Ketel Marte revolt in Arizona may be a reunion opportunity for the Mariners

The Seattle Mariners are preoccupied with the regular season right now, so it's a little premature to start drawing up plans for the upcoming offseason. We know they're going to be in the market for infielders, however, and we know that they like to trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

As such, it wouldn't necessarily be surprising if the Mariners forced their way to the front of the line for Ketel Marte this winter.

This would have been out of nowhere a week ago, but the sheer unrest in the desert over Marte's behavior has changed the equation. Per an explosive report from Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the veteran second baseman has frustrated his Diamondbacks teammates with his tendency to ask for and take days off.

It was an issue toward the end of 2024, and again this summer when he took off the first three days after the All-Star break. He was back home in the Dominican Republic, and his return coincided with a 1-8 stretch that preceded a fire sale by Arizona ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. The Mariners were a beneficiary, scoring Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez in separate deals.

The Mariners will have the need and the assets to make a trade play for Ketel Marte

For his part, Marte has apologized but also dug in his heels.

“In my opinion, it's something needed,” the 31-year-old said this week, according to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. “I don’t think that it’s too many days off. I’ve had injuries in the past, and this is a plan that has been integrated with the coaching staff and myself, in order to keep me on the field the longest.”

Some benefit of the doubt is in order here. Marte has had his share of injuries, and this year has been a trying one on a personal level. He was the subject of some truly disgusting heckling by a fan in June, and he had a residence in Arizona get burgled during the All-Star break.

It also matters that when Marte does play, he's among the very best position players in MLB. He's a three-time All-Star who has twice finished in the top five of the NL MVP voting, and the last three seasons have seen him post a .900 OPS with 162-game averages of 36 home runs and 6.8 rWAR.

Even still, his exit from Arizona is possibly already in motion. As reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Diamondbacks "plan to listen to trade offers" for Marte this winter.

This comes with multiple caveats, including one that the Diamondbacks don't find Marte's behavior unacceptable. He also has a team-friendly deal that pays out just $92.5 million over the next six seasons. The D-backs apparently do not believe that another team would offer a "fair package" for Marte, who also has five-time no-trade clause and will soon have 10-and-5 rights to veto any trade.

Yet if any team is going to trade for him, well, why not the Mariners?

With Naylor and Suárez ticketed for free agency this winter, they're about to be in the market for as many as two infielders. Marte isn't a natural fit to fill their vacated spots at third base and first base, but either he or Cole Young could move to the hot corner to make it work.

Even after all they gave up to get Naylor, Suárez, and Caleb Ferguson, the Mariners also still have nine prospects in MLB Pipeline's top 100. It's an embarrassment of riches that would basically give them automatic access to Marte's market, and the Mariners could even heighten Arizona's interest by dangling a starting pitcher such as Logan Gilbert or George Kirby.

As for whether Marte would OK a trade, there's naturally the question of how strongly he wants to stay in Arizona after his teammates aired grievances with him through the media. And if the Mariners did come calling, it would mean a chance to return to the organization that originally signed him back in 2010 before eventually trading him to Arizona in 2016. And unlike the Diamondbacks, the Mariners' contention window is wide open.

Marte would also be freed from the pressure of having to lead by example in Seattle. Whereas he sucks up more oxygen than any other player in Arizona's clubhouse, he would share the Mariners clubhouse with de facto leader Cal Raleigh, plus other stars (i.e., Julio Rodríguez) and accomplished veterans (i.e., Randy Arozarena and J.P. Crawford).

To be clear, this is all hypothetical and strictly speculative. Marte is a future trade candidate only in the abstract, so it'll be a while before real suitors for him emerge.

Once the time is right, though, the Mariners will need to give serious thought to being one of them.