Miami Marlins: What a potential Ketel Marte trade would look like

In a recent report from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, one interesting note included was that the Miami Marlins have previously expressed interest in trading for Arizona Diamondbacks star centerfielder Ketel Marte.

Now obviously, the two teams cannot partake in trade talks during the MLB lockout, but it is clear the Marlins have interest in trading for Marte, a move that 100% makes sense for Miami and would make a massive offseason splash for the club. With the interest and fit clear, what would a potential trade for Marte look like?

What would a Miami Marlins trade for Ketel Marte look like?

First of all, while the Marlins have interest in trading for the star centerfielder, it’s currently unknown if Arizona would consider trading Marte. However, if the 28-year-old was available, the Marlins are one of the teams that have what it takes to get a deal done.

As expected for a player the caliber of Marte with multiple years of team control remaining, it would obviously take a massive return for the Diamondbacks to even consider a trade, a return that would likely include multiple big league ready players.

The 28-year-old switch-hitter is entering his eighth big league season in 2022, and is coming off a 2021 campaign in which Marte slashed .318/.377/.532 across 90 games with Arizona. A one-time All-Star (2019), Marte can hit for both average and power, as well as play at either centerfield or second base defensively.

As a starting point in a potential deal, the Marlins would likely have to begin with one of either Pablo Lopez or Elieser Hernandez, both of whom are experienced big league starters with multiple years of control remaining with Hernandez as the more-likely option.

In addition to one of those two, Miami would likely have to part with one of their Top 5 prospects, a group that includes potential options such as RHP Edward Cabrera (No. 2), RHP Max Meyer (No. 3), or OF JJ Bleday (No. 5).

If a potential deal were to happen, Marte would slot-in as Miami’s everyday centerfielder with Jesus Sanchez and the recently signed Avisail Garcia likely joining in left and right. Because of this, a Marte deal would likely be completed with outfield/positional player prospects ranked outside of Miami’s Top 10 such as SS Nasim Nunez (No. 13), OF Peyton Burdick (No. 14), OF Victor Mesa Jr (No. 17), or OF/1B Jerar Encarnacion (No. 24), as well as potentially another lower-level prospect.

While a potential deal could obviously look different than what is listed previously, one thing is clear however – if the Miami Marlins were to trade for Marte this offseason, it would take a massive package going to Arizona in return to get a deal done.