Mariners' sudden Ketel Marte interest smells like a scheme to send a message

The Winter Meetings are here, and that means 'tis the season for rumor whiplash. One minute, the Seattle Mariners are getting shot down as a potential suitor for Ketel Marte. The next, they're in the mix to trade for the three-time All-Star.

The Mariners entered the fray for Marte via a double whammy of reports out of Orlando, Florida on Monday. Jon Morosi of MLB Network said during the morning that Seattle is "very much involved" in the infield trade market, including Marte. Then from Adam Jude and Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times came a report that the Mariners are open to "something big," and that they have expressed interest in Marte.

Caveats abound, of course. Jude and Divish have a disclaimer that it's "not known" if the Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks have had serious trade talks. And according to Morosi, Arizona's asking price for Marte is quite high, with "an emphasis on starting pitchers who are at (or near) the major-league level."

The Mariners' sudden interest in Ketel Marte smells like a scheme meant to send a message

If Jerry Dipoto truly wants Marte back nearly a decade after trading him in November of 2016, who can blame him? The 32-year-old the best second baseman in MLB today, and the Mariners have a need to upgrade at the position.

Further, the Mariners don't stand to be priced out of Marte's market. The $91 million he's owed through 2030 is a steal for a guy with a 141 OPS+ and 16.0 rWAR for the last three seasons. The Mariners also have what the D-backs want, whether the headliner is one of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby or Bryce Miller, or a prospect such as Jurrangelo Cijntje or Kade Anderson.

It's nonetheless important to remember that rumors don't come from flies on walls. Agents spread rumors to put heat on teams, and teams spread rumors to put heat on agents. In the case of teams, the motivation can also be as simple as throwing a bone to a fanbase that might be getting impatient.

After the Mariners made it to within eight outs of the World Series in October, the team has enough goodwill with the base that they don't need to resort to cheap tricks like indicating "See, we're trying!" on someone like Marte. But then again, it reinforces a general win-now attitude that will still be there even if Marte isn't back in Mariners threads in the next few weeks.

It may be more likely, though, that all this Marte buzz is meant for an audience of one: Jorge Polanco.

The Mariners have made no secret about wanting him back in their mix at second base, and the money to make a deal happen should be there. Josh Naylor's five-year, $92.5 million contract took up a lot of the club's offseason budget, but also not as much as it could have.

And yet, Polanco and the Mariners weren't close to a deal at last check, and that may be related to how the 32-year-old is more intent on playing out the market than Naylor was. He certainly should be after his stock did a U-turn from a down 2024 to an excellent 2025, but the Mariners obviously don't want him to feel too tempted to leave. If they planted the Marte rumor to make Polanco hear the sound of a closing door, well, maybe it'll work.

Of course, it could be that their interest in Marte is genuine and geared toward a single outcome: actually trading for him. But in times like these, anything that's whispered should be taken with a grain of salt until there's real action.