The Ketel Marte trade rumors have cooled since the MLB Winter Meetings, and now it appears the Arizona Diamondbacks plan to hold on to their All-Star second baseman.
D’backs general manager Mike Hazen spoke to reporters Tuesday about Marte’s availability in trade talks. Although the club continues to engage with teams about a possible deal, Hazen is ready to move on.
“We’re very likely to put an end to this shortly,” Hazen said. … “This isn’t going to continue to linger. We need to focus our offseason.
“Again, my gut this whole time was that (a trade of Marte) 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.”
The Red Sox have been the club most prominently linked to Marte in recent weeks. Arizona has reportedly asked for young pitching in return, and Boston has two top pitching prospects in left-handers Payton Tolle and Connelly Early.
That price may be too steep for Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, and understandably so. Tolle has top-of-the-rotation upside as Boston’s No. 1 prospect, and Early showcased his intriguing potential in his first taste of the big leagues last season. Trading them for a 32-year-old middle infielder — even one as talented as Marte — is risky business.
That said, the Red Sox still need to add a big bat or two to their lineup this offseason, even after acquiring first baseman Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals. Re-signing Alex Bregman remains a possibility, and they’ve also been linked to sluggers Bo Bichette and Eugenio Suarez on the free-agent market. If the Marte trade talks indeed fall through, Boston could pivot to Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan or Houston Astros infielder Isaac Paredes.
In 2025, the switch-hitting Marte slashed .283/.376/.517 with 28 homers and 72 RBI in 126 games. He has also been a solid defender at second base with +10 Outs Above Average over the past three seasons (+8 OAA in ’24).
