Marte, 32, is a three-time All-Star and was an MVP finalist last year. Marte is easily one of the best offensive infield talents in the game right now, slashing .283/.368/.519 (140 wRC+) with 15.3 fWAR over the past three years. That’s good for his ninth-best wRC+ and twelfth-highest fWAR total among all position players over the span, and his 145 wRC+ in 126 games this year led all infielders. So it’s easy to see why so many teams would be interested in the star’s services if the Diamondbacks decided to make him available. That’s especially true as he remains an above-average defender at second base over the past three years with +10 outs above average at the position.
That may make it hard to imagine why the Diamondbacks would even consider dealing one of their franchise’s biggest stars, but Arizona will have to reevaluate much of its future after missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons and falling to fourth place in the NL West this past year despite record-breaking payroll numbers for the franchise. The Diamondbacks haven’t been shy about the idea that their current spending isn’t sustainable, and taking the $101 million Marte is owed over the next five years off the books would certainly help pay for players like Corbin Caroll And Corbin Burnes who themselves already have longer deals.
In addition to potential financial concerns, the Diamondbacks clearly need to shore up a rotation that will not only see Burnes miss most (if not all) of 2026 while he rehabs Tommy John surgery, but also saw Zac Gallen went to free agency this winter and lost Merrill Kelly in a trade with the Rangers over the summer. Even with his nine-figure contract, Marte would certainly bring a ton of pitching talent with him if traded, leaving Arizona in a position where they must at least consider offers from clubs loaded with young talent.
All three clubs mentioned by Nightengale certainly fit that description. The Red Sox are currently overflowing with controllable starting pitching talent. After adding Son Gray And Johan Oviedo to a rotation that was already included Garrett hook, Brayan BelloAnd Patrick Sandoval this winter, boston’s rotation mix looks more or less headed into 2026. That leaves players like Connelly asked, Payton Tolle, Kyle Harrison, Hunter DobbinsAnd Cuts Crawford without clear paths to regular starts.
While some of those pieces will certainly be retained for depth and protection against injuries, the team could certainly afford to part with some of that pitching talent to land a player of Marte’s caliber. That could be especially attractive for Boston given reports that the club is looking to add several big players to the lineup this winter but may not have the financial flexibility to do so through the free agent market. Additionally, the Sox could also bring in a young position player to help replace Marte in Arizona’s lineup, such as Triston Casas And Kristian Campbell.
As far as the Rays are concerned, they would be a surprisingly good fit for Marte’s services, to say the least. The team’s financial flexibility would be severely limited this winter, as is typically the case for a team that routinely manages a payroll of less than $100 million. That led the club to decline their one-year option on Righty Pete Fairbanks and even leads to some rumors about the possibility of one Brandon Lowe trade. That said, however, an attack is not entirely impossible to imagine. After all, the Rays have always operated in creative and unconventional ways, and replacing Lowe with Marte would only add $4 million to the team’s budget for this year due to the structure of Marte’s contract.
That could allow the Rays to add a major offensive upgrade for a year or two before looking to move the veteran to another club if his contract becomes more expensive in later seasons. It wouldn’t be the first time the Rays have considered the possibility of adding a star-caliber player while they Freddie Vrijman in free agency and was considering making an attempt at a Shohei Ohtani trade at the 2023 trade deadline. Obviously, that belonged to Stu Sternberg, and exactly how Patrick Zalupski will differ from his predecessor in this area remains to be seen. The biggest question regarding the Rays’ possible Marte pursuit mainly has to do with what they can offer in return; young starters want Shane Baz And Ryan Pepiot would certainly be tempting, but both prove to be key pieces of a somewhat depleted Rays rotation in 2026.
As for the Tigers, the club believes it is hungry to improve on what could be Pull Skubal‘s last year with the organization. Detroit has one of the very best farm systems in the league, and while their top prospects lean more toward the positional side of things, a young pitcher like Troy Melton would certainly have a lot of appeal for the Diamondbacks if he were surrounded by other top talent. Marte’s matchup with the Tigers might be a bit complicated in 2026 Gleyber Torres accepted the qualifying offer and will return to the cornerstone position next year, but Detroit has shown a willingness in the past to get creative with its players’ positions. It’s also worth noting that while Marte has played exclusively at second base in recent years, he has logged nearly 1,300 innings in center field, leaving Detroit dependent on players like Parker Meadows And Javier Baez by 2025.
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