Should the Royals Pursue Outfielder Starling Marte?

The Chicago Cubs made big waves in the baseball world (during the Chicago Bears' comeback, nonetheless), signing free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman on a five-year, $175 million deal. 

The Bregman deal could spark a slew of free-agent moves, especially with pitchers and catchers less than a month away from reporting to their Spring Training sites. The Royals have certainly gotten better this offseason with various free-agent signings (Lane Thomas and Alex Lange) and trades (Isaac Collins, Nick Mears, and Matt Strahm). However, for them to truly feel better about improving on their 82-80 record a season ago, they likely will need to make another move or two, especially in regard to their outfield. 

One free agent option that could make some sense is Starling Marte, who previously played for the New York Mets. Marte is an older player at 37. However, he has a career 35.9 fWAR in 1,530 games, and he was a Kansas City trade target a season ago. 

Now, Royals fans certainly have loftier expectations when it comes to a possible free-agent or trade acquisition at this time. There's still hope the Royals could acquire Boston's Jarren Duran, St. Louis' Brendan Donovan, or perhaps New York's Jasson Dominguez via trade (or Bo Bichette, though his market has heated up with Philadelphia emerging as the favorite to acquire him). However, if the window for those options passes, could Marte fit the Royals' needs in the outfield in 2026?

Let's take a look at what Marte would bring to Kansas City, and what it would take for the Royals to sign him. 

Marte Brings Veteran Approach to Lineup

After putting up a 5.2 fWAR in 2022 with Miami and Oakland, and a 3.5 fWAR in his first season with the Mets in 2023, it's been a tough stretch for Marte in terms of production. 

The Dominican-born outfielder hasn't hit the century mark in games played in a season since 2022, and his combined fWAR over the past three years is 1.0 in 278 games. He also had nine home runs, seven stolen bases, scored 37 runs, and collected 34 RBI with the Mets a year ago.

Last season with the Mets, he played in 98 games and posted a .326 wOBA and 112 wRC+ across 329 plate appearances. However, he had only a 0.7 fWAR, primarily because he was 7.5 runs below average according to Fangraphs' Def. Conversely, his DRS (+2) and FRV (+1) are much better, though he only played 65 innings in the outfield this past season. Thus, he could see a higher fWAR in 2026 if he can be healthy enough to play more innings in the field. 

When it comes to his batted-ball skills and plate discipline, his walk rate of 6.7% is relatively low, as is his 0.32 BB/K ratio. He also saw a decline in average exit velocity, from 89.8 MPH in 2024 to 87.6 MPH in 2025. The same was true with his hard-hit rate, which went from 42.9% in 2024 to 40.4% in 2025. That said, his hard-hit rate was 4.4% higher than the Royals outfielders' average hard-hit rate last season (they ranked 27th in hard-hit rate last year, via Fangraphs). 

Marte's Statcast summary via TJ Stats isn't eye-popping by any means. He was typically average or slightly below average across many batted-ball and plate discipline categories in 2025. That said, the Royals desperately need some consistency in the lineup, especially from an outfielder who may split time in the corner outfielder positions with Jac Caglianone and/or Isaac Collins. 

If the Royals acquire Marte, it wouldn't be as an everyday outfielder. Rather, it would be as someone who can rotate in and out of the lineup, depending on the matchup. Surprisingly, Marte has reverse splits over his career, with a 116 wRC+ against righties and 112 wRC+ against lefties, according to Fangraphs. He doesn't need to solely hit against lefties to be productive over the course of a 162-game season, which is a plus in his favor. 

The Concerns With Marte

When he's been on the field, Marte has been serviceable, if not slightly more. Unfortunately, his health has been an issue, especially over the past two seasons.  Last year, knee issues put him on the IL, limiting him to just 98 games and 65 innings in the field.

Most of his at-bats came at DH last season (he appeared 77 times at designated hitter last year), but his profile isn't exactly "ideal" for that position. His .140 ISO was 16 points lower than the league average in that category. 

Then again, manager Matt Quatraro likes to be creative with the designated hitter spot, so Marte could find a lot of at-bats in that spot if he makes his way to Kansas City. That said, the Royals also want to keep that spot open for Salvador Perez, whose bat is key to the Royals' lineup. While Perez is Kansas City's primary catcher, he's been able to remain productive in the later years of his career due to his ability to get at-bats at DH and innings at first base when he needs a break from behind the plate. 

Thus, those injury concerns could prevent the Royals from pursuing Marte seriously, or at least initially. After all, the Royals were hurt significantly by injury last season, especially in terms of pitching. Taking a flier on a guy who hasn't proven to be durable over the past three seasons would be a significant risk by JJ Picollo and the Royals front office, especially with other options available on the free agent market at this time. 

Should the Royals Pursue Marte?

If the Royals do offer a contract to Marte, it probably needs to come late in the offseason and/or for a deal barely above a Minor League deal. It's likely that with his hitting effectiveness last year, Marte will still get an MLB deal. That said, Spotrac currently lists his market value at around $7.78 million. It seems unlikely that he will get a contract in that range, unless a team becomes really desperate this offseason.

There are pluses that Marte would bring to the Royals roster next season.

He brings a decent hitting profile, a veteran approach, and can play the corner outfield positions as necessary. He has also been part of successful teams that have value that can't always be measured by individual advanced metrics. Adam Frazier brought this impact to the Royals in 2024 and 2025, his intangibles affecting a clubhouse that was 56-106 in 2023, prior to his arrival. 

That said, would Marte bring that same value in 2026 that Frazier would? And if that's what the Royals want, why not just bring back Frazier, who has more defensive value and versatility than Marte? The only difference is that Frazier is a left-handed bat, which they don't really need right now, while Marte hits right-handed. 

The 37-year-old former Met is an intriguing idea for sure, especially on a one-year deal, with the hope that he could be due for a breakout if he can stay healthy. Unfortunately, at Marte's age, players tend not to trend in the right direction injury-wise, especially when they barely play the field in the previous season. My guess is that Picollo knows that, which is why we're not hearing more about Marte this year compared to last offseason, when it seemed like a deal for Marte involving Hunter Harvey was close to fruition. 

The Royals have plenty of time this offseason to make the splash they need to boost their postseason chances even further. However, if it's the beginning of March, the Royals outfield remains as is, and Marte is available?

Well, let's just say it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world, especially on a $5-6 million flier for one season.