The Athletics are in the market for an upgrade at either second or third base, and over at ESPN they were named as one of the potential fits for Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte. Jeff Passan gives him a 40% chance of being moved this winter, and also lists the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals and New York Mets as fits for a deal.

Activewear

Passan has this to say of the trade buzz surrounding Marte: “Teams believe they’ll have a better sense after the winter meetings of the Diamondbacks’ seriousness about moving the best second baseman in baseball. Marte has a very reasonable five years and $91 million (plus a sixth-year player option at $11.5 million) remaining on his contract, which means Arizona would want a whale of a return.”

Marte is owed just $15 million and $12 the next two seasons, but then his salary gets up at $20 million in 2028, followed by two more seasons at $22 million in 2029 and 2030 before that player option season in 2031. The rule of thumb is typically that if an acquiring team is taking on all of the money of a contract, that would limit the return package headed the other way.

To a degree that would be true here, given that the $91 million remaining on Marte’s deal is still more than any contract the A’s have ever handed out. At the same time, he’s the best-hitting second baseman in baseball, putting up a 145 wRC+ (100 is league average), which was 13% better than second-best last season.

That said, his defense was roughly league average this past season at +1 outs above average (OAA). Still, the best A’s second baseman defensively was utility-man Max Schuemann (+5), followed by Zack Gelof (+2). Then there was Darell Hernaiz (-3), Max Muncy (-4) and Luis Urías (-3). In that lens, a +1 with a solid bat is a good deal.

Here is Passan’s scouting report on Marte: “Marte is tied for the 13th-best player in baseball by WAR over the past three seasons (15.3 WAR in total). He’s 32 and is an average baserunner and defender at second base, so his value is mostly tied to his bat.

“That should last for a while, though, as he’s well-rounded at the plate, having better-than-average walk and strikeout rates, power numbers, contact rate and on-base percentage.”

The age portion of the equation does make things interesting. At 32, he’d be the second-oldest position player behind backup catcher Austin Wynns. He’s also just a week younger than reliever Tyler Ferguson and a little over a year younger than starter Jeffrey Springs. The A’s could use some veteran experience in the clubhouse, and Marte could be that guy.

He’s also signed into his age-36 season, with the player option coming in his age-37 year. Could this also be the kind of addition the A’s seek to perhaps avoid?

The one big hurdle for the A’s would be that if they made this move, they would essentially be punting on Gelof, whose status for Opening Day is uncertain after he dislocated his shoulder at the end of the season in Pittsburgh. He ended up getting surgery in September after an injury-plagued year. When he’s been on the field, he hasn’t been great, however, so maybe it’s time to turn the page.

The big question here is what it would cost in prospect capital to land Marte from the Diamondbacks. It’s clear that the A’s could use an upgrade at second, and that he’d be affordable even for them, but what type of prospects would they have to send back?

We’re probably looking at one of Braden Nett or Henry Bolte in the deal, and then a lower-ranked comp for the other. So if the D-Backs chose Bolte, then perhaps Gunnar Hoglund and another piece. If they went with Nett, then maybe Junior Perez or Colby Thomas along with a third piece. Both Nett and Bolte are ranked in the A’s top-5 prospects according to MLB Pipeline.

The A’s have plenty of avenues to improve their roster this offseason, and a pretty good crop of prospects to deal from. The problem is, they can only trade those players once, so they have to make sure they pick the right deal to include them in—if they’re moved at all.