*PREDICTION*

The Arizona Diamondbacks may be trading away one of their best offensive weapons this offseason. The team has made All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte available for the right price. 

 “Teams believe they’ll have a better sense after the winter meetings of the Diamondbacks’ seriousness about moving the best second baseman in baseball,” reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel.

“Marte has a very reasonable five years and $91 million (plus a sixth-year player option at $11.5 million) remaining on his contract, which means Arizona would want a whale of a return.”

 With the Diamondbacks trading away Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez recently, it seems the Diamondbacks are looking at a quick rebuild with younger talent. They still have Corbin Carroll under control, but trading away Suarez, Naylor, and Marte is losing a lot of talent.

One team will be looking for a new player up the middle in their infield, whether they retain their shortstop or not. The Toronto Blue Jays should be looking for that spark or piece to get them to their goal. That is why the Toronto Blue Jays will trade for Ketel Marte.

Ketel Marte Traded To Blue Jays

Ketel Marte broke into the league in 2015, but didn’t make a name for himself as a superstar until the 2019 season.

His consistency in the past few seasons has made him one of, if not the best, second basemen in baseball. He is a three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, and has finished inside the top three for MVP voting multiple times.

With a career .281 average, Marte has the plate discipline and power any team would want. Marte has had some injury issues, only topping 143 games played in a season three times. The Blue Jays could use another threat in the lineup to pair alongside Vlad Guerrero Jr.

With the possibility of Bo Bichette on the way out, the Blue Jays desperately need to make an upgrade at one of, if not both, shortstop and second base.

Current Blue Jays second baseman Andrés Giménez has 91 career games in the majors at shortstop and could be the potential shortstop moving forward.

Giménez, known more for his glove than his bat, is not currently an improvement for Bichette’s offense output. While Giménez is a better defender, his offensive numbers are nowhere near the value Bichette brought to the team over his career.  It would pay dividends because Marte is a much better bat than Bichette now at his age.

This would not only improve the defense for the Blue Jays but also improve the offense and be a cheaper contract option than resigning Bichette. The only problem is, would it still be considered cheaper with what they would have to give up to trade for him?

Blue Jays Have The Prospects

Multiple outlets have the Blue Jays ranked in the top ten in all of baseball for their farm system, which means they have the assets available to make a trade for Marte.

Now, how willing the Blue Jays are to part with any of their top prospects is unknown to the public, but for a 32-year-old with MVP talent, they should be willing to part with several.

The Blue Jays have three players ranked in the Top 100 prospects according to MLB.com, and one of them, Trey Yesavage, is already off the table due to his impact in the Blue Jays’ run to the World Series.

Their other two top prospects are JoJo Parker (No. 43) and Arjun Nimmala (No. 68). Arjun Nimmala will have to be a part of the package with an already major league and several other prospects to land Marte.

The Blue Jays should do without blinking. They could comfortably give up a solid group of prospects and still be able to reap the benefits of having Ketel Marte in the lineup.