A mid-season injury cratered the last year of his Mets’ contract.
When Starling Marte joined the Mets on a four year, $78 million deal, it was to be somewhat expected that the backend of that contract wouldn’t be quite as appealing as the front end. Marte had just turned 33 when he signed the deal, and as we sit here a few months after his 37th birthday, some of what our Lukas Vlahos predicted might happen when he signed has come true.
Marte is […] 33-years old, and physical skills can go in a hurry once a player reaches their mid-30s. He’s not lose too much speed yet per Statcast (minor decreases in sprint speed and percentile ranking) and their have been elite basestealers that have held onto that skillset as they age. At the same time, it’s impossible to ignore the risk associated with Marte losing a step or two as he ages. Nearly 30% of his value came on the bases and in the field in 2021, and while there’s no direct way to put a number on it, a great deal of his purely offensive value comes for his speed as well.
…It’s worth describing the realistic downside risk. Marte is probably a safe bet to contribute in center field for 2022, but beyond next season may need to slide to a corner spot. If he loses a step, perhaps his defense slips to merely average or a tick below, and his baserunning skills decline to more pedestrian levels. Without power or on base skills to fall back on, a good chunk of the on-field value Marte produces could dry up in a hurry.
While his 2022 season was phenomenal, 2023 and 2024 were struggles, plagued by injuries, a lack of speed on the base paths and a steep decrease in defensive value. The offensive skills were diminished as well, but nothing seemed quite as dramatic in that aspect of his game. Appearing in 86 and 94 games, respectively, Marte was looking more and more like a part time player as the 2025 season loomed.
With all of that considered, Marte was looked at as mainly a designated hitter going into 2025, splitting time with Jesse Winker at the position. That plan went awry fairly early due to Winker injuries led to Marte getting the bulk of the early DH time and, for the most part, it worked out for the first three months of the season.
Through his day going on the IL in early July, Marte was batting .270/.353/.387. His power continued to be down, hitting just four home runs in his first 58 games of the season, as was his base stealing, with just five swiped bags across he same span. But he was holding his own against both lefties and righties, showing very little platoon split and being a productive bat.
On July 6, Marte made only his fifth of an eventual 12 appearances in the field, playing a complete game in left field. It would be his last appearance for a few weeks due to a right-knee bone bruise, a recurring injury from the prior year. He would miss just two weeks with the injury, but it would further erode his base-running value, with just two steals over the rest of the season.
It’s tough to call the season a complete wash for Marte as, when he was healthy, his bat added some value to the lineup and his leadership skills have been routinely praised. It is also worth noting that the highest paid player in baseball considers him a good friend and happens to be a teammate of his, and so if he had any role in helping Soto acclimate to life as a Met, there was tremendous off the field value to Marte being a 2025 met.
On the field, Marte was worth 1.0 bWAR. It was a slightly above average offensive year for a player who really shouldn’t touch grass again on a baseball diamond again professionally. He’s not a real fit for the bench, as he doesn’t have the defensive skills to be a semi-regular outfielder. He doesn’t have the leg speed anymore to be an above average pinch runner. With his power diminished, he’s not an ideal pinch hitter who can crank a hanger late in a game.
Regardless of what 2026 brings for Marte, his 2025 season was a mildly successful season where, if a few things had just broken better – and if he hadn’t been injured in July – it might’ve helped bring the Mets to back to back postseasons for only the third time in franchise history. But that’s not how this season went, and as the Mets’ core continues to scatter away from Queens, it seems most likely that Marte’s time as a Met has come to a close as well.
Category: General Sports
