Pittsburgh Pirates agree to six-year extension with Starling Marte

Mar 3, 2014; Bradenton, FL, USA; Marte singles during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at McKechnie Field. (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Starling Marte will be in a Pittsburgh Pirates uni for a fair amount of time. Today, the organization has reportedly inked the left fielder to a six-year, $31 million extension. This is according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports via Twitter. MLB Network Radio’s Jim Duquette added that a source indicated that the deal includes a pair of option years as well.

With this, the Pirates have yet another building block for its future. Also, the Pirates could be constructing for what has the potential to become one of baseball’s best outfields. 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen is locked up through at least 2017 (there’s a club option for 2018) and the highly touted Gregory Polanco (#13 overall according to MLB Pipeline) due to be with the team in short order (ETA of this year). The Marte deal extends him through the 2019 season with those two options Duquette mentioned.

You have to believe that for all the grief the Pirates front office has taken over the past few years is now trending in its favor.

After a 47-game stint with the Buccos during the 2012 season, Marte captured the left field job for good last spring and obviously has no intentions of letting go of it. Last season, he produced a triple slash of .280/.343/.441 with 12 HR, 35 RBI, 83 runs scored, and 41 stolen bases. In his 566 plate appearances, all but 10 PAs came as the Pirates leadoff man.

If you could find a fault with Marte’s offense, it would be his strikeout rate (24.4%) in comparison to his walk rate (4.4%). Over his minor league career, those rates were 19.9% and 5.1%, respectively. He’s not far off the walk rate, but the whiff rate…

But let’s not forget the defensive aspect of Marte’s game. FOr the 2013 and among all qualifying left fielders, Marte had the second-highest UZR (10.2) and highest DRS (20). Yet, Marte did not with the NL Gold Glove for LF. We know how that all goes.

Unless something drastic develops, I can’t see where anyone wouldn’t love this deal. Well, unless you’re in the NL Central, that is.

I can imagine that there will be a Marte Party in Pittsburgh over this news. There should be.

(Call to Hardball Talk)