Best Fits For A Ketel Marte Trade

That’s a fine salary even if he only repeats his league average .249/.316/.432 showing this year. If he bounces back some or all of the way to the player he was before, arguably the best second baseman in the sport, it’s a bargain for the on-field production. There’ll surely be teams that have trepidations about Marte’s work habits, and some might take him off their target list altogether, but the D-Backs should get some kind of interest given the star offensive upside he’s shown at his best.

Let’s run through the league to determine which teams should be most motivated to pull Marte from the desert.

Best Fits

• Blue Jays

Toronto was the lowest scoring team in MLB in 2026. The middle infield (mostly Andrés Giménez and Ernie Clement) was a big part of that. Only three teams — the Rays, Braves and Cardinals — had a lower OPS from their middle infielders. Clement’s bat wilted in the second half, and he might be better suited for a utility role or a change of scenery trade.

• Orioles

Baltimore’s young core has stalled a bit over the past two seasons. They’ve respectively finished last and fourth in the AL East in 2025 and ’26 after consecutive excellent regular seasons from 2023-24. Aside from moving Pete Alonso, they’re reportedly at least open to trade conversations on the rest of the roster.

That could include dealing from an infield that didn’t play up to its pedigree this year. Jackson Holliday is up to more than 1200 career plate appearances with a lifetime .229/.300/.354 slash line. He’s only entering his age-23 season and was weighed down by wrist injuries this year. Maybe the Orioles are willing to write that off as an anomaly, but at some point, they’re going to need better production out of second base. Baltimore has shown more willingness to take on notable contracts under David Rubenstein’s ownership. They could target Marte and either flip Holliday for pitching or bounce him around the diamond in a utility capacity.

• Mets

Mets’ second basemen were exactly replacement level this past season, according to FanGraphs. That’s mostly because of a career-worst year from Marcus Semien, who hit .215/.280/.340 and failed to improve the infield defense. Brett Baty remained too inconsistent to seize the everyday job. The Mets probably aren’t finding a taker for Semien, but they also have the designated hitter at-bats to offer Marte if Semien bounces back. They’ll need to weigh this against various needs on the pitching staff and at first base, but this is one of the clearer fits in the league.

• Red Sox

While Boston’s offense is solid on paper, they folded down the stretch. The Red Sox only scored 71 runs in September, 18 fewer than any other team. They couldn’t generate anything against the Yankees in the Wild Card Series, only scoring two runs (both on solo homers) in as many games.

Manager Chad Tracy suggested the Sox are likely to use Curtis Mead as their primary second baseman in 2027. They liked Mead enough to give up touted young southpaw Connelly Early for him, only to immediately lose him to a hand fracture that essentially ended his season. Second base isn’t a glaring need, especially with top prospect Franklin Arias looming as an option to push Trevor Story off shortstop, but the keystone and left field are the two positions where the Sox can most easily accommodate a bat if they want to upgrade the offense and sort out the playing time later.

• Tigers

Detroit is potentially losing Gleyber Torres to free agency. They could stay internal at second base with a platoon of Max Anderson and Hao-Yu Lee. Anderson has zero MLB experience, though, and Lee’s decent offensive rookie season was offset to an extent by his poor glove. Marte would stabilize the position and allow Detroit to move Lee, Anderson and Colt Keith around the dirt. Detroit has Framber Valdez signed on a player option for 2028 and Kevin McGonigle on a nine-figure extension, but the long-term books are manageable enough to accommodate this contract.

Other Possibilities

• Phillies

Philadelphia is probably at the top of this second tier. They’re likely losing Luis Arraez and Alec Bohm (plus righty-hitting utilityman Edmundo Sosa) to free agency. Philadelphia could move Bryson Stott back to second base and leave third base open for prospect Aidan Miller, but that’d be an uncertain left side infield for a contender. They’re already facing questions about how much longer Trea Turner can stick at shortstop, while Miller missed the bulk of the ’26 season to a back injury. Stott is one year from free agency.

Maybe they’d rather leave second base open for when Turner needs to move off the position, but he’s fast enough to play the outfield instead. The bigger concern would be adding another long-term contract for a mid-30s player. Philadelphia is as firmly in win-now mode as any team, so there’s a case for just rostering the best 2027 team possible and worrying about the future when it arrives.

• Rangers

Texas doesn’t seem inclined to spend much this offseason, but president of baseball operations Chris Young has downplayed the chance of a full rebuild. This probably only works if they find a taker for Corey Seager, which would alleviate some of their short-term payroll constraints while opening a middle infield spot for top shortstop prospect Sebastian Walcott. Marte’s 2027 salary is cheap enough that Texas would probably be in a better spot if they managed to pair this with a Seager trade, but it’s much easier said than done considering Seager also has 10-and-5 rights and a more onerous contract to offload.

• Rays

Tampa Bay typically isn’t a team that trades for late-career stars on significant contracts. They’ve had previous interest in Marte, though, and the structure of his contract might make this more attainable than it initially seems. It’s cheap enough short term, especially with the $3MM deferral, that any team can accommodate his 2027 salary. He’ll make upwards of $20MM for the following three years, but Tampa Bay doesn’t have any guaranteed commitments that stretch beyond next season.

The Rays also expect to move to a new stadium in the City of Tampa by 2029 — a move that owner Patrick Zalupski claims can support a player payroll in the top half to third of the league. It remains to be seen if the organization will back up those statements with action, but this would be one way to lay the foundation. The short-term positional need is certainly there, as the back half of Tampa Bay’s lineup was exposed by Milwaukee’s pitching staff in the World Series. They’re currently slated to run a Richie Palacios – Ben Williamson platoon at the position.

• Yankees

The Yankees are almost certainly going to let Jazz Chisholm Jr. walk. That opens a second base vacancy in addition to the possibility that they upgrade over Ryan McMahon at third. The Yankees could use Anthony Volpe and José Caballero to split second base, but neither has proven to be even an average big league hitter. Marte is a better offensive player even in a down year. New York could plug him in at second and cut bait on McMahon even if they want to open the door for Volpe or Caballero to play a regular role somewhere on the dirt.

Long Shots

• Angels

The Angels have arguably the worst second base group in MLB. Mike Trout is their only long-term contract on the books. They certainly could make this work, but they’re midway through an ownership change and operating with an interim GM (John Mozeliak) who has already downplayed the likelihood that he makes any big moves. If Marte is still a Diamondback after the lockout, maybe the Angels’ new front office will look into this, but this team should be retooling regardless. Trading for a 33-year-old second baseman whose work habits frustrated his previous organization doesn’t make much sense.

• Braves

Ozzie Albies is in the final year of his contract and has been up and down for the last few seasons. Atlanta would probably be a better team with Marte, but it’d be a risk from a clubhouse perspective and add another long-term commitment to one of the league’s oldest position player groups. 2025 first-round pick Tate Southisene has hit his way to Double-A and might fit best long term at second base.

• Dodgers

Second base is the one lineup spot at which the Dodgers could look for an external upgrade. A combination of Tommy Edman and Alex Freeland is serviceable, though, and the Diamondbacks probably don’t want to move Marte to the best team in the division.

• Giants

The Giants would’ve been a stronger fit had they not acquired Marcelo Mayer from the Red Sox at the deadline for reliever Erik Miller. They’ll also have Casey Schmitt back in the mix and don’t have the designated hitter at-bats to offer. They could trade Schmitt for starting pitching or plug him back into left field, but the more direct scenario would be to sign a starter and/or corner outfielder. They’d also need the Diamondbacks to be on board moving Marte within the NL West.

• Mariners

Marte is a known quantity to the Seattle front office, as he spent the first two seasons of his career in the Pacific Northwest. The Mariners need offense generally but already have a quality second baseman in Cole Young. This would only really work if they want to play Marte at designated hitter or move Young to shortstop, but either scenario would block the path to playing time for a young player (i.e. Lazaro Montes, Colt Emerson, Michael Arroyo). Moving Young back to shortstop also wouldn’t be ideal for an infield defense that was already one of the worst in the league this year.

• Nationals

The Nats have an open long-term payroll outlook and got league-worst offensive production from their second basemen this year (.210/.299/.278). Nasim Nuñez isn’t a long-term regular, but a Marte trade would essentially commit to CJ Abrams as an everyday shortstop. They already dabbled with moving Abrams to the other side of the bag at the end of the ’26 season and have one of the game’s best shortstop prospects (Eli Willits) at Double-A. Marte would unquestionably make this a better team in 2027, but it’s not an ideal long-term arrangement unless they’re planning to trade Abrams for controllable pitching within the next year or so.

• Padres

San Diego is facing the same divisional complications as L.A. and San Francisco are. The Padres also have Jake Cronenworth signed for another four seasons and $48MM. Cronenworth has first base experience and is coming off a replacement level year, so San Diego could kick the tires here, but Arizona would probably rather send Marte elsewhere.

• Pirates

Pittsburgh has a vacancy at second base with Brandon Lowe hitting free agency. They have the payroll capacity to take on the Marte contract. This could work in theory, but they’d presumably rather just re-sign Lowe (who’s coming off a better season and already well regarded in the clubhouse) if they’re going to invest at the position.

• Reds

Matt McLain hasn’t been productive since he underwent left shoulder surgery that cost him the 2024 season. Marte would be a significant offensive upgrade, but this is a big contract for the Reds to assume. They also have questions at third base, throughout the outfield, and up and down the pitching staff. It’s probably not the time to pour most of their resources into one splash move.

• Royals

Kansas City finds themselves in a similar spot as Cincinnati. Michael Massey is a fine but lower-end starting second baseman. He’s far from the biggest problem on the roster, though, as the Royals have much bigger issues in the outfield and around the pitching staff.

• Twins

Minnesota could make this work from a roster perspective. Kody Clemens could kick back into a bat-first utility role and/or play more first base if the Twins trade former #1 overall pick Royce Lewis. We considered placing them in the next tier up, but Clemens is an alright stopgap as the Twins await the arrival of well-regarded prospect Marek Houston (who might push rookie shortstop Kaelen Culpepper to second base).

Not Likely

• Astros
• Athletics
• Brewers
• Cardinals
• Cubs
• Guardians
• Marlins
• Rockies
• White Sox

Anyone in this group would be a real surprise. Houston, Milwaukee, St. Louis, both Chicago teams, Miami and Cleveland don’t need a second baseman. The Athletics could use a stopgap at the position but should focus their resources on pitching, especially with a hopeful long-term middle infield of Jacob Wilson and Leo De Vries. Colorado is in a rebuild and isn’t trading for a 33-year-old on a long-term contract.