Considering that I always saw him as the young, fresh face that got traded for Jean Segura, it's wild to me that Ketel Marte's been in the league for a decade, and is now in his tenth season in Phoenix. This D-Backs team is deceptively young, it's wild that they have people who've been here over 5 years, or over 10 years, and are still good.
Marte's actually put together a pretty damn good career for himself. A cumulative 37.8 WAR, a career .822 OPS, 3 80+ RBI seasons, a power bat that shows up every so often and a .280 average. I don't think he's a future Hall of Famer or anything, but he is one of the most consistent players in his league, and a very steady guy to have around. The closest thing to a down period Marte's had was an injury-plagued 2021 followed by a still-not-100% 2022. But from 2023 on he's routinely been one of the best all-around players in the game, keeping the D-Backs in the conversation and meshing well with new stars like Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo. He's the guy you want to stick around, even if he's less in the category of 'elite' and more in the category of 'underratedly good'.
Right now Marte is hitting .267 with an .810 OPS, 17 homers and 54 RBIs. For his standards, it's good if imperfect. It took a little longer for Marte's season to get going than usual, and while he does lead the team in homers and RBIs, it's a less all-around performance than usual. Compared to Carroll, who's good at everything right now, and is tripling all over the place. Marte is 32, and he's got 4 years left on the contract after this one, and he's very much still in his prime, but the time has come for the new breed to take over, and Carroll, Perdomo and Moreno are very much that.
What's troubling, though, is the lack of a next step after them. So far this season, the D-Backs have called up Jose Fernandez, Ryan Waldschmidt, LuJames Groover, Tommy Troy and Adrian Del Castillo....and none of them have worked. The same schtick every time, too. 'LOOK AT THIS GUY, HE'S ABOUT TO BE SO GOOD, GET READY', he hits .182 in 2 weeks, back to the minors, then the next one. Waldschmidt and Fernandez have promise, of the bunch, but it wasn't sustainable. If a 34-year-old Ildemaro Vargas is a better 1B bat than you, you're not ready yet. The rotation youth is similar. They tried Mitch Bratt, it didn't work. They are trying Jose Cabrera, he's been decent in three starts but not revolutionary. Kelly and Gallen are tired, Pfaadt might not be the answer, and it can't just be down to Rodriguez and Burnes next year.
As good as this core can be, I'm still very worried about long term solutions, because none have shown up this year. And remember, this is a team with Druw Jones in its farm system. Remember him? He's still in double-A, playing very okay. A Rockies-esque 'stop and wait for better prospects' strategy might have to be in order very soon.
Coming Tomorrow: I reckon Canada's kinda sad their World Cup adventure ended so early, but at least they've got this guy to look forward to for a while.
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