287/.323 line and a significantly below average UZR), he fared well enough in the minors to get to the big leagues at age 21, and certainly has time to improve. If he develops, he could become the Diamondbacks’ starting shortstop for the next several seasons.

“Young, controllable pitching is hard to find, and adding Taijuan to the rotation gives us significant depth in that area,” Hazen says. “In Ketel, we believe we have acquired a talented switch-hitting shortstop to join a very solid core of young middle infielders.”

From the Mariners’ perspective, the deal seems to hinge to a large degree on Segura’s breakout performance last season. Segura batted .319/.368/.499 with 20 homers in an outstanding 2016, posting 5.0 fWAR of value in his first season with the Snakes. (Credit former GM Dave Stewart for acquiring Segura in one of his better trades in his short tenure in Arizona.)

Segura’s previous history is erratic, however — he failed to clear a .300 OBP in either 2014 or 2015 with the Brewers. Some of Segura’s struggles might have been related to the tragic death of his infant son in the middle of the 2014 season, but his difficulties on the field are still worth considering. Also, unlike Marte (who is controllable for five more years), Segura only has two years of control remaining before he’s eligible for free agency. (MLBTR projects he’ll make $7.3MM in his second year of arbitration eligibility this offseason.) Segura had primarily been a second baseman with the Diamondbacks, but it appears likely he’ll play mostly shortstop with the Mariners, who have Robinson Cano at second.

The 25-year-old Haniger made his big-league debut in 2016 and batted a modest .229/.309/.404 in 123 plate appearances. He did, however, grade well defensively in a small sample, and he batted an excellent .341/.428/.670 in 312 plate appearances at Triple-A Reno, demonstrating outstanding power (with 20 home runs, albeit in a favorite hitting environment) and good plate discipline. Nonetheless, he was not particularly highly regarded — MLB.com ranked him just 21st among Diamondbacks prospects, noting the likelihood that he would wind up as a good fourth outfielder, and Baseball America (subscription required) didn’t even mention him in their midseason writeup on the Diamondbacks system. Still, he wouldn’t be the first young player with excellent minor league numbers to go underrated by prospect hounds, and he could contribute to a thin Mariners’ outfield immediately (likely mostly as a corner outfielder, since the M’s have Leonys Martin to man center). The Diamondbacks initially acquired him in 2014 when they traded Gerardo Parra to the Brewers.

Curtis has the lowest profile of any of the five players in the deal, but he’s an interesting fifth piece. He was pitching for Class A+ Visalia in 2016 when he got promoted all the way to the big leagues, thanks to a stat line that included 22 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he didn’t fare well there, posting a 6.75 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 8.8 BB/9 in 13 1/3 innings, but he got significantly better results after heading back to Double-A Mobile and might eventually reemerge as a good bullpen arm once he has more seasoning. In 111 minor league innings, he’s totaled 169 strikeouts against 35 walks. Curtis is undersized at 5’9″ and averaged a relatively modest 90.9 MPH on his fastball in the big leagues, though, so he probably doesn’t profile as a future power reliever.

Venditte pitched 13 1/3 innings with the Mariners in 2016 and allowed ten runs. The 31-year-old has attracted plenty of curiosity for his ability to pitch with either hand, but despite his consistent platoon advantage, he has just a 4.97 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in parts of two seasons in the big leagues. Most of the damage done against Venditte has come from right-handed batters, as opposing lefties have hit just .179/.242/.366 against him.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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