We’ve seen an unusual number of high-profile free agents come off the board in the first few weeks of November, though they’ve all been pitchers to this point. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman suggests, however, that the market for Starling Marte is strong enough that he could also sign this month, prior to the Dec. 1 expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.
That the 33-year-old Marte would command robust interest is only logical, given his longstanding track record and a brilliant 2021 campaign. While he’s a older than your typical free agent thanks to the club-friendly contract he inked early in his career, Marte has shown no signs of slowing down. To the contrary, his 2021 season was arguably his best yet. In 526 plate appearances between the Marlins and A’s, Marte turned in a .308/.381/.456 with a dozen home runs, 27 doubles and three triples — all while going 47-for-52 in stolen base attempts. He’s also perhaps the lone everyday center field option on the market.
Even if conventional wisdom suggests that the fleet-footed Marte will eventually slow down and move to a corner in a few years’ time, he still grades out as a plus runner and a respectable defensive option in center for the time being. Both Outs Above Average (2) and Ultimate Zone Rating (1.0) graded Marte as slightly above average, whereas Defensive Runs Saved was a bit below-average at minus-4. Make what you will of defensive metrics, which can of course be spotty on a year-to-year basis, but Marte has generally been passable in center and plus in left field. He also still ranks in the 83rd percentile of MLB players in terms of average sprint speed (28.4 ft/sec).
Given the scarcity of Marte’s skill set, the number of teams looking for help in the outfield (center field, in particular) and the lack of qualifying offer attached to him (he was ineligible by virtue of being traded), it’s no wonder that his market has quickly picked up steam. Prior reports have linked the Marlins, Mets, Phillies, Yankees and Giants to Marte, and Heyman tweeted this week that the Rangers — whom most expect to be quite aggressive in free agency — have also been weighing a run at Marte. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale adds this morning that the Astros, fresh off re-signing Justin Verlander, are being aggressive in their own efforts to sign Marte.
As we noted when ranking Marte 13th on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 free agent rankings, the list of teams with interest in bringing Marte aboard will be quite long. He’s been widely expected to command at least a three-year deal in free agency — the Marlins offered a lowball, three-year deal in the $30-39MM range prior to trading him — and with a number of recent free agents commanding premium salaries through age-36, we pegged him for a four-year deal at a total of $80MM.
Would love to see him on the White Sox, but we know how JR feels about paying “CF prices for a RF”…or really, about spending large amounts of money to actually go for it.
The rays have won more games in the last two years than just about every team in baseball. So now that we’ve completely destroyed the you gotta spend large narrative to go for it, we don’t have to waste anyone’s time reading stuff like that anymore.
And how many titles do they have to show for it, in their club’s entire history?
Plus, your narrative suggests that all teams are as good as the Rays at scouting, player development, and coaching. Not really true. So yeah, it’s possible to contend for a title on the cheap, but it’s a lot easier to do so if you spend some real money.
It’s funny that so many people consider tampa bay’s situation as a negative.
I actually argue that out of necessity, a lot of their decisions are easy and an advantage to them. Other teams struggle with emotional, or fan based decisions that defy logic. Signing long term deals, keeping past their prime stars, trying to hang on on to soon to be free agents.
Tampa doesn’t have to worry about any of that because they simply can’t afford to do any of those things. There’s no uproar when the trade their ace pitcher, like there would be if the Yankees, Red Sox or mid to large market team would, it’s just ‘what they have to do’ and everyone accepts it
The reason why other lower budget teams get in trouble is they don’t focus on what they need to be good at (scouting, drafting, development, trading assets) and try to appease their fan base by signing players to big deals that end up impacting the ability to field a strong team around them.
TB is a good franchise because they know exactly what they are and only have one chance to compete, and never deviate from that strategy.
So the front office gets no credit for doing the right things (Tampa Bay Rays trades, asset accumulation), but get full credit for doing the wrong things (big market front offices acting out of fear that fan base will berate them if they rebuild)? Got it.
Ugh, hyrax, with the title counting… as if there’s a such thing as a team that’s built to win in the regular season, go deep in the playoffs, but somehow not built to win the last series.. so effing dumb.
There aren’t that many rays fans to scream and make a fuss.
Don’t forget decades of losing and the high draft choices that come with it.
The haven’t had high draft picks in a long time that is not a tag you can place on them anymore.
Take the Giants for example, cheap team, and absolutely destroyed the regular season, however most fans knew it wasn’t likely that we’d be a legitimate World Series threat, as we have a strong roster in our 6th-20th guys, but our top end talent is older and shouldn’t be relied upon to ball out for an extra 20 games after the season ends.
I think Seager would be totally worth it, as his bat is most like Posey’s as far as .300+ average and 15+ HR pop with a healthy diet of doubles.
It’d be even better with the DH, as Ruf can easily step into that role, and even if Casali replaces Posey as the full time starter and hits .220, it’d still be an upgrade as his bat wouldn’t be replacing Posey, his bat would be replacing the Pitcher’s Spot, Ruf would be replacing Longo’s AB’s, and Seager would be replacing Posey’s AB’s.
With $110m before they touch the comp. bal. threshold, they can absolutely go out and add Seager, Pineda/Wood, Gausman, Marte, and a Drew Smyly type. I was really hoping for Syndergaard on a 1yr deal, as the last few years guys have been able to revive their market by pitching w/SF for a season(Smyly/Wood/Gausman/DeScalfani/etc) and Syndergaard seemed like a guy who could really pay off on a team like this.
Especially if they move Longo and a middling prospect for a starting pitcher coming off a disappointing season in the last year of a semi-expensive deal, something like $15-$20m, and that’d be a nice rotation.
I’d like Ray but he’s had two good seasons in his career, and spent a lot of time giving up runs in the NL West. I trust this pitching staff but back to your point, teams find cheap starters that have quality years ALL THE TIME.
Daren Ruf is a Phan fav..at least I’m a Phan..a really good guy who seems to have found his slot..good for him
So, should every team start tanking for a while so they can amass a lot of early picks? And, what will the Rays do now that they have drafted late? Maybe they can start paying their players instead of flipping them. Moral of the story, there are different approaches and the Rays don’t have the only successful one.
The rich teams have deliberately created an oligopoly by bidding up contracts so the number of competitive teams is reduced to their advantage. Then the Rays come along and knock off the big boys. That is a good thing. If there were more Rays in baseball, that would be a better thing. If there were as many teams like the Rays as there are big spenders, that would make baseball absolutely great. Hats off to the Rays.
Juan R, Draft position has nothing to do with it. It’s smart drafting, good development and smart moves.
Juan R.
And, what will the Rays do now that they have drafted late?
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It’s been 14 years since the Rays have depending on high draft choices. Just for fun, take a look at the team, and let me how many of the players were even drafted by the Rays, let alone drafted high.
Zunino-Trade
Diaz-Trade
Lowe-3rd round draft
Franco-Int’l draft
Wendle-Trade
Meadows-Trade
Keirrmaeir-31st round draft
Margot-Trade
Arozarena-Trade
Yarbrough-Trade
Wacha-low-level FA
McClanahan-Overall #31 pick
Hill-journeyman
Patino-Trade
Glasnow-Trade
Fleming-5th round draft
The entire team, except for a last 1st rounder, 3rd rounder, 5th rounder, and 31st rounder, are all guys that anyone could’ve traded for or signed.
You think drafting high and then trading those players means that drafting high didn’t help?
@emac22.. Bingo. None of the players they traded for were big-ticket acquisitions. It’s not just trading for players. It’s also having a plan for how to develop and hone their skills once they come on board. It’s the Rays way. Andrew Friedman has had similar success with the Dodgers, albeit with a larger budget. I’m not just talking about guys like Muncy, Turner, and Taylor, but prospects like Gray and Downs whose value went up after switching organizations. Scouting players in other organizations is critical, and the Rays are great at it. It’s a reason why Red Sox fans should be happy to have Chaim Bloom calling the shots.
Agents and arbitration got the salaries so high. $18.4 QO is insane. A player has a bad year but arbitration will give the player a raise. That’s BS. Football can cut a player and doesn’t pay the full contract. See Peyton Manning. Cut by colts and wins a Super Bowl for Denver. Mets paying Bobby B till 2035. Insane
So all the Sox have to do is completely revamp their draft/development strategy and wait ~5 years for it to kick in?
That makes way more sense than adding veteran pieces to an already good, young core.
The Rays have a great young core surrounded by an amazing FO. Not every team has that luxury.
I love Marte as a player but the idea of some team paying him $20 million a year when he’s 37 sounds terrible for the team. He reminds me a bit of Michael Borne. Borne played CF and always led the league in stolen bases. You could bank that he was going to get you 60 SB’s every single year. By the time Borne was 34 he was garbage. He was getting paid only $14M and still was a detriment to his teams payroll. Speed based players like Borne and Marte usually have a very quick and sharp decline. Unless a player is on PEDs they lose a serious step in their mid to late 30’s. It wouldn’t shock me if Marte is a shell of himself as soon as next season. It would shock me if he were any good at all by the time he’s 36. Teams would be smarter to offer Marte a higher AAV on a 1 year deal with a team option. Because of his age and style of play even a 3 year deal is too long. 4 years is just crazy.
@The Mets “Missed WAR He already turned down a much better deal from the Guppies. Why in hell would he take a one year deal?
Completely destroyed is a bit strong. U can get a handful of prospects that come up together and have a 2-3yr stint, but fact remains over a long stretch, u gotta spend to stay competitive. What happens when those kids all start hitting arb at the same time? Either ur payroll goes up billing ur argument or u blow it up and start over again. But u can’t have an extended streak of success without a payroll
but fact remains over a long stretch, u gotta spend to stay competitive.
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Nobody ever argues otherwise. If I had Cashman’s budget, and he had Tampa’s budget, he’d have no shot at beating me, over the long run.
What the ‘spenders’ over look is that the small market teams cannot out-spend the big market teams. some of them seem to think that all TB has to do is to spend $200M. Which would work, but cannot be done.
Sure you can.
It’s hard to trade good players when they are expensive but that’s when you get the best return.
Not having money just gives you an excuse to trade your best players every time you find someone willing to overpay.
Trading good players for more than they are worth doesn’t make you worse.
If the White Sox were to add a RF they need a LH bat. Kole Calhoun probably wouldn’t be a bad option for Chicago
Been saying it since the trade deadline last year he would be be perfect fit for RF, but we know reinsdorf isn’t gonna spend that type of $ and he will stick with our internal options. Would absolutely love Marte but I’m pretty sure the focus will be on 2B and pitching.
If only he was a LH hitter, the Jays could snag him and move Springer to a corner spot while unloading Teo for a SP or 3B and Grichuk for…. well….a bag of balls?
He would fit well in the leadoff spot in front of all the bats
Yeah than the jays could be paying two RF CF money. At Marte has played more than 89 games in CF in one season. Something Springer has never done.
Question because you keep bringing up Springers games in CF in a season, but never how many games he’s played in the outfield in total in a season (134 games + in 4 of 6 seasons)
So my question to you is do you feel that playing a corner outfield position vs CF reduces the chance for injury? If so is that opinion based on any data ?
He may just be the guy that gets Toronto back in the playoffs. They were so close last year and will be adding more pieces this off season
He has reverse splits for his career. Handedness isn’t the entire story in regards to splits.
It is though, reverse splits are usually just anomalous. In statistics you need to account for randomness. Something sport fans almost never do but without it accurate statistical evaluation is impossible.
What a bunch of bull.
Reverse splits usually being anomalous doesn’t mean they always are and by definition agrees that handedness isn’t the whole story. Do you even know what usually means?
Do you think sports fans do that but other people dont?
Marte is a stud! Just tremendous with the A’s. Too bad A’s owner John Fisher (he also owns the gap and blue navy chains) does not want to budget.
Marte will be 33 next season…the A’s already have Laureano…Marte’s numbers were better with the Marlins than the A’s…he’s overrated defensively and needs to shift to a COF spot….389 BABIP is not sustainable…some team is going to sign him to a 3 year deal and begin regretting it after a few months…what is “blue navy”?
Sorry. It’s Old Navy…
When was the last time you saw someone wearing a GAP sweater?
1997
He will be a Met in 2022.
This actually feels pretty likely to me. It’d be a smart pickup after letting Conforto go.
I agree with you, this would be a great pick up for the Mets.
Do you all not realize that Dan Hunter is the @MetsFan22 of Mets acquisition predictions?
Another baseless prediction without any effort to back it up.
Another tearful whine by someone with nothing to say and no self control.
I respect @Cosmo2’s thoughts a whole lot more than @Dan Hunter’s.
Anyone that has been on this board for more than 5 minutes would.
I wonder if their priorities shift away from Marte now that Thor and Verlander have signed elsewhere. The Mets desperately need SP. Still plenty out there, but realistically the Mets need 2 front end SPs if they hope to contend in 2022. Marte still fills a need, but not the biggest need.
Agree, Mr. Billy has some work to do, and with some important dates looming, quite quickly. It always feels like they’re behind (and not just on the scoreboard).
“We’ve seen an unusual number of high-profile free agents come off the board”, only synderguard, e rod, and Verlander have signed?????
Steve is right. Guys like those don’t usually sign until during or after the Dec. Winter Meetings.
Slightly surprised by Ranger’s interests due to the competitive window and his age, but an OF of Suzuki, Marte, Garcia would be good defensively and Marte at the top of the Ranger batting order would be terrific.
Wherever Marte winds up, I’ll be rooting for him. His playing so incredibly well following the death of his wife is a heartwarming story. He’s a fine baseball player and, apparently, an even better father and human being.
Yeah, that was rough. He almost retired completley after that. Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco talked him out of it. He’s a really good guy. Hope he can get to the playoffs again.
Bad idea to give a 33yr old CF 4/80. But teams never learn.
These teams are owned by billionaires who see these players as investments. Signing them helps the billionaires make even more money. The teams have learned just fine.
Seems like a great fit for the Giants.
or the Mets.
I don’t want him on the Giants. I think there are a lot of bigger holes to fill before pumping big money into a 33 year old CF. Giants have Duggar, who is a speedy and competent CF, even if his bat isn’t great. Duggar won’t hit as well, but the money is better spent elsewhere, like on pitching.
The money is not an issue, the Giants have plenty of money to spend. Marte is a good leadoff hitter and very good defensive center fielder. He can swing the bat very well and isn’t an issue off the field, although the Giants don’t seem to really have off the field issues with players
Hard pass on the Giants. He’ll look for a three-year deal. I am always wary of speedy center fielders signing deals in their mid-thirties. Lorenzo Cain, Dexter Fowler, etc are great examples of why. They can fall off a cliff real fast.
Anyone but the Astros
As an Astros fan I agree.
Second that.
White Sox, please tell me why this isn’t an ideal fit?
Any reply will be countered with: how has RF been for you lately?
Lorenzo Cain signed 5yr/80 at age 32. Got 1 great yr, then a mediocre yr, and then injuries last yr.
Marte worth about 3yr/45.
Two different players in two different markets. Marte will do better than what Cain got.
By “markets” I meant free-agent markets, not specific cities where teams are located.
We’ll have to see. 5/80 isn’t like crazy, but I don’t think he gets it. I mean the Cane contract doesn’t look good already so we’ll have to see. I for sure think he gets 4 years. But 5? Iffy on that one
@Chemo850, it only takes one team. If he gets a few four-year offers, the team that goes five will probably win the sweepstakes. It looks like we’ll find out soon.
I mean I say that semi confidently because he’s definitely going to the Marlins and the Marlins definitely arent going 5 lol
I think it’s interesting how no one talks anymore about how Marte is a steroid cheat in these articles.
I keep in mind when trying to predict. I’d say it is less than likely, but he played pretty well for a 32 year old. You can’t dismiss the idea that he was using.
I agree that there’s always a chance but that’s true of any player regardless of age or performance. As someone who has been hit with an 80 game suspension before I’d have to assume Marte gets tested more “randomly” than other players.
@jimmyz, Grandal, too. Those things are in the past. Given the suspensions both players received, I trust things are different now with both due to increased testing and the two players not wanting to receive even longer suspensions.. It certainly shouldn’t factor into Marte’s free agency.
Is there a benefit to bringing it up a million more times or are you just surprised there aren’t a few people who will be traumatized for life and never able to stop posting about it on social media?
Nope but I do think it should be factored into free agency- look at the Cano acquisition via trade for Mets. He got 2nd dirty
I don’t understand any of the love for Marte.
He had an .841 OPS, but that was based on a .369 BABIP. If that declines to the consistent .316 it’s been over the prior three years, then his OPS declines to maybe .750.
His DRS over the past three seasons is .
Except for 2020, with the shortened season, he has not played more than 145 games since 2015, and has averaged 121 games over that time frame (excepting 2020).
IMHO, he looks good for about one season, and then downhill.
He is way overrated but he’s also the only potential starting CFr on the market so he’s gonna have a lot of interest.
What part of that post makes him look good to you for one season?
I don’t understand any of the hate on Starling Marte. Per baseball reference, in his 10 year career so far he has had 2 seasons with an OPS below .770, one of which was his rookie year and the other ironically enough was the year he was suspended for PED’s. His OBP has been below .330 twice, one of those at .327 and he steals bases when he gets on them. He doesn’t hit a ton of homers but his SLG is usually around .440 anyways because he gets a lot of doubles and triples with his speed and he has a cannon of an arm. There’s certainly risk involved with a 4-5 year deal but he’s really good at baseball.
It’s because there aren’t many CFs on the market. Boosts his value.
As an Astros fan I don’t want him. We have 4 CF already.
I agree. I think Houston is in good shape in CF. Save the $ and use it for a SS & bullpen help.
I would be very scared to go more than 2 years on a 33 year old guy, even one as good as Marte.
Scared?
He’s not showing signs of slowing down. I’d say maybe 2-3 years with an option at the end
His age gives me pause on a big contract. 2/50 + team option would be as high as I go
People may laugh at this thought, but the Cubs are actually a decent fit here. can afford to over pay on a 4 year deal. Play center for 2 years and lead off. move to the corner when Heyward contract expires in 2 years. I would not even be mad if they go 4 years 100. With the 4th year being a club option type year. The only guy that they might resign is Contreras and the rest are club controlled for a while.
They are, but I don’t see the Cubs signing a top 20 FA.
The Rangers interested in everyone and end up with Asdrubal Cabrera…
Oakland has an addiction of trading for rentals they have no chance at re-signing
Heard the A’s offered 1 year @5 million?
Deferred in 5 installments of $1 million a year
If I’m the Angels go all in. 10 years 220 mil
Dave Dombrowski said he wants a lead off hitter and since they have moved on from Goofy in center, Marte does fill two needs in one signing if he can get it done. Dombrowski also said he wants a middle of the order bat. Could that be Pham? I’m neither pro nor con on that..then, there is the need for a short stop and closer…
Good ole Dave has his work cut out…ready, set, go!
If the Marlins sign him, I hope that any year over 3 is an option or with a vesting option based on performance.
If any other NL East signs him, I hope it’s for 7 years guaranteed, with a full no-trade clause.
You joke, but with the Mets there’s always a chance they do something dumb.
Starling needs to be a Marlin again!
I’m curious to see how serious the Giants are about signing Marte. He could be the everyday center fielder.