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Out of nowhere, the news broke about Ketel Marte and the Arizona Diamondbacks discussing a potential contract extension. So far we have two reports, one from Robert Murray from FanSided and another from MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, that the team discussed a potential contract extension with their All-Star 2B.
Ketel Marte and the Arizona Diamondbacks have had recent talks about a contract extension, according to sources familiar with the situation. Marte, 28, has one year and two club options left on his current contract and Arizona is trying to keep him long-term.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) March 26, 2022
Marte was originally acquired from the Seattle Mariners by the D-backs in the winter of 2016, which was Mike Hazen’s first blockbuster trade after assuming the General Manager and top decision maker role in the team’s front office earlier that month. Just before the 2018 season, the team signed Marte to a five-year deal with a pair of club options that gave the team a maximum of seven cost-controlled seasons for a total of $46MM. After that, Marte would be set to hit the free agent market not too long after his 31st birthday.
Since signing the extension, Marte has hit .299/.360/.509 with 62 HRs and a 126 wRC+ over 1777 plate appearances and accumulated 16.6 bWAR. A lot of those totals include an MVP caliber campaign in 2019, in which Marte hit to a 149 wRC+ and 6.9 bWAR. Health has been an issue since the end of that campaign, as Marte had a stress reaction in his back that ended his season, a wrist ailment that bothered him for much of the shortened 2020 season, and a pair of hamstring injuries that limited him to 90 games and 374 PA in 2021. When healthy we can expect the current version of Marte to be about a 140 wRC+ hitter with 25-30 homers and around 5.0 WAR in value.
To no surprise, the team has looked to try to get an extension done. One such offer included adding 3 more years at $25MM per season according to Heyman.
The Diamondbacks and Ketel Marte are working on a possible extension. In one offer the D-Backs would guarantee his two option years and add three more years. The total would be about $75M additional. @ByRobertMurray 1st
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 26, 2022
Mike Rodriguez of Univision reported that Marte will sign his extension this afternoon.
The Diamondbacks and Ketel Marte will close a contract extension this afternoon. The D-Backs's offer would guarantee his two option years and add three more years. The total would be about $75M additional, per @mikedeportes. https://t.co/MTC09skvZm
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) March 27, 2022
Hector Gomez is reporting that the deal will guarantee Marte’s club options for 2023 and 2024 plus three more years for a total of $76MM. This has also been confirmed by Ken Rosenthal and D-backs beat writer Zach Buchanan.
Ketel Marte signed a 5 year / $76 million contract extension with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The deal guarantee his two option years and add three more years. Pending the physical. On it @mikedeportes @ByRobertMurray @JonHeyman.
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) March 27, 2022
Ketel Marte in agreement with DBacks on five-year, $76M extension with club option, pending physical, sources tell me and @ZHBuchanan. Deal includes signing bonus, begins in 2023, guarantees ‘23 and ‘24 options at slightly different numbers. New money: $56M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 28, 2022
After the 2022 season, the Diamondbacks had a $10MM and $12MM club options for 2023 and 2024 with buyouts of $1MM each. Both options were no-brainer decisions to exercise for the club given how impressive Marte’s bat has become in 2019 and 2021. That means the final three years of the deal will total to about $56MM, or just under $19MM per year in new money and would keep Marte under contract through the 2027 season.
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