Latest On Ketel Marte

Diamondbacks officials met with Ketel Marte’s agent Charisse Espinosa-Dash during the GM Meetings this week, but the D’Backs “but did not seem to come away with a clear idea about what teams to which Marte would be willing to approve a deal,” the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro writes. Marte has full no-trade protection as a 10-and-5 player, so even though he is one of the offseason’s most prominent trade candidates, the possibility exists that Marte will remain in Arizona simply because he isn’t interested in changing teams. It puts the D’Backs in something of an awkward position, especially since the impending lockout will interrupt all transactions activity for what could be months on end. If Marte isn’t dealt by 10:59pm CT on December 1 (when the current collective bargaining agreement expires and the league is expected to lock out the players), the uncertainty over his future will continue to linger over all of the Diamondbacks’ remaining offseason plans. As Piecoro puts it, “the Diamondbacks seem to have little choice but to sort of blindly attempt to make the best deal possible without knowing whether Marte will approve it.” In terms of what that best deal might entail, Piecoro writes that the D’Backs have looked into all variety of trades in their early discussions about Marte — bringing in just prospects, swapping the second baseman for other established big league talents, or a trade package of both veteran and younger talent. GM Mike Hazen naturally didn’t go into any detail about the Marte negotiations, but the executive expressed some regret at focusing on MLB-ready younger players in past trades of such star players as Zack Greinke or Paul Goldschmidt. This could hint that Hazen is looking to add just the best talent available (whether that’s current big leaguers or longer-term prospects) while shopping Marte, which is probably a logical approach since Hazen’s options are already limited by Marte’s no-trade leverage. One option still under consideration is moving Marte for another player on a hefty contract, for salary offset purposes. The Diamondbacks “did not seem to be leaning in that direction,” as Piecoro says that Arizona’s preference would be to clear some of Marte’s remaining $91.75MM salary off the books and then reinvest that money into other roster needs. That $91.75MM figure is a little higher than the $87.5MM owed to Marte in the initial terms of his contract, as Piecoro hears from a source that Marte unlocked incentive bonuses based on plate appearances. The Blue Jays, Giants, Mariners, Phillies, Pirates, Rays, Red Sox, and Tigers all reportedly had some level of interest in Marte last offseason, and Toronto’s interest has continued into this winter. As MLBTR’s Anthony Franco explored in a recent post about Marte’s potential market, Seattle, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh are probably out of the running based on various factors emerging within the last year. There’s also the possibility that Marte’s infamous no-show of a game in Boston this past August might have put past suitors or any other teams off entirely. View Comments (4)