Position: Outfielder
Bats/Throws: R/R
Age: 33

Traditional Stats: .308/.381/.456 with 12 homers, 55 RBI, 89 runs scored, 47 steals in 526 plate appearances
Advanced Stats: 4.7 bWAR, 5.4 fWAR, 131 OPS+, 133 wRC+
Defensive Stats: -4 DRS, 0.9 UZR, 4 OAA

Rundown

Starling Marte has been a consistently above-average offensive performer throughout his MLB career. However, he took things to a different level in 2021, which was the outfielder’s age-32 campaign. It was the second consecutive year he was traded prior to the deadline, and unlike when it happened in 2020, his production didn’t really change afterward — it actually got better in spots.

Marte spent the first portion of his year with the Miami Marlins. In 275 plate appearances before the Oakland Athletics acquired him, he slashed .305/.405/.451 with seven homers, 25 RBI, 52 runs scored, 22 stolen bases, and a 138 wRC+. After the trade, the veteran outfielder hit .312/.355/.462 with five homers, 30 RBI, 37 runs scored, 25 stolen bases, and a 128 wRC+ over his final 251 trips to the plate.

One of the most eye-popping stats here is Marte’s 47 stolen bases, which tied a single-season career-high mark and led the league by a comfortable margin (he was caught just five times). Marte did steal 33 bags in 2018 but was also caught a league-leading 14 times, and over the two seasons the followed, those numbers started to decrease. He stole 25 bags in 31 chances in 2019 and 10 out of 12 chances in 2020 before this huge uptick.

Marte’s plate approach also went through an interesting change — he swung a lot less often in 2021 than he had in recent years, yet he remained aggressive in the right situations. His swing rate on strikes decreased for the third straight year, but it still settled in at 71.2%, which was the fourth consecutive season it was above 70.0%. Meanwhile, his 34.2% chase rate was the lowest it’s been since 2017, when it was at 33.0%. This led to a 77.9% contact rate (his highest since 2018) and a 10.7% swinging-strike rate (his lowest since 2017).

Defensively, FanGraphs and Statcast metrics disagreed on how effective Marte was in the outfield. He’s played some left field early on in his career but has spent the majority of recent years as a center fielder. Coincidentally enough, the four Outs Above Average he produced in center during the 2021 season is exactly the same as Mets center fielder, Brandon Nimmo.

Contract

Marte just finished up what was a very, very team-friendly deal. Prior to the 2014 season, he signed a six-year, $31 million deal while with the Pittsburgh Pirates, which included team options of $11.5 million (2020) and $12.5 million (2021). That’s obviously a lot of money, but it’s safe to assume he’s also looking for a significant payday this winter — especially after the season he just produced.

Before the Marlins traded Marte to Oakland, they actually offered him a contract extension, but it was for three years and $30 million. Hopefully, they knew that was going to get rejected, which is exactly what happened. Before all this went down, the fine people at Fish Stripes talked about how they felt a four-year deal worth $67 million felt fair.

We’ll soon find out what MLB Trade Rumors and FanGraphs projects for Marte’s next contract, but that four-year range feels like a good starting point. He’ll be 33 years old once Opening Day rolls around in April, so it’d be tough to see many teams (if any) be willing to extend beyond four or five years, likely putting a dollar amount in the neighborhood of $75 million on the table.

Recommendation

As it relates to the Mets, does Marte appear to be a fit for what this club needs? Absolutely. Even if he doesn’t approach the 50-steal plateau again, his speed on the base paths alone is an attractive idea. As a squad in 2021, New York stole a total of 54 bases, tied for the fifth-lowest mark in baseball.

His 54.8% ground-ball rate was his highest since debuting in 2012, but it’s also not much different than his 51.1% career mark. Marte’s .369 BABIP was higher than .324 for the first time since 2016, but even when it wasn’t that high, he was still a 3.0-fWAR player.

With Michael Conforto hitting free agency, the Mets have questions in the outfield. Nimmo is the only sure thing at the moment, but according to Roster Resource on FanGraphs, he’s currently flanked by Dominic Smith in left field and Jeff McNeil in right field. That doesn’t seem ideal, so whether it’s putting Marte in center and moving Nimmo to a corner or vice versa, this is a player they should be interested in pursuing. While it was a different situation and front office in charge, this wouldn’t be the first time New York had an interest in Marte, either.