MARCH 28: Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reports the full breakdown (on Twitter): Marte receives a $3MM signing bonus, followed by successive salaries of $11MM, $13MM, $16MM, $16MM and $14MM through 2027. The 2028 option is valued at $13MM and contains a $3MM buyout. If Marte finishes in the top three in MVP voting in any season, the following year’s salary would escalate by $3MM. A fourth through seventh place finish in MVP voting would increase the following season’s base by $2MM. The deal also contains other incentives based on plate appearances.
MARCH 27: The Diamondbacks and Ketel Marte are in agreement on a five-year, $76MM extension, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. (Twitter links) Reports emerged yesterday that Marte and the club were discussing an extension, and it appears there is now a deal in place, pending a physical. Marte was already under club control through 2024, via a $8.4MM salary this year, followed by club options valued at $11MM in 2023 and $13MM in 2024. Per Rosenthal, those options are now guaranteed, but with different salary figures. The extension will run through the 2027 campaign, with Marte earning an additional $51MM. There is also a club option for 2028, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, with escalators based on performance and health that could increase the value of the contract. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the extension guarantees Marte another $52MM, with his signing bonus and buyout bumping that to $56MM.
After a dismal 2021 season that saw just about everything go wrong and the club finish with a record of 52-110, speculation turned to Marte and whether the D-Backs would cash him in for a huge prospect haul. However, the club insisted they had no interest in tearing down their roster for rebuilding purposes, intending instead to continue trying to build a winning team around their current core. This extension solidifies that course of action, keeping Marte around through his age-33 season, with the option of potentially adding yet another yet after that.
After making his MLB debut in 2015 at the age of 21 and spending a couple of seasons in Seattle, Marte was acquired by Arizona alongside Taijuan Walker, in exchange for Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura and Zac Curtis. This was one of the first moves in the tenure of Mike Hazen, who had just been named the club’s general manager the month prior. Marte’s first season in the desert was a lackluster one, as he hit just .260/.345/.395, wRC+ of 89. Still, Hazen doubled down on his faith in Marte by signing him to a five-year, $24MM extension four years ago. That faith was quickly rewarded, as Marte had a much better campaign in 2018, hitting 14 home runs and slashing .260/.332/.437, wRC+ of 104. The next year, he was able to take his game to incredible new heights, launching 32 homers, stealing 10 bases and hitting .329/.389/.592. That amounted to a wRC+ of 149 and 7.0 fWAR, with Marte coming fourth in NL MVP voting.
Although his performance dipped in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he proved that to be a fluke with a 2021 that was much more like his previous season. He missed time with hamstring issues and only got into 90 games, but hit 14 home runs and slashed .318/.377/.532 for a wRC+ of 139 and 2.9 fWAR.
With Marte now firmly entrenched at the keystone for the foreseeable future, the club can focus on building a competitive roster around him. That won’t be an easy task, considering the situation in the division. Last year, the Dodgers and Giants each won over 100 games and should continue being strong teams going forward. The Padres underperformed last year but are still loaded with talent and could perform better this time around. The Rockies have had a rough go recently but have shown a willingness to spend in order to try and keep pace, as evidenced by the recent signing of Kris Bryant.
The Diamondbacks have many talented players under their control for multiple seasons, such as Daulton Varsho, Carson Kelly, Josh Rojas and Zac Gallen. They also have a well-regarded farm system, with prospects Geraldo Perdomo and Alek Thomas likely working their way into the mix soon, followed by Corbin Carroll and Jordan Lawlar down the road.
Payroll wise, there’s no reason the D-backs can’t be aggressive in the remaining years of this extension, as it is now the only money on the books beyond 2024. Even for the current campaign, their Opening Day payroll is only slated to come in around $93MM, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource, with only $51MM committed for next year. Considering that they’ve gotten their payroll as high as $132MM in recent years, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, there should be plenty of room for aggressive moves in the years to come.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Great extension for Ketel Marte and the Diamondbacks. Congratulations.
That seems below market. Great signing.
Quite
I know Arizona had him locked into low salaries via optics for the next 3 years but this still seems pretty low to me. I guess if he’s getting an extra $51m that equates to $25.5M for the extra two seasons but I still expected it to be higher in value. In the end, Marte signed the deal so he must be okay with it. Great deal for Arizona but they are a long ways away from competing in the NL West.
I think people are gradually getting less stupid, taking the large chunk of money early on for a guaranteed fortune… instead of listening to the Boras types tell them it’s in their best interests (and the size of the agent’s commission) to wait for a bigger fortune later. Good for him.
Then you have Freeman taking 57M deferred through 2040 with zero interest. The interest alone on that type of money could many many people very happy.
Nope
Yeah, you never know what can happen. I’m sure Conforto is one example of a player who wishes he had taken a generous offer.
It also guarantees the option years. That could be important to an injury-prone player.
It’s not at all, because the Dbacks already had him locked up cheap.
Solid signing actually. 5 years is a lot of time committed to an injury prone player, but hey, go for it
Queue Mickey Rivers
That’s quite a bargain for Arizona
I am curious how this is below market value when he has had one decent year. Talent galore, but doesn’t mean much if you can’t stay on the field. Honestly, AZ took a risk on this far greater than KM did.
TIL that 3 seasons with an fWAR equaling or exceeding 2.5 and averaging 3 8 WAR per 162 games played over the last 4 seasons equals “one decent year.”
Great move for ARI. He would have brought back a haul, but you eventually need to establish that pillar of the franchise.
Might bring back more now that he’s under contract for longer.
I thought the same. Great trade piece made even better with this extension.
He was 1.8 WAR last year. That contract is gonna devalue him as he declines. Fans want “star” players deep into their 30’s. Teams know better.
1.8 in not a full season. They obviously believe his injuries are just bad luck and not a chronic problem. Could be a solid deal for them.
2.9 fWAR and he had less than 400 ABS.
Did you even look at his statistics or just the WAR number? Because he was quite good
I agree would bring back more with a set price point if the team can’t pick it up. but if they find a way to struggle to the top it will be because of him. He’s late 20s can expect good production, when healthy, but the contract also reflects that issue imo. if all pieces fall together, which I doubt, marte on the cheap will be a main cause for their success.
He’s a very good player. I didn’t mean to imply that 1.8 was the norm for him, just that it’s what he was worth last year. It just shows he’s already possibly prone to some down years. Maybe not, but he’ll likely get worse as time moves on, not better, even considering last years WAR to be a bit of an anomaly. The point I was trying to make was that in 3 years they’ll quite possibly have to eat money in order to trade him.
Cosmo, that useless WAR number was on its way to being between 3 and 4 barring injury. Also, nothing about his career progression shows he’s about to fall of to the point of having negative value. You honestly couldn’t be more wrong here.
Negative value? No. But if he follows typical aging patterns his value-to-salary ratio may not be a plus in a few years. That’s all I’m saying. A 3-4 WAR player today is often a 2 WAR player in three years.
33 is deep into your 30s? Tough crowd
In baseball, kind of, yea
If they keep him out of CF, then his WAR should bounce back.
That’s very true.
It depends on how it’s allocated per year, but based on AAV we’re talking slightly over $15M per year. If it goes wrong, that’s significantly less painful than like Heyward getting a $23M or Cano getting $24M.
ZIPS is projecting Marte at 3WAR+ for the next 3 years, so that’s a good deal for that production. He should stay productive well into this deal.
If he has a year like 2019 again where he was worth 7 fWAR, then there’s so much surplus value for the team.I wouldn’t count on it, but I think he has more upside than down.
I don’t think the limited at bats is as positive for him as you’re making it sound…
Teams are paying 8.5m per WAR this year.
I see this as a win-win. It looks like a great deal for the Diamondbacks, but is also some good security for Marte, who I believe wasn’t due to reach free agency until he was 32. He may have been able to get a bigger contract in free agency but there’s no guarantee of that, especially if he gets hurt in the next couple of years. Marte seems to be the face of their rebuild now.
I guess it makes the player happy but not sure why people think Arizona paying him more money for the next few years is solid business
So it’s not good to pay your best player long term?
Doesn’t fit the Tampa bay model so extending while young. They had already done that. No need to remove the plus value from the contract.
Generally…no.
Some desperate team will unload the farm for him in July.
Great compromise deal between a player with a phenomenal ceiling but a significant injury history and a team who could’ve flipped him for their own benefit but preferred to double down and build around the player.
Agreed, great player, injury prone.
Diamondbacks are still clearly the worst team in their division by a wide margin.
Nice deal for the Dbacks. And they didn’t pay so much that other teams would shy away from trading for him down the line.
Excellent! Great time to be a new Diamondbacks fan.
I feel bad for Marte. Players of his skill level deserve to be on the Yankees wearing pinstripe. It’s an honor to play in the Bronx in front of the classiest fans on the planet
Yankee stadium is a massive disappointment and the fans and people in that general area are obnoxious and gross. Worst place I’ve ever been and it’s not close.
You haven’t been out much I assume? Atlanta is a crap hole compared to the Bronx… unless you went during the 80s crack epidemic maybe. And there are far worse places in baseball alone… Yankees Stadium is decent. I hate it because I prefer the old stadium, but it’s still decent.
Someone’s never been to Wrigley…
New Yorkers and their sarcasm
I’m not sure any one player “deserves” to be on any one team.
Marte is obviously comfortable in Arizona as he CHOSE to sign an extension two years before free agency. Given that Yankees have won the same amount of Championships as the Diamondbacks have since 2001 I’m not sure the “Yankee mystique” is still a thing
@Rsox which is also the same as the dodgers have since 89. Maybe he “deserves” to be in SF or Boston where they know how to win championships with out asterisk or trash cans.
Diamondbacks fans must be happy. Very good player under a really nice team friendly deal. No wonder they didn’t trade him. I’m guessing Scott Boras isn’t his agent.
No way he is
He need a better agent what u doing ♂️♂️♂️♂️
He’s not getting screwed by his agent. He’s signing an extension to STAY w the team that he WANTS to “stay” with. This is EXACTLY the opposite of what happened w Freddie Freeman. Even though FF is playing in practically his backyard and being paid MILLIONS of dollars he’s not playing where he truly wanted to be. This is very good for the Diamondbacks and GREAT for Ketel Marte.
Freddie didn’t get “screwed” by the Braves either. The Braves reportedly offered Freeman 5 years and $145 million and he rejected it. Factor in the wide gap in state income tax between California and Georgia and the massive cost of living difference and Freddie actually stands to take home less money with the Dodgers than what the Braves offered
Isn’t some of the dodger money also deferred?
He’s also less likely to win a WS. Unless a pandemic hits and shortens the regular season into a glorified spring training.
Now trade him
I thought he would have a bit more WAR with that .909 OPS. Does he have issues with defense?
Seems fair. Might hurts a guy like Swanson, I was hoping the Braves would lock up Swanson for a deal similar too this. Then I saw what FA SS were making this offseason, so my number increased to 100 mil, which seems too high for Swanson
DFA Caleb Smith!
Good for AZ. Ketel’s the only real asset they have aside from minor leaguers, and instead of becoming a AA team for a couple years, they keep him and and try to win. Perhaps the worm is turning against the moronic “trade everyone and hope to be good in 5 years” style of organizational management, which makes sense only to nerds and obsessives,
Can someone explain what Marte’s contract actually looks like now?
I am so confused…. so his two option years are guaranteed now at new values, plus 3 years at $52M, but really $56M with the signing bonus and the buyout on the option….
9 years/$103M? or if the option is picked up, 10 years/$114M?
Ketel Marte? Looks like the Dbacjs got themselves the Grey Goose!
Not sure why Arizona would do this. They had 3 years of control for 32.4mm but only 8.4mm guaranteed. Now they have 6 years of control for 86mm but with 76mm guaranteed. So they got 3 years, ages 32-34 at an AAV of ~18mm but had to add new guarantee of ~78mm to do so. A lot if downside from presumably not that much surplus value I would think.