Starling Marte was well worth the $78 million the New York Mets paid him in the first year of his four-year contract. He was a vital member of a team that won 101 games during the regular season and was named an All-Star. Regretfully, he had trouble staying on the field in 2023 and 2024, and his contract has never looked worse in 2025.
The Mets are presently dominating the NL East with a 28-16 record, so it’s easy to ignore this, but it doesn’t change one basic truth. His deal appears to be among the worst in baseball at the moment. The fact that it expires at the end of the year is the only thing that truly saves it.
Based on how he’s played, he might not even stay that long.
Starling Marte contract is an albatross that’s tough to ignore
Marte has gone from being an All-Star in 2022 to a part-time DH this season. He is paid $20.75 million this season to, for the most part, be a DH in a short-side platoon.
Even if Marte was producing at an All-Star level, no DH on the short side of a platoon is worth over $20 million in a season. The deal is only made worse by someone who is performing as poorly as Marte.
The 36-year-old is cutting . 203/.317/.319 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 27 games and 82 plate appearances this season. The fact that he is only hitting.182 with a.652 OPS versus left-handers exacerbates the situation. Even while that type of output would be poor for someone who has just played four innings this season, it’s terrible for someone earning more than $20 million.
What was previously Marte’s greatest quality may be the source of his most difficult circumstances. Baseball Savant reports that he is in the 11th percentile for sprint speed and has only three stolen bases this season, while being the active leader with 455 stolen bases during his career. He used to be a burner, but now the Mets might want to consider pinch running him late in games.
Given his contract and clubhouse presence, the Mets will give him every opportunity to deliver, but eventually a team vying for a World Series will find it difficult to defend giving him any playing time, particularly in the middle of the order like they have been doing. The Mets are hoping that Marte will do something this season to improve the contract’s appearance.
