Starling Marte Agrees to One-Year Major League Deal with Royals Pending Physical

The Kansas City Royals have struck a one-year Major League agreement with outfielder Starling Marte, 37, pending a physical and a required 40-man roster move, a signing that immediately reverberates through the organization and into Triple-A Omaha. Marte enters Kansas City as a 14-year veteran, two-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner who will add a right-handed option to a lineup that was heavily left-handed in 2025.

MLB.com’s Anne Rogers wrote, “The deal is pending a physical, which is expected to happen in the next couple of days.” Initial reports credit Mark Feinsand with breaking the story and note the Royals had not officially announced the addition at the time of reporting. The agreement was reached on Feb. 28, 2026, and club officials will need to clear space on the 40-man roster before the contract is made official.

Marte’s 2025 production with the New York Mets shows why Kansas City is betting on him despite durability questions. The Athletic and MLB.com list a .270/.335/.410 slash line in 98 games with nine homers and seven stolen bases, while Yahoo Sports reported a similar line of .275/.333/.410 with 14 doubles, nine homers, 34 RBI and seven steals in 98 games. MLB.com noted Marte was the designated hitter in 77 of those 98 games. Marte has not reached 100 games in a season since 2022 and played just 396 games over his four-year stint in New York, with documented injuries including groin injuries, a neck strain, migraines and a persistent right-knee bone bruise.

Kansas City’s roster context explains the move. The club has sought a right-handed bat to balance left-handed hitters such as Jac Caglianone, Kyle Isbel and Carter Jensen. The Athletic identifies Carter Jensen as the leading candidate to serve as the primary DH after Jensen hit .300 in 69 plate appearances in 2025 and also serves as the Royals’ backup catcher. Yahoo Sports flagged the teamwide DH production in 2025 as a .206/.280/.339 combination — the third-worst in MLB — and noted Royals right fielders collectively posted a .615 OPS last year, a glaring area for upgrade.

Analysts are split on Marte’s ceiling in Kansas City. Local coverage at Kings of Kauffman argues Marte’s right-handed bat and Statcast park-factor differences between Kauffman Stadium and Citi Field could help him approach double-digit home runs, while FanSided called the move “confusing” and questioned Marte’s advanced metrics and current defensive value. Yahoo’s split numbers complicate a strict platoon view: it lists Marte’s OPS vs. right-handed pitching at .755 and vs. lefties at .733, showing surprisingly similar production against both sides.

The practical implications are immediate but incomplete in public reporting. The one-year major-league deal will require a 40-man roster move when finalized, and the original reporting flagged “immediate ripple effects for Triple-A Omaha” without specifying which minor-league players would be displaced or what roster transactions will follow. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed in the reports, and it remains to be confirmed whether Marte clears the physical expected in the coming days.

If Marte passes his physical and the Royals make the necessary roster adjustments, Kansas City will gain a veteran right-handed bat who can serve as a DH, a matchup option or occasional outfielder while altering playing-time projections for Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone and the Triple-A outfield depth chart. The size of that ripple will be clear once the club announces the physical outcome, the 40-man maneuver and any related Triple-A moves.