With rumors surrounding the Arizona Diamondbacks this offseason, especially when it comes to star Ketel Marte, the other player that has been connected to the team has also been Alex Bregman, who played for the Boston Red Sox last season. As the Diamondbacks have been labeled as a surprise team that could go after Bregman, Marte plays a crucial part in the potential pursuit.
In the latest piece by Ken Rosenthal for The Athletic, he spoke about Arizona and the situation with Marte and Bregman, saying what would need to happen for the team to get who they want. Rosenthal would emphasize how the ball club would need to deal Marte before signing Bregman, as the franchise “would lose leverage doing it the other way around.”
“The DBacks almost certainly would need to trade Marte before signing Bregman; they would lose leverage doing it the other way around,” Rosenthal wrote. “The deferrals in Marte’s contract lower his average annual value for luxury-tax purposes to $14.6 million. Bregman likely would go for at least twice that AAV, but the Diamondbacks’ current payroll is an estimated $17 million lower than it was last season.”
“Bregman would play third base for the DBacks, with Jordan Lawlar, Blaze Alexander, and Tim Tawa becoming options at second,” Rosenthal continued. “The required sequence of moves – trading Marte, signing Bregman – might seem far-fetched. But so did the possibility of Arizona signing Burnes a year ago.”
An interesting tidbit about this situation is that Boston has been a team that has been reportedly in the mix for Marte this offseason, though a trade wouldn't go down since Bregman is a free agent. At any rate, it remains to be seen what happens to both Bregmand and Marte as both could see themselves in different uniforms next season.
