We continue our look at fan-proposed hypothetical trades that could potentially work in the real world by diving in on one today involving the New York Mets acquiring Ketel Marte from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Would this fan-proposed trade between the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks involving Ketel Marte make sense for both teams?
This is part of a series inspired by an article in The Athletic (subscription required) where former Major League Baseball general manager Jim Bowden evaluates fan-proposed trade ideas. So far in this series, we have examined these hypothetical trades:
Oakland A’s-Seattle Mariners trade involving Chris Bassitt
Oakland A’s-Detroit Tigers trade involving Matt Chapman
San Diego Padres-Pittsburgh Pirates trade involving Bryan Reynolds
Cincinnati Reds-Tampa Bay Rays trade involving Luis Castillo
Now, let’s look at a fan-proposed trade that would send Ketel Marte from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the New York Mets.
Here’s the swap proposal…
Davis has played in 335 games over the last five seasons for the Mets and Houston Astros, with 140 of those coming during the 2019 campaign when he slashed a career-best .307/.369/.527 and 137 OPS+. Peterson has started 24 games for the Mets over the past two seasons (and saw action in one more game in relief), posting a 4.64 ERA, 1.315 WHIP, and 89 ERA+ in 116.1 innings.
Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Mauricio, who played in eight games last season at Double-A for his most elevated action of his career, is ranked third on the list of Mets prospects, while Ginn, who started 10 games at High-A in 2021, is fifth.
Marte, meanwhile, is due to make $8.4 million next season and is due a pair of club options through the 2024 season that will earn him a total of $24 million. The money and team control is very team-friendly, especially for a player who can be a force at the plate. As MLBTradeRumors.com puts it in this article …
"“In just under 1,200 plate appearances since the start of 2019, he’s a .318/.374/.543 hitter. His 137 wRC+ in that time ranks 11th among the 159 players with more than 1,000 trips to the plate.”"
Last season, Marte started 67 games in center field and 20 games at second base for the Diamondbacks. In his career, he has 256 starts at shortstop, 207 starts at second base, and 160 in center field, showing he can be versatile defensively anywhere up the middle.
So there’s the original trade proposed to Bowden. However, in his evaluation of that trade, he wrote that, while the Mets would pounce on it, he didn’t believe the Diamondbacks would go for it. His counter would certainly cost the Mets more in terms of the future of their franchise.
For the counter-offer so that the Mets could land Marte, Bowden proposed the Mets sending Arizona their top two prospects (catcher Francisco Alvarez and third baseman/outfielder Brett Baty). Alvarez reached High-A last season while Baty played in the Futures Game and reached Double-A.
That’s it. The top two prospects for Marte, who was an All-Star and fourth in the National League MVP voting in 2019 after hitting 32 homers and driving in 92 runs.
So what do think, Mets fans? After the moves your team has already made this offseason, boosting your team on the mound and in the field, would you send your top two prospects to strengthen the lineup even more with Marte? If you’re the Diamondbacks, is this enough to pry Marte out of the desert? Let us know in the comments section below!