Morning Briefing: Ketel Marte Trade Unlikely
Good morning, Mets fans!
The Mets are still looking around for further offseason help, but it looks like Ketel Marte won’t be part of those plans.
In an article by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com, Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said, “My gut this whole time was that [a trade of Marte] wasn’t going to happen, and I think it seems likely that that’s the case and we want to focus on other things we need to do.”
Marte, 32, has posted an .873 OPS over the last seven seasons. He’s primarily a second baseman, and the Mets have already acquired infielders Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco this winter — although they have a little more flexibility now with Jeff McNeil gone as they continue to scour the market.
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Speaking of Polanco, Nate Trosky posted a video of Polanco working on his skills at first base. He has essentially zero major league experience at the position. Somewhere, fictional Billy Beane is going, “It’s not that hard.”
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Anthony Rendon and the Angels reached an agreement on restructuring his disastrous contract, Sam Blum of The Athletic reported. Rendon’s career in Anaheim is officially over. It was previously reported that he was expected to retire.
If this is it for Rendon, he finishes an odd MLB career that included some great years in Washington, culminating in a World Series ring. He went on to play just 257 games over six seasons with the Angels. His OPS+ over that time was 100 on the dot. He was worth 3.9 total bWAR as an Angel — less than each of his last four seasons with the Nationals individually.
The Angels promptly signed relief pitcher Kirby Yates to a one-year deal. Ari Alexander of 7News was first with the report. Yates, after posting a 1.17 ERA in 61 games for the Rangers in 2024, put up a 5.23 ERA and -0.5 bWAR for the world champion Dodgers in 2025. He’ll be 39 years old next season.
In some lighter news (especially for Angels fans), Sarah Langs of MLB.com wrote about 25 reasons why baseball was the best in 2025.
The Braves signed José Azocar to a minor league deal, per Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. Azocar went 5-for-18 in his brief Mets tenure this year. He also played for Atlanta this season with a grand total of one at-bat.
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Robert Colonna wrote about Tatsuya Imai’s market heating up, particularly in the wake of his deadline approaching.
Colonna also put together a free agent profile on Imai.
On This Date in Mets History
Born on This Date: Kevin Kaczmarski (1991), Rick Aguilera (1961).
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