Morosi: Blue Jays Have "Checked In" on Ketel Marte

[Leo Morgenstern]

Speaking on MLB Network yesterday, Jon Morosi reported that the Arizona Diamondbacks are "actively listening" to trade offers for All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte. He added that no deal is imminent, but multiple teams have checked in, including the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays.

As Morosi points out, Marte has limited no-trade rights in his contract with Arizona (a deal that runs through 2030, with a player option for 2031). However, neither Philadelphia nor Toronto is on the list of teams to whom he could reject a trade.

So, how do Jays fans feel about the club potentially trading for Marte? Do you think it's a realistic possibility? Would you be happy to have Marte in Toronto if it means Bo Bichette is signing elsewhere? Have your say in the comments below.

Featured image courtesy of Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.

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[Spanky__99]

I wouldn't hate it, don't like the age difference but Marte on cheaper money gives the Jays more payroll flex for other needs while filling a spot with another allstar. 

And I love Bo. The price will be steep either way..

[John_Havok]

12 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

I wouldn't hate it, don't like the age difference but Marte on cheaper money gives the Jays more payroll flex for other needs while filling a spot with another allstar. 

And I love Bo. The price will be steep either way..

Counterpoint though, as you said the age difference is significant in that the downturn of Marte is probably a lot closer than the downturn of Bo. You'd likely project Bo to give you more seasons of impact than Marte. 

Don't know why were even talking about it though. Bo hasn't signed elsewhere yet, this is something they shouldn't even be considering until it's confirmed Bo isn't coming back. That's when you start looking for solutions, only after the problem is confirmed. 

[Spanky__99]

10 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Counterpoint though, as you said the age difference is significant in that the downturn of Marte is probably a lot closer than the downturn of Bo. You'd likely project Bo to give you more seasons of impact than Marte. 

Don't know why were even talking about it though. Bo hasn't signed elsewhere yet, this is something they shouldn't even be considering until it's confirmed Bo isn't coming back. That's when you start looking for solutions, only after the problem is confirmed. 

Uhmm...

[John_Havok]

1 minute ago, Spanky__99 said:

Uhmm...

Dammit Spanky, this is a direct reference to the other thread.

[Spanky__99]

52 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Dammit Spanky, this is a direct reference to the other thread.

So, they can talk to both Godammit, lol.

[John_Havok]

59 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

So, they can talk to both Godammit, lol.

i love you man

[glory]

"Blue Jays are one of a handful of teams that have checked in on (insert Free Agent or trade target)" happens every year with Trollosi. It's usually followed by a spot on a Toronto radio show. I'm sure the Jays have checked in on Marte, but Morosi is just doing his usual off-season nonsense to get whatever engagement he can from the few people who still view him as credible. How he survived Ohtani-gate still baffles me. 

[Omar]

 

 

[Ray]

Would you do Barger + Nimmala + 1 of Bloss or Tiedemann for Marte? Would that even get it done? 

That's 1 MLB ready piece in Barger who is ready to go for Arizona

Jake Bloss gives AZ some much needed pitching depth. He was an arrow up guy before injury and gives them a potential backend start immediately

Nimmala is a lot of raw upside.

[John_Havok]

4 minutes ago, Ray said:

Would you do Barger + Nimmala + 1 of Bloss or Tiedemann for Marte? Would that even get it done? 

That's 1 MLB ready piece in Barger who is ready to go for Arizona

Jake Bloss gives AZ some much needed pitching depth. He was an arrow up guy before injury and gives them a potential backend start immediately

Nimmala is a lot of raw upside.

I don't think you'd even put Barger on the table. 

He's got every tool to produce 90% of Marte with 6 more seasons of control, half of them at league minimum. The value offset in contract status and age is pretty immense, not to mention they kinda need Barger to play the field somewhere going forward.  

I would expect Nimmala + someone else to be in the deal but Barger would not be the main piece. Barger is a no go for many reasons. 

[Orgfiller]

25 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

I don't think you'd even put Barger on the table. 

He's got every tool to produce 90% of Marte with 6 more seasons of control, half of them at league minimum. The value offset in contract status and age is pretty immense, not to mention they kinda need Barger to play the field somewhere going forward.  

I would expect Nimmala + someone else to be in the deal but Barger would not be the main piece. Barger is a no go for many reasons. 

Outlandish claim. The only tool that Barger comes close to matching Marte in is raw power. Marte is an elite hitter with no real flaws in his offensive profile, even if Barger hits his best case scenario he'll be hard pressed to come anywhere near "90% of Marte". At Barger's age Marte was just coming off a 6 win season.

Barger should by no means be this untouchable piece. I'd move him as the headliner for a player of this caliber, that has such a reasonable contract, in a heartbeat. I think you might be overreacting a bit to his excellent postseason performance.

[Jonn]

Going to be honest I like him as a hitter but I don’t think he’s worth the acquiring cost which will be sky high. Would prefer if they just upgraded offensively through the free agent pool. He’s also not known as a great teammate hence why he’s being shopped to begin with he doesn’t vibe with the clubhouse which is a special thing in Toronto. There was also the incident where he cried for getting heckled by a fan. Wanted the fan banned for life and the fan had no idea his mom died 5+ years prior. Seems like a bit of a werido to me.

[Brownie19]

15 minutes ago, Jonn said:

Going to be honest I like him as a hitter but I don’t think he’s worth the acquiring cost which will be sky high. Would prefer if they just upgraded offensively through the free agent pool. He’s also not known as a great teammate hence why he’s being shopped to begin with he doesn’t vibe with the clubhouse which is a special thing in Toronto. There was also the incident where he cried for getting heckled by a fan. Wanted the fan banned for life and the fan had no idea his mom died 5+ years prior. Seems like a bit of a werido to me.

Was this confirmed to be true?  I thought the fan knew this and selected that chirp accordingly.

[John_Havok]

19 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Outlandish claim. The only tool that Barger comes close to matching Marte in is raw power. Marte is an elite hitter with no real flaws in his offensive profile, even if Barger hits his best case scenario he'll be hard pressed to come anywhere near "90% of Marte". At Barger's age Marte was just coming off a 6 win season.

Barger should by no means be this untouchable piece. I'd move him as the headliner for a player of this caliber, that has such a reasonable contract, in a heartbeat. I think you might be overreacting a bit to his excellent postseason performance.

I didn't say he was 90% of Marte AT THIS MOMENT. 

Just that going forward, looking at the 2 guys, taking expected age related decline into account for Marte and the best years of Barger coming up...he could be 90% of Marte fairly quickly. And getting that for league min and a few arb years sure beats paying Marte till he's 38. Age 32 season is 2026. 

I suppose a lot would depend on whether you believe Barger has improvement upcoming or not. I do. The way he performed in the playoffs shows there's more there. It would not shock me in the slightest to see Barger drop 30 HRs in 2026 while playing acceptable to plus D at 3b/RF. Probably wouldn't have Marte's avg or walk rate thought that's less likely. 

Marte is the better player now, you're right and I don't think that's arguable. But projecting who I'd rather have on the Jays for the next 6 seasons, when taking salary, age and other variables into account... I'll take Barger. 

[Brownie19]

56 minutes ago, Ray said:

Would you do Barger + Nimmala + 1 of Bloss or Tiedemann for Marte? Would that even get it done? 

There's absolutely no way I'd give up this much to get Marte.  

Marte is a GREAT player, but entering his age 32 season, he may only have 2-3 years of elite performance left.  

I'd rather resign Bo and keep the Barger and the prospects.

I do appreciate that Marte may be worth this much to someone.  He has a lot of value based on his contract - but the Jays aren't penny pinching, so I don't think we need to give up that much young talent to add the contractual value...

 

[Jonn]

21 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Was this confirmed to be true?  I thought the fan knew this and selected that chirp accordingly.

He said “I messaged your mom last night”. His mom died in 2017, The fan had no idea and was extremely apologetic but still got banned for life by both the White Sox and eventually MLB. Marte really pushed for it and wouldn’t respond to the fans apologies.

[L54]

1 hour ago, Ray said:

Would you do Barger + Nimmala + 1 of Bloss or Tiedemann for Marte? Would that even get it done? 

That's 1 MLB ready piece in Barger who is ready to go for Arizona

Jake Bloss gives AZ some much needed pitching depth. He was an arrow up guy before injury and gives them a potential backend start immediately

Nimmala is a lot of raw upside.

I would do this. I am going to cheerlead trading prospects this offseason to add major league pieces especially ones on great contracts 

Fangraphs ranked him 31st in their trade value rankings between Lindor and Kirk. With Barger there is real platoon risk (69 wrc+ vs lefties this season) and Nimmala has a wide range of outcomes that could be anywhere from first division regular to a guy who never sticks in the bigs 

[Joltin Joe]

9 hours ago, Leo Morgenstern said:

Speaking on MLB Network yesterday, Jon Morosi reported that the Arizona Diamondbacks are "actively listening" to trade offers for All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte. He added that no deal is imminent, but multiple teams have checked in, including the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays.

As Morosi points out, Marte has limited no-trade rights in his contract with Arizona (a deal that runs through 2030, with a player option for 2031). However, neither Philadelphia nor Toronto is on the list of teams to whom he could reject a trade.

So, how do Jays fans feel about the club potentially trading for Marte? Do you think it's a realistic possibility? Would you be happy to have Marte in Toronto if it means Bo Bichette is signing elsewhere? Have your say in the comments below.

Featured image courtesy of Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.

 

View full rumor

 

Sounds like Bo is gone. Jays asking about Marte and threw big money at Cease

[John_Havok]

39 minutes ago, Joltin Joe said:

Sounds like Bo is gone. Jays asking about Marte and threw big money at Cease

they've got plenty to throw around yet, especially with the deferrals. 

Bo or Tucker are still very gettable

[Joltin Joe]

11 hours ago, John_Havok said:

they've got plenty to throw around yet, especially with the deferrals. 

Bo or Tucker are still very gettable

I don't think so

[John_Havok]

2 hours ago, Joltin Joe said:

I don't think so

Why do you think this? Backing up opinions with rationale is usually helpful in creating discourse.

[Brownie19]

17 hours ago, Jonn said:

He said “I messaged your mom last night”. His mom died in 2017, The fan had no idea and was extremely apologetic but still got banned for life by both the White Sox and eventually MLB. Marte really pushed for it and wouldn’t respond to the fans apologies.

Thanks - I didn't hear much of the aftermath.