4) Starling Marte
Starling Marte had a better than expected year for the 2025 Mets. He’s also incredibly limited. Now a DH without much power and fading speed, it would take special circumstances for him to have a pivotal role on anyone’s roster. A minor league contract is a must for him if he doesn’t want to retire.
Marte turned 37 in October and even if the bat rebounded nicely for the Mets in 2025 against both righties and lefties, he’s showing his age. A terrible defensive season in 2024 had the Mets avoiding his connection to a glove as much as possible in 2025. He stole only 7 bases in 9 attempts on a club where everyone was running wild.
His friendship with Juan Soto wasn’t enough for the Mets to carve out any space for Marte on the 2026 roster. Other teams could view him as a nice influence, but how many are actually willing to spend more than a million bucks for someone so close to the end?
Plenty of minor league players within every organization can produce the kinds of totals Marte can and with the ability to play a position. Anyone who signs him would have to accept he’s very likely going to miss time due to injury. When he is on the field, it’s a bit of a toss up as to how well he’d even do. Going this long without a contract is a telling sign that maybe 2025 was his retirement tour after all.
