5 years ago, Ketel Marte was about to walk away from his baseball career. Now, he’s the player around whom the Diamondbacks are anchoring their rebuild.
Ketel Marte was standing at a podium one day last week discussing his new contract extension when Diamondbacks coach Luis Urueta entered the room. Few people have been with the organization as long as Urueta. Even fewer know Marte as well as he does.
But he grew and learned from those experiences. He is still here despite them. Urueta is partly responsible for that.with the Seattle Mariners. The headline name coming to Arizona in the trade was right-hander Taijuan Walker, a starting pitcher with significant upside. But the Diamondbacks also liked the young infielder who came along with him, a player with athleticism, the makings of a good approach and the ability to play shortstop.
For Urueta, the 2017 season was his first as the minor league field coordinator. For the previous decade he served in various roles throughout the Diamondbacks’ minor league system. In his new role, he was responsible for helping oversee the entire system, from evaluating players to implementing processes and philosophies. That included regular trips to the organization’s minor league affiliates.Urueta’s first trip to Reno, early that season, was regularly scheduled.
“I told my wife, ‘We’ve got to pack everything, we’re going home,’” Marte said. “She said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘We’re going home. I don’t want to play.’” “I talked to him and I told him, ‘Hey, it’s getting close,’” Urueta recalled. “‘Why make a decision right now when you’re so close for your opportunity to come?’ Especially since he was performing; he was doing so good. He was super close. It was a matter of always staying in touch with him and trying to be available to him and listening to the right voice.Urueta continued to plead, continued to sympathize. Eventually, he got through.
“He put himself available,” Urueta said. “He even made himself available financially. If anybody needed help, his family was here. It’s hard for them to be away from home, but he said he’s always family for all of them in case anybody needed something.
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