AI Summary
5 min read“Two percent chance,” Ben Maller says of Ketel Marte ever playing another game for the Diamondbacks. The second baseman vanished in Boston, missed two games, liked an Instagram post saying he wanted out of Arizona, and then reappeared on the injured list with “inflammation” in his left knee. Maller is not buying the official story, and he uses it as a launching pad to examine two separate but related crises in baseball: a player who checked out and an owner whose financial empire is cracking.
The vanishing ballplayer
Ketel Marte failed to show up for work Monday and Tuesday when the Diamondbacks were in Boston. The team couldn't find him. He was AWOL. Three days later, Arizona moved him from the restricted list—the “naughty list,” as Maller calls it, where you don't get paid—to the 10-day injured list with what the team claimed was inflammation in his left knee. General manager Mike Hazen told reporters Marte would return once healthy. Maller calls that “interpretive dance” rather than damage control. He puts the odds of Marte being a key player for Arizona in 2026 at less than two percent.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of The Ben Maller Show
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 Hour 2 - Peekaboo! - The Ben Maller Show
- 2 (03:05) **Show Opening & Tease** - Ben Maller sets up the hour with two main stories: the "vanishing ballplayer" Ketel Marte and Dodgers owner Mark Walter's financial troubles
- 3 (05:57) **The Vanishing Ballplayer: Ketel Marte's Disappearance** - Ben breaks down how Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte went missing in Boston and has now been moved to the injured list with a questionable "inflammation" diagnosis
- 4 (08:12) **Maller Odds: Ketel Marte's Return in 2026** - Ben gives less than 2% chance that Ketel Marte returns to the Diamondbacks starting lineup and is a key player in 2026
- 5 (12:31) **Social Media Smoking Gun** - Before the Diamondbacks announced the inflammation excuse, Ketel Marte liked an Instagram post saying he no longer wanted to play for Arizona
- 6 (15:44) **Dodgers Owner Mark Walter's Financial Crisis** - A $1.2 billion loan to a Guggenheim investment vehicle has plunged to 78 cents on the dollar, down from 96 cents, signaling investor concern
- 7 (19:08) **Is the Dodgers Sale Inevitable?** - Ben compares Walter's situation to trying to plug the Hoover Dam with Fruit Stripe bubble gum - it lasts about 11 seconds
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Ben Maller talks about the odds that Ketel Marte returns to the Diamondbacks lineup in 2026, Marte liking social media posts saying he wants out of a D-Backs uniform, more problems for Dodgers owner Mark Walter, Maller to the Third Degree, and more!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from this podcast
The Ben Maller Show →