Headlines

  • Francisco Lindor Out Seven To Nine Weeks Due To Calf Strain
  • Royals Sign Brad Boxberger To One-Year Contract
  • Rangers Sign Hunter Pence To Minor League Deal
  • Phillies Acquire J.T. Realmuto
  • Frank Robinson Passes Away
  • Phillies, Marlins Working Out Details Of Prospective J.T. Realmuto Swap
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • Top 50 Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2018-19 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2019
    • 2018-19 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2019-20 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Depth Charts
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Pirates Extend Starling Marte

By Jeff Todd | March 27, 2014 at 10:19am CDT

The Pirates have officially agreed to extend another outstanding young outfielder, locking up Starling Marte to a six-year, $31MM deal that includes two option years. The contract kicks in for the 2014 season, meaning that it will extend team control over the 25-year-old by three seasons.

Marte

Marte, 25, has just 1.070 years of service and was set to reach arbitration in 2016 and free agency in 2019. The Legacy Agency client had a breakout 2013 season. WIth a .280/.343/.441 triple-slash to go with 12 home runs and 41 stolen bases, along with strong baserunning and defensive marks, Marte's contributions were valued at 4.6 fWAR and 5.4 rWAR.

He fits in alongside the dynamic Andrew McCutchen to form one of the league's most exciting young outfield combinations — all the more so when one considers that prospect Gregory Polanco could soon join the mix. With McCutchen under control through 2018 on his own early-career extension, and Polanco yet to accrue a single day of MLB service, that group should anchor the club for years to come.

Marte receives a $2MM signing bonus, but his salary will be just $500K in 2014. He will then earn the following annual salaries: $1MM (2015), $3MM (2016), $5MM (2017), $7.5MM (2018), and $10MM (2019). The options could reach $12.5MM (2020) and $13.5MM (2021) with escalators, says Heyman, and come with a $2MM buyout attached in some manner. In sum, the $31MM guarantee covers six seasons, and the tab could increase to a $57MM deal over eight years in the likely event that both options are picked up.

The extension guarantees one of Marte's free agent-eligible seasons while giving the club options over two more. In that respect, at least, it looks to be a more favorable approach for the Pirates than that adopted by the Braves in their recent deal with shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who was guaranteed $58MM to sign on (like Marte) through the 2020 campaign as a player with between one and two years of service. While the value of the option years on Marte's deal will likely bring its total achievable price in line with the Simmons deal, the Bucs take on substantially less risk by structuring the last two seasons as options. And that is even before one considers that Marte could be a bigger arbitration earner than Simmons given his gaudy stolen base totals.

Of course, the Marte contract nearly doubles the value of the most recent, reasonably comparable outfielder contract (Denard Span's 2010 deal with the Twins). But that deal is surely outdated by this point, and Marte offers more pop and bigger upside than did Span at the time of his contract. In the end analysis, moreover, the precise details matter less in this situation than the overall results. By promising to pay Marte only through his age-29 season, but getting control over him through his age-31 campaign, the Bucs have ensured control over an exciting young player through (but not past) his prime years at a reasonable price.

Dominican radio commentator Orlando Mendez first reported the deal's length and value via Twitter. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported the deal was finalized on Twitter. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported (via Twitter) that final agreement was close. MLB Network's Jim Duquette (Twitter link) reported that the deal included two option years, while Heyman tweeted that the deal would begin in 2014. The option value and annual breakdown was reported by Heyman (links to Twitter).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Share 27 Retweet 63 Send via email0

Pittsburgh Pirates Starling Marte Transactions

Phillies Release Bobby Abreu
Main
MLBPA Confirms Tony Clark As Executive Director
0 comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Francisco Lindor Out Seven To Nine Weeks Due To Calf Strain

    Royals Sign Brad Boxberger To One-Year Contract

    Rangers Sign Hunter Pence To Minor League Deal

    Phillies Acquire J.T. Realmuto

    Frank Robinson Passes Away

    Phillies, Marlins Working Out Details Of Prospective J.T. Realmuto Swap

    MLB, Union Discussing Significant Rule Changes

    Giants Reportedly Enter Mix For Bryce Harper

    Nationals To Re-Sign Jeremy Hellickson

    Marlins Sign Curtis Granderson

    Padres Meet With Bryce Harper

    Astros Sign Wade Miley

    Diamondbacks Sign Greg Holland

    J.T. Realmuto Talks In “Advanced Stages”

    Recent

    Latest On Ryan Madson

    NL Notes: D-Backs, Wheeler, Wacha, Dunn

    Mets Sign Danny Espinosa To Minor League Deal

    Diamondbacks Sign Ricky Nolasco, Marc Rzepczynski

    Indians To Sign Alex Wilson

    Nationals Designate Trevor Gott, Announce Signing Of Jeremy Hellickson

    Farhan Zaidi Discusses Giants’ Interest In Bryce Harper

    MLB Opposed To Near-Term Adoption Of Universal DH

    Francisco Lindor Out Seven To Nine Weeks Due To Calf Strain

    Angels, Daniel Hudson Agree To Minor League Deal

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • 2018-19 Top 50 Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2018-19 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2019
    • 2018-19 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2019-20 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Depth Charts
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Twitter/RSS Feeds
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
    • Roster Resource

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version