Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential trades for Starling Marte

Arizona Diamondbacks

This is another great fit for Marte as he could play CF and Ketel Marte could play 2B or Marte could slide to a corner slot. Mike Hazen has done an excellent job of staying competitive while still acquiring assets and Marte would cement the DBacks as a wild card contender. The question is would Hazen be willing to give up future value to only chase a wild card since they stand little chance of beating the Dodgers. Getting Starling Marte to Arizona would look something like this:

DBacks Get

• OF Starling Marte – $24M Surplus Value

Pirates Get

• CF Alek Thomas – 50 FV -$28M Expected Value  OR SS Geraldo Perdomo – 50 FV -$28M Expected Value OR Liover Peguero – 50 FV -$28M Expected Value OR Corbin Carroll – 50 FV -$28M Expected Value

It would be more difficult for Arizona to put together a package of lower level guys because a lot of their minor league depth consists of older prospects that the Pittsburgh Pirates wouldn’t be interested in or players drafted in 2019 Arizona wouldn’t be keen on sending off already. Still, Pittsburgh could select a 50FV prospect from this strong list of players.

All of them are 20 years old or younger so their ascension would line up with the Pirates next contention period. Thomas profiles similarly to Brett Gardner, Perdomo will likely stick at SS and could grow into a monster, Peguero is Jean Segura with better defensive movements, and Carrol is a prototypical high school outfielder but was just drafted in 2019.

Marte would be an excellent fit for the Chicago Cubs but they haven’t made a single signing and probably couldn’t add anymore payroll. Even with the intradivision concerns, the Cubs could make a competitive offer but it would likely cost what’s left of the farm system. The Dodgers could have some interest in upgrading their OF but they will probably take half a season to assess what their needs are.

Starling Marte would be an instant upgrade for a number of contenders. If the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t find an offer to their liking or Ben Cherington needs more time to set up his player development system, they could wait until the trade deadline in July. There is a risk Marte could get injured or underperform but given his track record, that seems unlikely.

There are a number of outfielders still on the market like Yasiel Puig, Nicholas Castellanos, or Marcela Ozuna but none of them are CF capable (unless you really squint at Puig). Whether it’s before spring training or in July, Starling Marte is going to be at the top of a lineup of a playoff team.