This post was originally published on this site.
The Arizona Diamondbacks intend to keep All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte on the team despite long-running trade speculation, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported on Friday.
After two months of Marte being at the forefront of Major League Baseball’s rumor mill this offseason, the Diamondbacks appear to be carrying on with their offseason, as there remain plenty of areas the club could address ahead of spring training.
General manager Mike Hazen told MLB.com on Dec. 30 that he’d like to put an end to the Marte trade talks shortly, saying his gut feel the whole time was that a trade would not materialize.
According to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro:
Mike Hazen spoke with Ketel Marte by phone in last few days, wanted to make sure they were on same page and wanted to let him know he understood having his name out there is not what anyone wants, but he had to do his job. Marte was professional about it. In the end, it was decided it wasn’t going to be worth it for the D-backs to give up one of the best players in the game. Marte is in the Dominican Republic but will be in town next week and will meet with Mike.
Marte’s future in Arizona appeared to be uncertain dating back to the middle of last season, as his propensity to take games off rubbed some people in the organization the wrong way. Other reasons to listen on Marte were Arizona’s need to build a deeper team — particularly with pitching — along with his 10-and-5 rights (10 years in MLB, five with the same team) set to give him a full no-trade clause in April.
But it was always going to be challenging to find the right value in a return. Marte is a face of the franchise and one of the game’s best players.
The 32-year-old ended the 2025 season with an .893 OPS and 28 home runs. Over the past three years, he ranks eighth in slugging (.519) and ninth in OPS (.887) among major leaguers. He made the All-Star Game, won the Silver Slugger and earned a spot on the All-MLB First Team both in 2024 and 2025.
Plus, he is on a team-friendly contract by industry standards. Marte signed a six-year extension last spring worth $116.5 million with a player option for 2031. He is set to make $28 million combined over the next two years.
Hazen fielded trade calls for Marte all offseason, and he made it clear publicly that he would not immediately hang up the phone. But Arizona needed to be blown away by an offer, not simply give in to the best package presented to them.
“He is one of our best players,” Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo at the start of the offseason. “We have some of the top position players in all of baseball on our roster, and we need those players to be good next year. I have to still do my job … I have to listen.”
The list of interested teams has been long, including the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners.
The Diamondbacks made headlines all offseason due to Marte’s presence in the trade market, but the club has not made many moves this winter. Arizona signed starting pitcher Michael Soroka at the start of the winter meetings and brought back starter Merrill Kelly shortly after the winter meetings ended.
Arizona has not signed a major league bat nor traded for a big league player.
All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman became a free agent to watch, as it surfaced that the Diamondbacks were kicking the tires on making a blockbuster signing. Reports have indicated that a Bregman addition was reliant on a Marte trade, as the D-backs would use some of the money recuperated from trading their star second baseman and reinvest it into a new third baseman.
The Diamondbacks have blown past their budget over the past couple offseasons, but pairing Marte and Bregman has been considered unlikely. The payroll is projected at $167 million after the club settled with its arbitration-eligible players on Thursday.
Now that the Arizona Diamondbacks have officially pulled Ketel Marte off the trade market, as @Ken_Rosenthal reported, it also takes the D-backs out of the Alex Bregman sweepstakes barring dramatic ‘creativity’ between the two sides.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 9, 2026
The Diamondbacks still need to address their bullpen, and they have questions at first base, third base and in the outfield.
Long-term injuries to starter Corbin Burnes, reliever A.J. Puk, reliever Justin Martinez, first baseman Tyler Locklear and left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. have put the club in a difficult spot this offseason having to build a competitive roster with a third of its payroll expected to start on the injured list.
Spring training is approaching quickly, as it begins next month with the first Cactus League game on Feb. 20.
