Major-league trade chatter resurfaced Wednesday when an MLB insider reported that the Arizona Diamondbacks tried to trade Ketel Marte during the winter and that parts of the organization remain unhappy with the 32-year-old, who could still be moved before the early-August deadline.
Bob Nightengale wrote: "Meanwhile, Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, who the D-backs tried to trade during the winter, continues to frustrate segments of the organization by opting to take days off. He sat last week when Shohei Ohtani the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched against the Diamondbacks, and then played the next day and hit a walk-off homer." The report also notes that talks between Boston and Arizona this offseason never produced a deal.
The concrete pieces are simple: Arizona and Boston engaged in trade discussions centered on Marte over the winter, the sides did not reach terms, and Marte — a 32-year-old with some injury history — is again part of the trade speculation as the D-backs churn nine games under.500 this season.
The friction Nightengale describes is specific. He says Marte has frustrated "segments of the organization" by opting to take days off, pointing to a recent incident when Marte sat for the game that featured Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers and then returned the following day to deliver a walk-off homer. That sequence captures the split: a player whose availability choices irk staff, and whose on-field value can still be decisive.
Boston's offseason interest, tied to the wider marketplace around middle-infield help and pitching depth, is why names from the Red Sox prospect pool have circulated in trade chatter. That chatter has included the name Marcelo Mayer in public conversations about how Boston might have tempted Arizona during those talks, though the sides ultimately parted without a trade.
The matter matters now because the calendar creates leverage: the early-August trade deadline looms as the NBA- and NHL-style cutoff for non-waiver deals that could reshape rosters. If Arizona's internal frustration with Marte persists — and if the club's position in the standings does not improve — the organization will face the same question it confronted in the winter: keep a productive but intermittently unavailable veteran, or convert him into controllable assets while some market remains.
The report opens a practical gap. Nightengale's account establishes past negotiations and present friction but does not say Arizona has restarted formal trade talks, nor does it name specific offers. That leaves two clear outcomes: the Diamondbacks could hold onto Marte and manage the clubhouse tension, or they could put him on the market again as teams reassess needs and depth before August.
Which of those paths Arizona chooses is the story going forward. With the D-backs under.500 and internal impatience reported, the most consequential question is whether the club will turn this unease — sharpened by Marte's decisions to miss games and soothed by his timely production — into action at the early-August deadline.
