Ketel Marte’s name is back in the rumor mill, and this time the Tampa Bay Rays are the team getting floated as a possible suitor.
Arizona kept Marte through last winter’s trade chatter, but the Diamondbacks’ second baseman is once again drawing attention as another offseason gets rolling. The veteran just finished the 2026 season with a .249 average, 22 home runs, 76 RBIs and a .748 OPS over 141 games. He also posted a 103 wRC+ and 2.5 WAR.
The Rays had already poked around on Marte before those talks fizzled out in January, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale brought Tampa Bay back into the conversation during a “Nightengale’s Notes” segment on Foul Territory.
“I could see the Rays jumping back in this thing. Obviously, they don't have to give up as much as a year ago.
He's got a reasonable contract. You know, it's about $15 million a year, about $85 million left, and you got to have a strong clubhouse presence if you're going to get Marte.
You know, the Rays have that in Yandy Diaz.”
Fire up the Ketel Marte trade rumors again...@BNightengale can see the Rays "jumping back in this thing." 👀 pic.twitter.com/0npUU0yp1O
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) November 4, 2026
That’s a read on the fit, not proof that talks have restarted. Nightengale’s point about Tampa Bay potentially giving up less than it did before doesn’t reveal what Arizona would ask for now.
The earlier trade conversations did include Ryan Pepiot and Shane Baz, which at least gives a sense of the kind of names that were in play. But that history doesn’t say what the Diamondbacks would want in a fresh deal.
Marte’s leverage is part of the equation too. In April, he picked up 10-and-5 rights, giving him the ability to block any trade.
His season also included a stint on the injured list in August because of left knee inflammation. Arizona activated him on August 31.
Nightengale pointed to Yandy Diaz as the kind of clubhouse presence Tampa Bay would need if it pursued Marte, and Diaz has been with the Rays for eight seasons since coming over in a December 2018 trade with the then-Cleveland Indians.
For now, Marte is still in Arizona, and Tampa Bay is still just a name attached to the speculation. Any deal would need the clubs to agree and Marte to sign off on it.
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