The New York Yankees need to upgrade their infield, and Ketel Marte could be a great fit.
Some teams may be looking at Marte as a headache after he failed to show up at Fenway Park for a game last season. The entire situation was odd, but according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, it is not seen as a dealbreaker for all teams.
"A baseball source, however, said that teams have inquired about whether Marte would be available, and last year's incident was not deemed a dealbreaker by them," wrote Gilbert.
Marte is a great player, but general manager Mike Hazen recently acknowledged that the team needs to make changes.
“I think we need to look at some ways to shake the team up a little bit,” Hazen said recently, per Gilbert. “I think we’ve had this team together for a long time. We’ve had some success, but we’re going to find ways to make some changes in some cases. I don’t know where that’s going to take us.”
Trading Marte would be a huge change, but could help the Diamondbacks enter a new era. He could yield them some young talent that could help them get back into the postseason after falling short in the last three years.
As for the Yankees, Marte could replace Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base, and Anthony Volpe could move to third base. Marte is a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger. He has also won the National League Championship Series MVP Award once.
His OPS was only .748 last season, but he has a .815 career OPS and could benefit from a change of scenery. He is under club control through 2030 and could be the Yankees' second baseman for the next few years.
He won't be cheap by any means, but it's hard to imagine the Yankees getting where they want to be without upgrading the infield.