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Ketel Marte

Ketel Marte Hires Wasserman Agency

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Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte has hired Wasseman Media Group, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll be joined there by Yankees pitching prospect Domingo Acevedo, with both moves now reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Marte’s move comes less than a year after he inked a new deal with the Diamondbacks. He’s under control in Arizona through at least 2022, for a promised $24MM in overall salary. The contract also includes a pair of options and some available incentives.

While the 25-year-old Marte likely won’t have much contract work for his new reps to handle for some time, he’ll increasingly feature as a prominent player on a still-evolving Arizona roster, perhaps bringing additional promotional earning opportunities. It seems the organization sees him not only as a regular performer, but also as a candidate to shift into center field.

As for Acevedo, he’s considered one of the Yankees’ top prospects but is still waiting for his first shot at the majors after spending most of the past two seasons at the Double-A level. Acevedo is best known for his sizzling fastball; whether he’ll make it to the Bronx as a starter or reliever remains to be seen.

NL Notes & Rumors: Mets, Realmuto, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, K. Marte, Lamb, Fowler

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Though earlier reports suggested the Mets’ pursuit of catcher J.T. Realmuto was a “long shot,” MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that the team is “considered” one of only three teams (with the other two not yet known) “in the mix” for the 27-year-old.  The whirlwind of activity surrounding the star backstop, at this point, seems matched only by the Mets’ frantic pursuit of blockbuster deals in all directions, so the potential intersection of the two remains a fascinating watch indeed.  Frisaro does, however, downplay the plausibility of the rumored three-team deal that would also include the Yankees.

In other news from around the Senior Circuit . . .

  • Per Jon Heyman of Fancred, none of the Dodgers’ glut of outfielders are unavailable in trades, including 2017 NL Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger. He does imply, though, that 23-year-old Bellinger would be most difficult to get; other options, like Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, and youngster Alex Verdugo have most often found their names circulating in the swirling winds of trade season, though Chris Taylor, who’s averaged nearly 4.0 fWAR over the last two seasons, is apparently on the table as well. One of Pederson or Verdugo would, as quality lefty bats capable of handling center field, seem the most logical candidate to be moved, but the notoriously coy Andrew Friedman, long a sucker for homegrown talent, may be setting his sights elsewhere. Pederson, for one, has a value difficult to gauge precisely – his frightening platoon splits (129 career wRC+ vs RHP, 61 wRC+ vs left) at times mask a steadily productive output (10.1 fWAR since ’15) in the four years since his debut. LA, of course, is thought to be seeking upgrades at the front of the rotation.
  • The Diamondbacks, who earlier today indicated to blood-smelling clubs that they aren’t interested in a full rebuild, may react to core departures by shuffling current regulars to different spots across the diamond. Indeed, as GM Mike Hazen indicated to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert this morning, current third baseman Jake Lamb may shift to first, while incumbent second baseman and sometimes shortstop Ketel Marte could see time in center field. The club is still exploring trade-market upgrades in center, and hasn’t completely given up on resigning A.J. Pollock, but Hazen explicitly pinpointed Marte as a legitimate, “full-time” option at the position in 2019. Marte, who signed a 5-year, $24MM extension just days prior to last season, put together a solid, 2.5 fWAR season for the Snakes last year, slashing .260/.332/.437 (104 wRC+) in nearly a full season’s worth of time.
  • The Cardinals appear to be comfortable with outfielder Dexter Fowler opening the 2019 season as the starter in right field, per President of Baseball Ops John Mozeliak via MLB.com’s Jennifer Langosch. Fowler, of course, is owed nearly $50MM over the next three seasons, and just completed a dreadful, injury-marred ’18 campaign with the Redbirds. His -1.2 fWAR, muffled by a career-worst .118 ISO, was among the worst in baseball last season, though the 32-year-old had been above-league-average offensively in each of the seven seasons prior to last. With left field still manned by Marcell Ozuna, and center earmarked for the burgeoning Harrison Bader, outfield additions seem to have been put on the St. Louis back burner for the time being.

NL Notes: Schoop, Escobar, Diamondbacks, Kang, Pirates

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The Brewers will have a tough call to make on Jonathan Schoop following the infielder’s struggles in 2018, and general manager David Stearns opted not to tip his hand when it comes to tendering a contract to the arbitration-eligible slugger (link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy). “That’s a discussion that we’re going to have to continue to have here over the next couple of weeks to a month,” said Stearns. “…He has had really impressive stretches throughout his career, and unfortunately for both him and us, we didn’t see one of those stretches when he was a Brewer. We’ll sit down to see if we can determine why, and then we’ll go forward.” Schoop, 27, was one of the game’s most productive infielders in 2017 but turned in an awful .233/.266/.416 slash through 501 plate appearances this year — including a brutal .202/.246/.331 slash with the Brewers. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to earn a $10.1MM salary in 2019.

Here’s more from the NL…

  • The Diamondbacks’ surprising new deal with versatile infielder Eduardo Escobar opens a plethora of options for the organization this offseason, The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan writes in an expansive look at the team’s options (subscription link). The move first and foremost indicates that the Snakes aren’t gearing up for a complete rebuild, but it does allow the team the freedom to shift some pieces around. Jake Lamb could head to first base in the event of an oft-speculated Paul Goldschmidt deal, Buchanan notes, or Escobar could find regular work at shortstop should Nick Ahmed be moved. If the team doesn’t subtract any pieces, he could even play second base in place of Ketel Marte, whom Buchanan reports has been discussed internally as a center field option. General manager Mike Hazen, who discusses the move at length in the column, made clear that Escobar will be in line for regular at-bats next season, even if the exact plan will obviously dependent on the remainder of the offseason. The 29-year-old Escobar hit .268/.327/.444 with the D-backs following a trade from the Twins and slashed .272/.334/.489 with 23 homers, 48 doubles and three triples on the season as a whole.
  • While the Pirates haven’t given a firm indication as to whether they’ll exercise Jung Ho Kang’s $5.5MM club option for the 2019 season, MLB.com’s Adam Berry takes a look at the situation and suggests it’s quite possible that Kang will return for another season. General manager Neal Huntington recently suggested that the team and Kang may need to find a middle ground rather than bringing him back at the full $5.5MM value of the option — implying that the Pirates could pay a $250K buyout and bring Kang back at a lower guaranteed base salary. Berry also notes that it’s unlikely the team will move on from Colin Moran despite mixed results in his first season with Pittsburgh, citing a strong finish and defensive improvements over the course of the season (in addition to the fact that the Buccos acquired him as a key piece in the Gerrit Cole trade not even a year ago).

NL West Notes: Buehler, Turner, Hand, Marte

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Walker Buehler left last night’s game before he was able to get through the sixth, but it wasn’t due to poor performance. The promising young right-hander left due to a side injury. Thankfully, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports that Buehler is describing his injury as “bruised ribs”. There’s no word yet as to whether he’ll need to land on the DL for a stint, but the news ought to bring a mild sigh of relief to Dodgers fans. Such a description would seem to eliminate the dread of an oblique or intercostal strain, if Buehler’s self-description holds up. Bruises seem far less likely to disrupt his excellent season thus far; Buehler’s been worth 1.7 fWAR across nine starts in part thanks to a 4.91 K/BB ratio and 54.5% ground ball rate.

Other items out of the NL West…

  • The Dodgers have received news on Justin Turner that’s far less promising, however. Shaikin also reports that Turner’s performance could be diminished all season by lingering wrist issues. The slugger spent most of the season thus far on the DL after suffering a fractured wrist during a spring training game. Shaikin also points out that he’s been held out of the lineup in three of the last four games, and has managed just a .668 OPS since returning from the disabled list.
  • AJ Cassavell of MLB.com revisits the Brad Hand extension in his recent piece, reminding readers that it significantly reduced the likelihood of the reliever being traded any time soon. Hand has been one of the best relievers in baseball in recent seasons by metrics such as WPA, fWAR and ERA, and though he’d certainly fetch a hefty price for the rebuilding Padres, they now control him through 2021. That’s a season in which they could feasibly be contending for a title. For his part, Hand certainly had that in mind. “”When I signed the contract, that was the big part of it,” he said. “I wanted to be here, I wanted to help the young guys come up, and I wanted to win a World Series here.”
  • Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo believes Ketel Marte is “100% playable” in spite of a recent injury, says MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. However, Lovullo adds that he “created some tenderness” with a headfirst slide into third base this past Sunday. He was held out of the lineup on Saturday, but the move seems to have been largely precautionary; his manager reportedly wanted to give him a day to get ahead of the injury. Marte has struggled to produce offensively throughout his career, sporting a .258/.313/.364 line since debuting in 2015. However, his excellent defense has played him to 2.6 wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs’ metric.

Diamondbacks To Extend Ketel Marte

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TODAY: The deal is now official.

YESTERDAY, 4:26pm: Zach Buchanan of The Athletic has tweeted the full breakdown. Marte will receive a $2MM signing bonus and $1MM salary for the coming season, followed by $2MM, $4MM, $6MM, and $8MM salaries through the guaranteed seasons (2019-22).

The options are valued at $10MM and $12MM, each of which come with a $1MM buyout. Incentives (details of which remain unknown) could tack on another $4MM overall.

11:41am: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a five-year, $24MM extension with middle infielder Ketel Marte, Robert Murray of FanRag reports. The deal also comes with a pair of option years worth a combined $22MM, which could make it a seven-year, $46MM pact. Marte is a client of the Legacy Agency.

The Diamondbacks already had Marte under control for the next half-decade, including four arbitration-eligible years, but the extension means they won’t go through that process at all with him. The Phillies made a similar decision Sunday when they signed infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery to a five-year, $24MM guarantee of his own.

The 24-year-old Marte is about to begin his second season in Arizona, which acquired him from Seattle in a blockbuster November 2016 trade. Because the deal also featured Taijuan Walker, Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger, Marte flew under the radar at the time, especially after enduring a rough 2016 with the Mariners. Marte impressed his new team last year, however, even though he didn’t post eye-popping offensive numbers in the majors.

After spending nearly the first three months of 2017 at the Triple-A level, where he raked over 338 plate appearances (.338/.391/.514 – good for a 135 wRC+), the Diamondbacks promoted Marte in late June. The switch-hitter went on to bat .260/.345/.395 (89 wRC+) with five home runs and three stolen bases in 255 PAs. To his credit, Marte collected nearly as many walks (29) as strikeouts (37), and as Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs wrote in December, there’s data suggesting he could be in line for a breakout. Marte was somewhat of a Statcast darling last year, evidenced by his 19th-place ranking in sprint speed and a quality xwOBA (.342).

While Marte’s only a .265/.319/.361 hitter (84 wRC+) with eight homers and 22 steals in 968 major league PAs, the D-backs seem optimistic he’s indeed capable of more in their uniform. And they saw him fare nicely in the field last season, where he logged four Defensive Runs Saved and a 1.1 Ultimate Zone Rating in 507 innings at shortstop. Marte’s now likely to give up short in favor of Nick Ahmed, a gifted defender who missed most of last season, and move to second. It’ll be a relatively new position in the bigs for Marte, who hasn’t lined up at the keystone since logging 31 innings there as a rookie in 2015.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Kershaw, Hamels, D-backs, Padres

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There continues to be hope that the top pitcher in the game, left-hander Clayton Kershaw, will remain with the Dodgers beyond the upcoming season. Kershaw, who could opt out of the final two years and $65MM on his contract next winter, said last week that he and Dodgers management are “on the same page.” Then, on Saturday, Dodgers owner Mark Walter told Jon Heyman of FanRag that “[Kershaw] should be a Dodger for life.” While it doesn’t seem as if a new deal is imminent – both Walter and Kershaw suggested to Heyman that the hurler wants to wait until the end of the year to sort out his future – the three-time Cy Young winner gushed over his long tenure with the franchise. “I love it here. It’s great,” said Kershaw, who’s entering his age-30 season. “I’ve had an amazing run here. And I don’t take that for granted. Not many guys can say they get to go to the playoffs (almost) every year, or even that they have a chance to go to the playoffs every year.”

More from the majors’ West divisions…

  • The Rangers could elect to use a six-man rotation this year, but their best starter, Cole Hamels, isn’t on board (via Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News). The 34-year-old southpaw opined Saturday that a six-man starting staff isn’t “appropriate for where I am at this stage.” Hamels also took a shot at the idea in general, saying: “It’s not part of baseball. I know that’s the new, analytical side, trying to re-invent the wheel. … that’s just not what MLB is to me. That’s not how I learned from my mentors. That’s not the way I’m geared to pitch.” Unfortunately for Hamels, manager Jeff Banister favors the six-man alignment and seems more likely than ever to try it this season, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Regardless of how Texas’ rotation plans shake out, it’ll probably need a bounce-back year from Hamels to have any chance at a playoff spot. The longtime front-end starter endured arguably the worst season of his career in 2017, when he logged a 4.20 ERA/4.62 FIP with 6.39 K/9 and 3.22 BB/9 across 148 innings.
  • The Diamondbacks are still determining their starting middle infield for 2018, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com writes. Either Ketel Marte or Chris Owings could start at second base or shortstop, while Nick Ahmed is also in contention – but only at short. “I’d say on that front, we value Nick as a shortstop,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I haven’t had a conversation with him beyond playing shortstop at this point.” With the exception of an 11-inning stint at the keystone in 2014, his first taste of major league action, Ahmed has spent his entire career at short. He has dazzled defensively, evidenced by his 37 DRS and 19.6 UZR, but has only managed a .226/.273/.345 batting line in 1,020 plate appearances.
  • The Padres have temporarily halted right-hander Colin Rea’s throwing program after he experienced soreness in his pitching shoulder Friday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports. Rea, who’s working back from 2016 Tommy John surgery, is now unlikely to be ready for the start of the year, Cassavell suggests. Consequently, it appears he’s out of the running for a spot in the Padres’ season-opening rotation, though Cassavell notes that they still have seven other candidates for their starting five.

D’Backs Notes: Marte, Drury, Rodney

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The latest from the desert, as per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic…

  • According to a source on a rival team, Ketel Marte is the only infielder that the Diamondbacks aren’t willing to consider in trade offers.  Splitting his first season with the D’Backs between Triple-A and the big leagues, Marte tore up minor league pitching and then hit .260/.345/.395 over 255 plate appearances for Arizona.  Marte, one of the key parts of Arizona’s big multi-player swap with the Mariners last year, is clearly seen as the shortstop of the future, plus he will be under team control through 2022 as a probable Super Two player.
  • The infielder drawing the most buzz may be Brandon Drury, who has received interest from more than a half-dozen teams.  The Yankees were reportedly talking about Drury and D’Backs starter Patrick Corbin during the Winter Meetings.
  • The D’Backs were linked to former closer Fernando Rodney on the rumor mill, though they didn’t make Rodney an offer before he agreed to join the Twins today.  Arizona still has offers out to multiple free agent relievers, GM Mike Hazen said on Monday.
  • In other Diamondbacks news from earlier today, the team checked in with the Orioles about Manny Machado…the Yankees discussed Jacoby Ellsbury with the D’Backs, who aren’t too keen on Ellsbury’s contract…three teams are interested in a Zack Greinke trade, though talks with a fourth club (the Rangers) have reportedly gone nowhere.

West Notes: Rockies, D-backs, Rangers

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Rockies outfielder/first baseman Ian Desmond has shown troubling signings in the first season of a five-year, $70MM contract, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com notes. Along with a .273/.319/.367 batting line that’s 35 percent worse than league average (per FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric), Desmond’s groundball rate and exit velocity have trended in the wrong direction. His 63.1 percent grounder mark is nearly 12 percent worse than his yearly average and ranks last among hitters with at least 300 PAs. At the same time, Desmond’s exit velo has dropped from 90.5 mph last season to 87.4 mph this year. But health issues have likely contributed to Desmond’s drop-off, as the soon-to-be 32-year-old has been on the disabled list three different times. Indeed, Desmond told Randhawa that the injuries – including the fractured left hand he suffered in spring training – have made it difficult for him to establish himself this season. Based on his track record, Desmond expects to return to form. “Line drives and hard contact. For me, that’s my game,” Desmond said. “I’ve got to utilize my speed, and I think there’s complete validity in hitting the ball in the air and launch angle and all that stuff, but at the same time, my swing and the results I’ve been able to produce over the years is plenty for me. And I think that game plays anywhere. The thing is just a matter of getting the swings off and timing.”

More from the majors’ West divisions:

  • The Diamondbacks are pleased with the progress shortstop Ketel Marte has made in his first year with the organization, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. Since the Diamondbacks acquired him from the Mariners last winter in a blockbuster trade that also included Jean Segura, Taijuan Walker and Mitch Haniger, Marte has made plate discipline and defensive improvements, Piecoro points out. The 23-year-old is running a 10.7 percent walk rate, up from 3.9 percent in 2016, and has hit a playable .271/.350/.409 in 206 plate appearances (compared to .259/.287/.323 in 466 PAs last season). And after receiving negative marks as a defender a year ago (minus-two defensive runs saved, minus-10.3 Ultimate Zone Rating), Marte has been respectable in the field for the D-backs (five DRS, 0.3 UZR). “He’s done a great job, especially given that we’re in a pennant chase,” general manager Mike Hazen told Piecoro. “He’s handled the position, locked it down after we lost both guys (Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings) to injury in the middle of the year.”
  • The bounce-back year Delino DeShields has enjoyed this season could put him in line for a starting spot in the Rangers’ outfield in 2018, per T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. DeShields impressed as a Rule 5 pick in his rookie year, 2015, but plummeted to earth last season. He has returned in 2017 to bat a solid .280/.352/.383 with 28 stolen bases in 388 plate appearances. The Rangers have also been impressed with the speedster’s work in center filling in for the injured Carlos Gomez, with manager Jeff Banister saying: “It starts with ownership of playing center field. If you watch, I see things between pitches, he’s moving the left fielder over because he’s moving, or he’s moving the right fielder toward the foul line because of what he is seeing. It starts with that preparation. You are the leader, you are the quarterback.” With Gomez scheduled to hit free agency over the winter, DeShields could take over center for good next season.

D-Backs, Emilio Bonifacio Agree To Minors Deal

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The Diamondbacks are in agreement with veteran utility man Emilio Bonifacio on a minor league pact, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.

Bonifacio will join the D-backs in the midst of a difficult situation, as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert tweets that the club is preparing to place infielder Ketel Marte on the bereavement list due to the tragic death of Marte’s mother in a car accident. We at MLBTR express our most heartfelt condolences to Marte and his family.

With both Marte and Chris Owings (fractured finger) unavailable for some time, Bonifacio can step up and play a variety of positions around the diamond. The 32-year-old batted just .132/.150/.211 in 44 plate appearances with the Braves earlier this year but is a career .256/.313/.333 batter in nearly 2900 MLB PAs. Bonifacio has played second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions in his career as well.

Injury Notes: Bird, Austin, Ahmed, Gsellman, Anderson, Jackson

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There’s concern within the Yankees organization that Greg Bird won’t make it back at all this season, manager Joe Girardi admitted to the YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits (Twitter link). Bird is still feeling soreness in his injured foot/ankle — an injury that has limited him to just 25 games between the Majors and Triple-A this season. Further complicating the situation is that Tyler Austin could be DL-bound, per Girardi (via ESPN’s Andrew Marchand). Marchand notes that if Austin does indeed land on the disabled list, Chris Carter could make a quick return to the lineup after accepting today’s outright assignment to Triple-A.

More injury news from around the game…

  • The Diamondbacks announced today that backup infielder Nick Ahmed has been placed on the 10-day DL with a fractured right hand, and offseason acquisition Ketel Marte has been recalled from Triple-A Reno in his place. Per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, Ahmed had three pins inserted into his hand and will be shut down from baseball activity for the next six weeks (Twitter link). It could be eight weeks before Ahmed, the team’s best defensive infielder, returns to the team. Ahmed is hitting just .251/.298/.419, but his glove will be missed. From 2015-16, Ahmed posted a +32 mark in Defensive Runs Saved and a +19.9 mark in Ultimate Zone Rating. As for Marte, the second key piece acquired in this offseason’s Taijuan Walker/Jean Segura/Mitch Haniger trade, he’ll debut in Arizona on the heels of a .338/.391/.514 batting line thus far in Triple-A.
  • The Mets will be without Robert Gsellman for a few weeks, writes Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. Gsellman landed on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, becoming the seventh Mets starting pitcher to land on the DL this year. Gsellman is the 17th Mets player to land on the DL this season, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo notes. Rafael Montero will assume Gsellman’s spot in the rotation, though Ackert notes that the Mets were already considering that move due to Montero’s strong results as of late. Gsellman, meanwhile, has a 6.16 ERA in 76 innings this year, though that mark is partially skewed by a pair of outings this month in which Gsellman allowed a combined 14 earned runs in 9 1/3 innings.
  • Right-hander Chase Anderson exited tonight’s game with what the Brewers have announced as a strained left oblique muscle. There’s no word on how long he’ll miss and won’t be until after the game, but oblique injuries more often than not mean a month or so on the disabled list for a Grade 1 strain and even longer for more severe strains. That’s a brutal loss for the Brewers, who have enjoyed a breakout year from the 29-year-old Anderson thus far. Through 90 1/3 innings, Anderson has a 2.89 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 38.1 percent ground-ball rate. There are occasionally oblique injuries that don’t require such a lengthy absence, though history isn’t on Milwaukee’s side there.
  • The Indians placed Austin Jackson on the 10-day disabled list yesterday after an MRI revealed a strained quadriceps, president of baseball ops Chris Antonetti told reporters (via Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer). Antonetti said that the team’s expectation is that it’ll be three to four weeks before Jackson is able to return to the big league roster. Jackson, 30, is in the midst of a rather quiet rebound season, as he’s hitting a robust .304/.383/.500 through 120 plate appearances this season.
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