Do we really know how the Arizona Diamondbacks clubhouse views Ketel Marte?

If you’ve been listening to our airwaves over the last couple of weeks, days, however you want to characterize it, our own Dan Bickley and John Gamadoro have alluded to some stuff uh with Catel Marte and Arizona, the Arizona Republic’s own Nick Pakoro went through some of this stuff. Uh he reports for the past month, teammates and others in the organization have quietly grumbled about Marte’s propensity to ask for days off. They were frustrated by the time off he requested following the burglary of his home with some believing his departure around the All-Star break set in motion the collapse that led to the Dimeback’s trade deadline selloff. uh Bick earlier today saying on Bickley and Marada that uh because there’s been a lot of outrage online about this report and and what Bick has said over the last coming uh last couple of days from fans just being I rate um at this reporting around Catel especially with the burglary uh in mind of course a situation that he would have to tend to for sure big reporting that this uh time off and like the the time off booked and all that kind of stuff was done before the burglary and as Pakoro points out in his story is a situation where he went to the Dominican Republic and was not back in Scottsdale where the original theft occurred. Another example in here is uh it reads quote it stands in stark contrast to what outfielder Corbin Carroll has done over the past six weeks playing through a broken bone in his hand because he quote felt like I owed it to everyone in here end quote. It’s just really weird timing for these rumblings to come because the Arizona Diamondbacks are if they take care of business this weekend against the Colorado Rockies are at the what could be very well be the high point of their season right now. So for these rumblings to come out at this kind of time, I can understand fans reacting and feeling like this is targeted or feeling like it’s coming at their team. But you have to remember where this information is coming from and it is coming from within the Diamondbacks organization. And that is that is a problem right now to say the least when you’re when when you’re in the middle of a season and you’re in mid- August and you are still in it and you’ve got a chance to still make a late surge of the postseason. But obviously like the offseason ramifications here because you know what we wouldn’t have done at the end of the season Wolf is question Cel Marte’s future with the Arizona Diamondbacks and now I have to question it. Yes, this is something. This is not nothing. This is something right now. Um, you think about Marte since the trade deadline. You were talking about this yesterday. He’s hitting .383. He’s hit three home runs, 14 RBI’s. He’s got an OPS 1087. I mean, this guy is on a roll right now. Once again, um, we know what kind of talent Catel Marte has, but is he a mad king? That is the question that I will ask. A mad king basin onians is a player that is wildly talented for the most part. Maybe the most talented guy in a locker room or clubhouse. Wildly talented. Um but there there’s something there’s something in the way that disconnects him from everybody else. I’m just wondering. I don’t know this space earnings. I need to stress this. I do not know. I do not know Nick Bakoro and what Nick Bakoro knows or Dan Bickley knows about what is going on inside. I do not know. If I were inside that clubhouse, I’d be able to tell you with certitude as to whether or not this is true. The fact that there’s even whispers about this right now and you know this killer in this business that’s the way that it typically starts and the fact that there is tells me he might be one of these guys that yeah he’s your best player. He’s the most talented guy in the clubhouse. And yet there’s this mark, this labas lease, as they say in the Latin, this stain that will not go away. Is he a mad king? I don’t know. Two things I want to mention. One, the timing of this report and the timing of his extension earlier in the year really stand out to me. I’m not reporting anything here. This is just my general opinion and observation, but the timing of it sort of suggests in a way like, okay, here’s your extension that you wanted because remember Catel didn’t have like a year left on his deal or two years left on his deal. He had a lot of time left on his deal and they added even more years on top of that. And the messaging behind this was let’s have Catel like retire Dimeback. Let’s add even more onto this as well. But at the time, it just didn’t really make sense as far as like the timing of what it was. And to me, the way that I interpret it now is okay, here’s your extension. can you please go about yourself in the completely professional way that we want you to do? And that was before this whole uh trip around the All-Star break as well. The second thing Nick writes, quote, “In recent years, some Diamondbacks players have taken to adding a phrase to comments when they when asked about Marte. He is a great player, they say, when he wants to be. They are giving credit while also airing a grievance.” End quote. And the parallels here are undeniable with the Luca Dantric situation in the NBA because you will remember when they traded him out of nowhere. We were all completely caught off guard. We knew that the the Mavericks were frustrated about his conditioning program and all those types of things, but he is such an incredible amazing talent that it wouldn’t make sense. And could tell right now there were the stats dropping last night. Look over his last 162 games. It’s one of the best offensive seasons by a second baseman ever. He’s the best second baseman in baseball right now. And to trade him when he is clearly in his prime and still even getting better would be completely out of left field would be completely asinine in my opinion even if he’s a primadana to this extent. And that’s where I wonder the balancing act that the Diamondbacks have obviously internally been dealing with him over the last couple of years that I guess has reached some sort of breaking point because for it to be you you mentioned whispers. The whispers were there but this is out in the open now. Now it’s out in the open. Yeah, I know. And man, I wonder about that. Where where did this information come from? Nick Picaro, Nick, are you there? Are you listening to me right now? Is anybody out there, Nick? Please go ahead at me. Do something. Call me. I I I just Where did the information come from? I I I’m not questioning Nick in any way, shape, or form. As a matter of fact, it takes a lot of courage to actually go and and say and report what you know to be true based on what people are saying to you. Um it’s it takes a lot of moxy, let’s put it that way. And I wonder just how prevalent it is in the clubhouse. If you’ve got players that are in agreement saying, “Yeah, when he wants to be.” See, this is what I’m talking about. This is this is where you can’t have your best player. This is my experience. I don’t know if this is the truth. My exper You can’t have your best player be a guy that people look down on for a certain reason, whatever it may be. You It’s very very tough to get any type of real chemistry going in that situation. And now it becomes something my experience killer. Sure. And now it becomes something that we have to now monitor and keep track of. like if he’s here for a long time, it’s going to be like if he doesn’t run out of ball to first base where all of a sudden we’re like, what? Why didn’t he run that out? Like it’s one of those things where we might not have been noticing certain things within the way that he was going about his business where now everyone is paying attention. So, it creates a lot of really confusing and difficult dynamics for them to go about. Okay, once again, I’m going to say this quickly right now, but to have the Arizona Diamondbacks been consistent when you look at their talent level and what their talent level has been, have they been consistent? No, they have not been consistent. They’ve been up and down and all over. I don’t know this to be true, but if it is, that might be exhibit A as to why they’ve been inconsistent. Thanks for watching Wolf and Luke. Tap to see more and click the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports.

Fans had quite the reaction to Nick Piecoro’s story in the Arizona Republic about Arizona Diamondbacks teammates having issues about Ketel Marte’s frequent requests for time off. Ron Wolfley and guest host Kellan Olson ponder what is really going on in Arizona’s clubhouse.

Ketel Marte’s absence requests have reportedly ruffled feathers in D-backs clubhouse: https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/ketel-marte-6/3592973/

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