Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen has let it be known that he is open to trading from the top of the team's prospect list this offseason in order to secure pitching, and it sounds like he is open to at least listening on one of his best players.
Rumors of trading All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte are not new -- it was a topic raised at the Trade Deadline -- and neither is the fact that for the Diamondbacks to even enter into discussions about it, the return would have to be immense.
“We field questions on all of our really good players,” Hazen said at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas when asked about Marte on Tuesday. “There’s interest all the time -- at the [Trade] Deadline, before the season, after the season. I have to do my job. I have to listen to what people have to say. How that gets characterized out there is out of my control."
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Marte once again put together an outstanding season in 2025, starting at second base for the NL All-Star team for the second straight season. Marte finished the season with a slash line of .283/.376/.517 while compiling an OPS+ of 145.
The Diamondbacks rewarded Marte with a contract extension earlier this season that runs through 2030 with a player option for 2031. It is a very affordable deal for Arizona, with $91 million guaranteed remaining, plus the $11.5 million player option for 2031.
“You're looking at one of the best players in the entire league,” Hazen said at the time. “So our ability to have one of the best players in the entire league playing on our team for a long period of time is a goal of mine.”
After watching injuries decimate their staff in 2025 and with the departure of rotation stalwart Merrill Kelly at the Trade Deadline and Zac Gallen reaching free agency, Hazen is looking to add a pair of starters.
Arizona had a club-record Opening Day payroll of around $195 million this past season, but that figures to go down some for 2026, so to add the required pitching, the Diamondbacks will likely have look to the trade market and Hazen will have to part with value to get value back.
It's worth emphasizing that just because Hazen is willing to listen on players like Marte, that doesn't mean a deal will develop. Again, the return the Diamondbacks would ask for will be high, and putting deals like that together can be complicated. Hazen said in an interview with MLB Network that "it's mostly unlikely for that stuff to happen."
Hazen is still getting a feel for what the trade market will be like this offseason. The GM Meetings are typically when that process begins.
"We're working it out," Hazen said. "We're just getting started on having substantive conversations about what potential trades could look like. This is usually the [time] where we start to have the first conversations, and then trades typically build from here."