Mariners Rumors: Trading with the Diamondbacks for Ketel Marte

Near Thanksgiving of 2016 something happened that is very rare. A trade worked out for BOTH sides! The Mariners swapped players, acquiring Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura for Taijuan Walker and a raw, but talented young infielder named Ketel Marte. Of course, the Mariners turned Segura into our shortstop of the future JP Crawford, but could the Mariners go to the past to find his running mate at second base?

Marte has been one of the best players in the National League since being shipped to the desert. He is slashing an eye-popping .296/.360/.492 since joining the Diamondbacks, hitting 57 home runs in parts of 5 years according to Baseball Reference.

What would happen if the Mariners once again had Ketel Marte?

This production was good enough for the Diamondbacks to lock up Marte through his age 31 season, with a 5 year 24 million dollar deal. This makes him one of the most affordable young stars in the league.

It is hard to tell what the market would look like for Marte, as the Mariners would likely have to overpay to obtain him. The Diamondbacks have also said they will not trade him, but could the Mariners pry him away?

Let’s dive in and take a look at a few trades that the Mariners could offer the Diamondbacks, and see if any of them would be enough to get Ketel Marte back in Seattle.

Trade 2 – Not comfortable with giving up this much

This deal would be a slam dunk for the Diamondbacks, with a lot of upside. I would not be comfortable as the Mariners giving up this much as their current stage of the rebuild.

Poor Taylor Trammell would be traded (again). Trammell could play immediately and offer the D-Backs a higher upside player than anyone they currently deploy in their outfield. Although Trammell has struggled he is still just 23 years old and has shown massive power this season.

George Kirby is the centerpiece of this deal for Arizona. The 23-year-old right-hander has great command of four pitches and has shown an increase in velocity early in his pro career. He has a lot of value even though we have not seen a ton of him so far. His ERA is a 2.48 in 17 games as a professional and would be a high-end prospect add for Arizona.

To finish out this deal the D-Backs would get 6-6 lefty, Brandon Williamson. Williamson’s stock has soared this summer, especially following his promotion to Double-A Arkansas. His big curveball and ascending profile make him a great trade chip if the Mariners choose to do so. He and Kirby would both easily slide into their top 10 right away.

This trade gives the Diamondbacks what they need and then some, although I would stay away from a deal like this if I were Dipoto.

Trade 3 – An underpay for Ketel Marte

This is probably not going to happen, but if it did I would be ecstatic. Marte is still young and affordable, not to mention he is a star. Coming away from this deal by not giving away any of the top six prospects in the Mariners organization is probably going to be considered an underpay by the industry.

We have already talked about Brandon Williamson, but Connor Phillips is another high upside arm the Mariners have. He is very young and has struggled a bit at Modesto this year. The upside is tremendous, with great late life on an upper 90s fastball.

Although people may not be as familiar with Phillips as they are with others in the Mariners farm system, he is still a great prospect. He comes in around 9/10 in most places that you look, and would likely fall around 6/7 in most teams prospect rankings.

This deal allows the Diamondbacks to stock up their farm and lets the Mariners trade from their greatest strength. The Diamondbacks should probably trade Ketel Marte, but they likely won’t. They continue to say that Marte will not be traded, but his fit on this Mariner ballclub is undeniable. I for one would welcome him back in Seattle with open arms.