Ketel Marte is being linked to one team in trade rumors

The troubled Ketel Marte may have an exit possibility in place.

Marte, the longtime Arizona Diamondbacks infielder, is being linked to the Tampa Bay Rays in trade rumors. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported this week on “Foul Territory” that the Rays pursued a trade for Marte in the past and could make another run at him this offseason.

Now 33 years old, Marte is a three-time MLB All-Star who has been with the Dbacks since 2017 (making him by far their longest-tenured player). Last season, Marte hit .249 with 22 homers and 76 RBIs over 141 games played.

But Marte has also been causing some problems in Arizona for the last couple of years. In 2025, he annoyed Dbacks teammates by taking a leave of absence after his home was burglarized, and then it got worse in 2026 when Marte no-showed a game in August and was later spotted at a local casino.

Even Arizona manager Torey Lovullo admitted that he felt “betrayed” by Marte’s actions at the time. Now it appears that the Dbacks as a whole are entirely done with him.

Marte does still have a good chunk of money left on his contract and is owed another $77.8 million over the next four seasons (with an additional $11.5 million player option for the 2031 season). But it looks like the Rays, who are fresh off a World Series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, might be willing to roll the dice on him (provided that Arizona pays down a decent amount of Marte’s remaining contract).