Ketel Marte, the player and person, rewarded with D-backs contract

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Congratulatory handshakes and hugs greeted infielder Ketel Marte almost immediately once he walked into the clubhouse.

And with that, some good-natured ribbing as well.

“What’s up, ‘Money Bags’?!” third baseman Jake Lamb said.

All Marte could do was smile.

On Tuesday, the Arizona Diamondbacks made official what had been reported a day earlier, that they had signed Marte to a five-year contract through 2022, with club options for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

“It was truly an unexpected blessing from God to be able to be in this position,” he said, through translator Martin Bater. “I have always been focused on working hard, trying to strive to achieve this moment and the fact that I have made it is just a tribute to God and to the effort that I have put in as a ballplayer.”

The acquisition of Marte from the Seattle Mariners in 2016 — which also netted the D-backs right-handed starter Taijuan Walker in exchange for three players, including infielder Jean Segura — was among the first moves made by Mike Hazen after being named the team’s new general manager.

“We saw in Ketel a very dynamic player,” Hazen said Tuesday.

Marte’s abilities were on display last season when he was pressed into duty following the injuries to both Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings.

Marte played shortstop for much of the second half of 2017, and played the position well while also contributing at the plate. In 73 games, he batted .260 with 11 doubles, five home runs and 18 RBI. He then hit .412 (7-for-17) with two triples, one home run and two RBI in four postseason games.

The road Marte traveled to get to that point a year ago was highlighted by Hazen, who pointed to Marte’s growth as a player — a strong work ethic that propelled Marte from Triple-A back to the majors after not making the team out of spring training — and more importantly as a person, specifically how Marte dealt with losing his mother who died tragically in a car accident in the Dominican Republic.

“Those are the two of things that really stand out to me that spoke to his character, who he is as person and what we want as a long-term Diamondback player,” Hazen said.

Added manager Torey Lovullo, “We are all about bringing in the right type of player and Ketel’s character was challenged last year at times and he always preformed, he always worked, he always did everything that an Arizona Diamondback should do.”

In addition to Hazen and Lovullo, Tuesday’s press conference was attended by both D-backs managing general partner Ken Kendrick and team president/CEO Derrick Hall. Their presence alone echoed the words of Hazen and Lovullo.

Still, Marte is just 24 and only entering his second season with the D-backs and fourth overall as a big-league ballplayer. In other words, why was it important for the D-backs to do a deal like this — reported to be worth $24 million and as much as $46 million including the two option years — at this stage in Marte’s career?

“In order for you to be able to bring a deal like this to completion, it has to make sense for both sides; and we found that very early in the process that there may be some common ground to work through. It took us about 10 days to two weeks to work through those things with the back-and-forth,” Hazen said.

“Look, I said it at the outset, we really believe in this player. We trust Ketel. His skill-set, his ability on the field, the things that we value, he does a lot of those things. He brings an impact to the game with his speed, with his defensive ability and the versatility of that defensive ability—not just being able to play shortstop but other positions; the ability on offense to impact our lineup in a number of different ways, seeing him go from hitting seventh or eighth to hitting second without missing a beat, those little things, fitting in all over the place, are really the things that we hung our hat on here with doing this.”

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