Rumors are starting to suggest that the Philadelphia Phillies have reached out to the Arizona Diamondbacks about star infielder Ketel Marte.
Marte has also played the outfield for parts of his career, so there’s a possibility he could do so again if he were traded to the Phillies.
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Ultimately, the idea of trading for someone like Marte would be centered on his offensive impact. If Marte is going to be the player the Phillies are looking for him to be, it’ll be because he’s one of the best hitters in the game. There isn’t a better second baseman in the league.
But for the Phillies to get a deal done, it will likely require them to move a massive package for Arizona to even consider a trade.
When examining what that could mean, Destiny Lugardo of Phillies Nation had a great piece suggesting that the only way this would happen is if Andrew Painter were involved.
“Any trade for Marte will require at least one young, controllable starting pitcher. That’s why it is pointless to mock up a Phillies trade for Marte that doesn’t include Andrew Painter. The D-Backs have lots of young position players, but not nearly enough pitching. Painter fits the mold as a near major-league ready starting pitcher with ace upside who could fill one of two vacancies the Diamondbacks currently have in their starting rotation…
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“But the Phillies for years have made Painter untouchable in trade talks. They probably could have landed Garrett Crochet at the 2024 trade deadline if they were willing to include Painter. Coming off a down season in Triple-A, it’s unclear if the Phillies’ stance on trading Painter has changed,” she wrote.
As she touched on, many teams around the league have called the Phillies in the past about Painter in trade discussions.
However, it’s been rather obvious that the Phillies haven’t wanted to move on from him yet. That might change now, considering Painter hasn’t exactly pitched well at the upper levels of the minor leagues and has dealt with injuries, but for a player of Marte’s caliber, he seems like a safe piece to move if that’s what it would take.