Starling Marte is Making the Phillies Pay

In an alternative universe, Starling Marte would be on the Philadelphia Phillies.

In another alternative universe, the Mets would lose to the Phillies on Thursday night.

But neither of those is true. Today, Philadelphia is feeling the effects of their and the Mets front office’s decision-making.

The Mets signed Marte to a four-year, $78 million deal prior to the lockout. Marte, 33, was the top center field option on the market last winter, coming off a 2021 season where he batted .310/.383/.458 with 47 stolen bases in 120 games. The Mets paid a premium the Phillies weren’t willing to go to at the time and now Marte is leading record comebacks against them.

New York’s magical comeback against Philadelphia wouldn’t happen without Marte. The Mets right fielder went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs Thursday night. He hit what seemed to be a “garbage-time” home run in the sixth inning with New York down 7-0 but it was the run necessary to push the Mets over the edge in the top of the ninth inning.

Marte batted twice during the Mets seven-run ninth inning. He led off by hustling out an infield single. Then was immediately driven in on a home run by Francisco Lindor.

Marte was back up at the plate with two outs and the go-ahead run on second base. Marte hit his fourth double of the season, driving in Brandon Nimmo to give New York the 8-7 lead.

Philadelphia needed a new centerfielder heading into 2022. They sat idly while Steve Cohen easily surpassed the luxury tax to bring in Marte, Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar, and Max Scherzer.

It was reported in December that Phillies ownership wanted to flex their ownership’s financial might but chose not to after watching Cohen operate and reach payroll heights the organization never considered.

In that same report, the Phillies might have pushed the Mets and topped the deal New York gave the outfielder but they decided they weren’t in a position to devote those resources when they had so many other holes.

Although, that report doesn’t ring as true today. The Phillies have the fourth-highest payroll in baseball ($232,051,798). Behind only the Dodgers ($289,371,331), Mets ($258,246,900), and Yankees ($245,363,414). Philadelphia is the lone team with a record under .500.

Instead of going after Marte in November, Philly chose to sign the defensively deficient duo of Nick Castellanos, 30, (5-years, $100,000,000) and Kyle Schwarber, 29, (4-years, $79,000,000) post-lockout.

The Mets spending spree has led them to a major league-leading 19 wins. The Phillies spree has them four games under .500 and 7.0 games back of first in the National League East.

Marte’s accumulated a .262 average with three home runs and 20 RBIs in 107 at-bats. Marte is now a career .391/.440/.635 hitter with 13 doubles, five home runs, 16 RBI and nine steals in 29 games and 125 plate appearances at Citizens Bank Park. And his team wasn’t no-hit last week.

The Mets are 5-2 against Philadelphia so far. There are still 12 more games for Marte to show the Phils what they’re missing.