According to Arizona Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen, regarding second baseman Ketel Marte and ongoing trade discussions, he told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com, “We’re very likely to put an end to this shortly.”
When Gilbert followed up by asking what he meant by how “shortly” in terms of a time frame, Hazen responded by saying, “I haven’t figured that out yet. But this isn’t going to linger. We need to focus on our offseason.”
In terms of the likelihood Marte is traded, Hazen was clear in stating; “Again, my gut this whole time was that a trade of Marte wasn’t going to happen, and I think it seems likely that’s the case, and we want to focus on other things we need to do.”
Marte Trade Talks At Winter Meetings
Gilbert, who covers the Diamondbacks for MLB.com, stated that this messaging from Hazen followed similar suit to what he was relaying at the MLB Winter Meetings this past December in Orlando, Florida, in which was “New Year’s” being the rough deadline the Diamondbacks would be giving themselves to figure out Marte trade discussions and what would be the outcome, whether he stays or goes, reports Gilbert.
Gilbert also states that Hazen told him that he hasn’t exactly notified teams of a “hard deadline”, but that he has relayed to them that “time is running out” for those interested in trading for the superstar second baseman, according to Hazen and reported by Gilbert.
The teams that’ve held trade discussions with the Diamondbacks regarding Marte, dating back to the MLB Winter Meetings just a few weeks prior in Orlando, consist of the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays, according to MLB Insider for the New York Post, Jon Heyman.
The Marte chatter at the Winter Meetings grew louder at times, especially with the Boston Red Sox, but nothing ultimately materialized at that time.
Diamondbacks Don’t Have To Trade Marte
There’s a case for the Diamondbacks keeping but also trading Marte. The Diamondbacks, despite re-signing starting pitcher Merrill Kelly to a two-year deal after trading him to the Texas Rangers this past season at the trade deadline, still are in desperate need of a starting pitcher, if not two.
The Red Sox are an organization known for having many young (controllable) starting pitchers on the rise, currently on their Major League roster, such as Bryan Bello, Payton Tolle, Connolly Early, and Kyle Harrison. The Red Sox even traded one of their young starters, starting pitcher Hunter Dobbins, earlier this past month in another deal with the St Louis Cardinals, except this time for right-handed veteran catcher/first baseman Wilson Contreras.
The case for keeping Marte consists of the fact that he’s currently the best second baseman in all of Major League Baseball, who, after signing a six-year, $116.5 million contract this past year, is in the prime of his career at 32 years old.
The time for teams to trade for the All-Star second baseman is running out, and it’s looking more probable by the day that he remains in Arizona at least for the 2026 season.
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