Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen expressed openness to trading top prospects and listening to offers on key players like Ketel Marte to bolster the pitching staff this offseason. Speaking at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas, Hazen emphasized the need to address injuries and departures that impacted the team in 2025. While deals remain unlikely, he is beginning substantive trade conversations.
At the GM Meetings in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen addressed the team's offseason strategy, particularly the need for starting pitching after a challenging 2025 season. Injuries decimated the pitching staff, Merrill Kelly was traded at the deadline, and Zac Gallen is approaching free agency, prompting Hazen to seek a pair of starters.
Hazen indicated willingness to trade from the top of the prospect list and listen to inquiries about top players, including All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte. Rumors about Marte have circulated since the trade deadline, but any deal would require an immense return. "We field questions on all of our really good players," Hazen said. "There’s interest all the time—at the [Trade] Deadline, before the season, after the season. I have to do my job. I have to listen to what people have to say. How that gets characterized out there is out of my control."
Marte had an outstanding 2025, slashing .283/.376/.517 with a 145 OPS+ and starting at second base for the NL All-Star team for the second straight year. Earlier this season, the Diamondbacks extended him through 2030, with a player option for 2031, leaving $91 million guaranteed plus a $11.5 million option. "You’re looking at one of the best players in the entire league," Hazen said at the time. "So our ability to have one of the best players in the entire league playing on our team for a long period of time is a goal of mine."
With the 2025 Opening Day payroll at a club-record $195 million expected to decrease for 2026, Hazen anticipates relying on the trade market. However, he cautioned that listening to offers does not guarantee deals. In an MLB Network interview, he noted, "it's mostly unlikely for that stuff to happen." The GM Meetings mark the start of trade discussions, with Hazen saying, "We're working it out. We're just getting started on having substantive conversations about what potential trades could look like. This is usually the [time] where we start to have the first conversations, and then trades typically build from here."