Mariners get mixed trade messages from strange Ketel Marte IG story, D-Backs quote

A new year is coming, and resolution to the Ketel Marte trade sweepstakes may be coming with it. That could be good news for the Seattle Mariners, but this also seems like an opportune moment for a warning: don't get your hopes up.

Not too high, anyway. Marte is still a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and he seems to expect that will remain the case in 2026. He made a rather interesting post on his Instagram on Tuesday, sharing an image of him celebrating with Corbin Carroll with a caption that reads "Not good teammate" followed by a couple smiling emojis.

That's a blatant clap back at all the buzz over the summer about Marte's apparent discord with his Arizona teammates, which was largely self-inflicted on his part. Maybe he posted it just because, but you have to wonder if he would be so bold if he expected not to be sharing a clubhouse with those same teammates again.

Mariners get mixed trade messages from strange Ketel Marte, D-Backs

In what could be related news, Arizona general manager Mike Hazen has spoken about the timeline for a potential trade of Marte. And for the Mariners, it's not the most encouraging statement.

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Hazen said, per Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. “But this isn’t going to continue to linger. We need to focus our offseason. Again, my gut this whole time was that [a trade of Marte] wasn’t going to happen, and I think it seems likely that that’s the case and we want to focus on other things we need to do.”

This smells faintly of a smokescreen. The word in November was that the D-backs were "motivated" to trade their three-time All-Star second baseman, who is owed a little over $100 million for the next six seasons. It would be a means to avoid further disruptions to their chemistry, not to mention a way to score a huge haul for him in the process.

But that was then. This is now. The Diamondbacks have made some moves in the last month or so, notably upgrading their starting rotation by bringing back Merrill Kelly and signing Michael Soroka. Such things have downgraded a Marte trade from a "gotta do it" to "only do it if it makes sense."

If the Boston Red Sox are truly out on Marte, there goes probably the Diamondbacks' best hope of getting what they seek. By all accounts, they want an established pitcher and multiple top prospects. Whereas Boston could have easily matched that asking price, the Mariners are far less certain to do so.

They have the prospects, but Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports that they're unwilling to subtract from their major league rotation. And if that's true, then spare parts like Emerson Hancock or Logan Evans just aren't going to cut it as a centerpiece for a player like Marte.

At this point, anything the D-backs do with Marte would be surprising. A deal happening would be less surprising than Arizona closing up shop and keeping him, but most surprising would be if they and the Mariners find a way to make something work.