ORLANDO -- Another day of the Winter Meetings passed by Tuesday and Ketel Marte is still a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In fact, it doesn't sound like a lot has changed since the teams gathered here Monday.
"I put the odds [of a trade] in the exact same spot I was [Monday]," Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said. "Nothing really moved significantly, other than some other teams have jumped in, probably in reaction to news that's hitting the free agent market, is my guess. So that doesn't surprise me. It's something we've sort of anticipated, but we're not any closer to something where we would have a decision."
The news that's hitting the free agent market that Hazen referenced was the Phillies re-signing designated hitter Kyle Schwarber to a five-year, $150 million deal.
Some of the teams that had hopes of landing Schwarber could now pivot to maybe trying to deal for Marte, and the market for Arizona's second baseman could get even more active once free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker signs.
In the meantime, Hazen is working other avenues to add pitching. Monday, the team agreed to terms with right-hander Michael Soroka, who will slide into their rotation, and the Diamondbacks have offers out to both free agent starters and relievers.
"We're working on other avenues in other markets," Hazen said. "And we'll see if we can push anything across the finish line that might change the direction we go in."
If the Diamondbacks are able to land a frontline starter without trading Marte then the likelihood of him staying in Arizona would grow exponentially.
While Hazen has not yet talked to Marte about the trade rumors because he doesn’t feel anything is likely to happen, manager Torey Lovullo said Tuesday that he keeps in regular touch with Marte as well as the rest of his roster either via text or phone calls.
Lovullo was asked what he has said to Marte about the rumors.
"I told him just what I told you guys," Lovullo said. "Teams are smart. They want really good players, and he's one of the best in the National League, so I understand why teams are making phone calls on him."
New hire
Jeremy Bleich, who had been the Pirates director of pitching development, has joined the Diamondbacks as an assistant general manager and will oversee Arizona's pitching.
The Pirates have done a good job of developing pitchers under Bleich's watch and that's been a weak spot for the Diamondbacks, who have not been able to replicate the success they've had developing hitters.
"From a philosophical standpoint, we just haven't been happy with the way the overall pitching infrastructure has gone and the results, certainly at the Major League level, speak to that," Hazen said. "I want to be realistic about what the things are we've done well and the things we haven't done as well, and that's one of those areas we feel like we haven't done as good of a job in."
Bleich will oversee all the team's pitching processes, acquisition and development, while fellow assistant general manager Mike Fitzgerald will oversee the team's hitting processes, acquisition and development.
Spring Training
Towards the end of last season, Lovullo spoke about wanting to change some things in the way he runs Spring Training next year with the goal to be avoiding some of the sloppy play both defensively and on the bases that plagued the Diamondbacks early last season.
Ronnie Gajownik, who has managed and coached in the Arizona system, will be responsible for overseeing Spring Training and she has been working with Lovullo on some changes.
"I've been talking to a lot of different people about some of the drill packages," Lovullo said. "I'm probably gonna get in front of the team every Monday and say this, 'These are our objectives. This is our objective for this week. By the end of this week, I want to be excellent at this, this and this."'
2026 MLB Draft
The Diamondbacks will have the No. 15 overall pick in the 2026 Draft following Tuesday night's Draft Lottery.
Without the Draft Lottery, Arizona would have picked 10th based on its 2025 regular season record. The Diamondbacks had a 1.5 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick, which went to the White Sox.
2026 Draft: