Trading for Ketel Marte would be more complicated for the Yankees than most of the other MLB teams.
The Yankees are one of five teams on the no-trade list in Marte’s contract, along with the A’s, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates, according to The Athletic.
That’s not to say Marte would decline a trade to the Yankees, but it would require the star second baseman’s approval for the Arizona Diamondbacks to send him to the Bronx.
The D-Backs are listening to offers for Marte, who has $102.5 million over six years remaining on his contract. That’s a hyper-reasonable rate for a player of Marte’s stature, even as he enters his age-32 season.
A three-time All-Star, Marte hit .283 with 28 home runs and an .893 OPS over 126 games last season. The year before that, Marte finished third in National League MVP voting.
Marte has played second base almost exclusively since 2022, and the Yankees have an All-Star second baseman of their own in Jazz Chisholm Jr.
But the Yankees have at least listened to trade interest in Chisholm, ESPN reported last week, as he enters his final season of team control.
The lefty-swinging Chisholm, who turns 28 in February, hit a career-high 31 home runs with 31 stolen bases in 130 games last season.
Marte, a switch-hitter, has also played shortstop and center field, and he could help balance a Yankees lineup that has lacked righty-swinging regulars.
Of course, the Diamondbacks could hold onto Marte, with The Athletic previously reporting they seek a “superstar-type return” for him. But Arizona is fresh off of a disappointing 80-82 season, during which it traded away several veterans before the deadline.
An extra incentive to move Marte this winter is that his no-trade list is reportedly set to expand to a full no-trade clause in April, when he achieves 10-5 status as an MLB player with 10 years of service, including five with the same team.
Notably, the Mets are not included on Marte’s no-trade list, and they could use another middle-of-the-order bat following Pete Alonso’s recent departure to Baltimore.
But the Mets already employ a high-profile second baseman in Marcus Semien, whom they acquired in last month’s trade sending Brandon Nimmo to Texas. Semien, 35, is under contract for the next three seasons.
The Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays have also been linked to Marte.