Potential Blue Jays Trade Fit: Ketel Marte

[Owen Hill]

The Blue Jays kicked off their offseason with a bang, agreeing to terms with Dylan Cease last week. So, obviously, it’s about time that I get greedy and start looking at the next way I want them to improve the roster heading into 2026.

In light of this recent Jon Morosi tweet suggesting the Jays at least checked in, I think it’s only fitting that I dive into the Diamondbacks’ All-Star second baseman, Ketel Marte.

Broadly, in terms of fit, it’s pretty easy to picture Marte as the everyday second baseman for the Jays in 2026. With the starting rotation already addressed, and with Bo Bichette currently out testing the free agent market, one of the two middle infield spots looks to me like the most glaring hole on the roster.

Andrés Giménez will factor in on an everyday basis, and there’s no doubt that should Bo walk (and even if he were to re-sign), the Jays would be more than comfortable having Giménez start about 150 games at shortstop. Ernie Clement is essentially the only other name in the middle infield mix at the moment, and he’s a guy whose value comes from his utility and being able to bounce around the infield, not to mention that he was actually a below-average hitter in 2025, finishing the regular season with a 98 wRC+ overall, and just a 75 wRC+ against righties.

I would say it’s pretty likely that plan A for the Jays is to just bring back Bichette, but it’s far from a guarantee that that’s what ends up happening. With $210 million committed to Cease already this offseason, the fact that the Jays will be bidding against other teams for Bichette's services, and the uncertainty around where Bo sees himself playing on the diamond, it’s not a bad idea to start formulating backup plans, and it makes sense that the Jays have checked in on Marte.

Aside from the obvious positional fit, Marte is as pure a hitter as they come. Since 2023, he has led qualified second basemen in OPS, wRC+, home runs, and fWAR. 

It’s not very hard to come up with an argument calling him the best offensive second baseman in baseball so far in the 2020s, without even mentioning that he’s a switch-hitter with fairly even splits.

It’s almost not worth mentioning the defense when it comes to a hitter this talented, but in Marte’s case, he’s considered about an average defender at second base.

I almost feel guilty comparing Marte to Bichette, but looking at results over the past four seasons, it’s pretty easy to see Marte has been the better player. 

I provide this Stathead player comparison graphic since 2022 understanding the risk it causes to my reputation as a baseball analyst and general ball-knower:

Marte has been worth over 4.0 FanGraphs WAR in each of the last three seasons, including 2024, when he was worth 6.4 and finished third in NL MVP voting. Bichette has only finished with more than 4.0 fWAR twice in his career, and not since 2022.

There aren’t a ton of directions the Jays could go this offseason that would upgrade their middle infield over what Bichette has provided, but bringing in Marte is probably one of those directions.

If you want to talk money, DiamondCentric projects Bichette to make $175 million over seven years this offseason – that's $25 million per season – while Marte has $102.5 million left on his deal (including some deferred money), which runs through 2031, his age-37 campaign.

It’s important not to forget that Bichette is a full five years younger than Marte, and re-signing him just about guarantees four or five solid seasons should he stay healthy. Already 32, Marte’s immediate future is a little bit less certain.

This article is not meant to be a comparison between Bichette and his potential replacement, but I think it’s important to recognize that Ross Atkins’ goal is to make the 2026 Jays better than the 2025 Jays. 

Given the term and team-friendly nature of Marte's current deal, the acquisition cost for the Diamondbacks star could get ugly, and we know that the Jays’ system isn’t exactly stacked with blue chip prospects, so it’s hard to say if a trade would even be possible.

Still, it’s a lot of fun to imagine Ketel Marte’s bat hitting in front of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the Blue Jays’ lineup.

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