Diamondbacks to expand Ketel Marte

10:05 PM: Bob Nightingale from USA TODAY Reports say the extension secures Marte another $52 million, with a signing and acquisition bonus of up to $56 million.

9:05 PM: Diamondbacks and Kettle Mart They agree to a five-year extension of $76 million per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. (Twitter linksReports yesterday afternoon That Marte and the club were discussing an extension, and it appears that there is now a deal in progress, pending a physical examination. Marte was already in control of the club until 2024, with his $8.4 million salary this year, followed by club options worth $11 million in 2023 and $13 million in 2024. According to Rosenthal, these options are now guaranteed, but with different salary numbers. The extension will run through the 2027 campaign, with Marte earning an additional $51 million. There is also a club option for 2028, According to Nick Bikoro of the Arizona Republicwith escalators based on performance and health that can increase contract value.

After a dismal 2021 season that saw everything go wrong and the club finished with a record 52-110, speculation has turned to Marte and whether the D-Backs will earn him for a high probability. However, the club insisted they had no interest in demolishing their roster for rebuilding purposes, instead intending to continue trying to build a winning team around their current core. The extension solidifies that course of action, keeping Marte throughout his 33-year season, with the possibility of adding another option after that.

After making his MLB debut in 2015 at the age of 21 and spending two seasons in Seattle, Marte has been acquired by Arizona along with Taiguan Walkervs Mitch HannigerAnd the Jan Segura And the Zach Curtis. It was one of the first moves in the tenure of Mike Hazen, who had just been appointed general manager of the club the previous month. Marty’s first season in the desert was lackluster, coming in at just 0.260/.345/.395, a WRC+ of 89. However, Hazen doubled down on his faith in Mart by signing a five-year, $24 million extension four years ago. That belief was quickly rewarded, with Marte doing a much better campaign in 2018, hitting 14 home runs and two cuts. , shoot 32 wrecks, steal 10 bases and hit 329/.389/.592. That was a WRC+ of 149 and 7.0 fWAR, with Marte taking fourth place in the NL MVP vote.

Despite his poor performance in the 2020 season cut short by the pandemic, he proved to be luck in 2021 that was more like his previous season. He missed out with hamstring issues and only made 90 appearances, but hit 14 home runs and cut .318/.377/.532 for wRC+ from 139 and 2.9 fWAR.

With Marte now firmly anchored in a cornerstone for the foreseeable future, the club can focus on building a competitive roster around it. This would not be an easy task given the situation in the department. Last year, the Dodgers and Giants both won over 100 games and they should continue to be a strong team going forward. The Padres underperformed last year, but he’s still full of talent and could do better this time around. The Rockies have had a tough time lately but are willing to spend to try and keep pace, as evidenced by the recent signing of… Chris Bryant.

Diamondbacks have many talented players under their control for several seasons, such as dalton farshawAnd the Carson KellyAnd the Josh Rogas And the Zach Galen. They also have a well respected farm system, with prospects Geraldo Perdomo And the Alec Thomas They’ll likely make their way into the mix soon, followed by Corbin Carol And the Jordan Lawlar On the road.

In terms of payroll, there is no reason why managers can’t be aggressive in the remaining years of this extension, as it is now the only money on the books after 2024. Even for the current campaign, their opening day payroll is only set to come in at about $93 million, According to Jason Martinez of List Resources, with only $51 million earmarked for next year. Considering that they have earned as much as $132 million in payroll in recent years, According to the cribs baseball contractsThere should be plenty of room for aggressive moves in the coming years.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.