At the moment, the Pirates don’t appear intent on moving Starling Marté this offseason, reports MLB.com’s Adam Berry as part of a reader mailbag. In fact, Berry’s sources believe the standout center fielder will open next season in Pittsburgh.
Marté being marked off limits in trade would be quite the blow to those shopping for a center field upgrade in a very shallow market. The upcoming free agent class doesn’t boast an obvious everyday option to play up the middle on the grass. Brett Gardner and Avisaíl García are each coming off productive seasons in which they logged center field time, but each seems better suited to a corner. Jarrod Dyson and Billy Hamilton (whose team option is sure to be bought out by the Braves) are cleaner defensive fits but neither brings enough offensively to be a high-end option.
Turning to the trade market, Mookie Betts would be any contender’s dream, but it’s still unclear whether the Red Sox would actually move the franchise icon. Boston is more likely to shop Jackie Bradley, Jr., but he’s had three straight mediocre seasons at the plate. Marté, then, seemed to offer the best combination of production and realistic availability on the center field market.
Of course, as Berry notes, any inclination at this stage is hardly set in stone. The organization is looking for a new manager, for one, so perhaps the front office will only turn its attention to player transactions once their search for a clubhouse leader is complete. Berry stops short of calling Marté untouchable, and the organization would presumably listen if a caller bowled them over with an offer. Nothing on Marté is yet definitive, with Pittsburgh’s front office having been tight-lipped about everything since announcing their decision to fire manager Clint Hurdle.
To be honest, it would be quite surprising if Pittsburgh didn’t at least listen on Marté at some point this offseason. The Pirates completely melted down in the second half en route to an NL Central-worst 69-93 record, and there’s little reason to expect an immediate bounce back. Pittsburgh’s position players were below-average both offensively and defensively, per Fangraphs, while ace Jameson Taillon is already believed out for next season after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery. Even if the club gets returns to peak form out of starting pitchers Trevor Williams and Chris Archer, it’s difficult to imagine them contending in 2020.
That becomes problematic with Marté’s control window dwindling. Surely, the club will exercise his $11.5MM team option for next year, and he has a similarly appealing $12.5MM option for 2021. While Berry notes it’s more in the organization’s M.O. to trade players before they enter their final season of club control, it seems wise for them to get a head start in Marté’s case. As mentioned, the center field market is extremely shallow this offseason. Holding Marté will only diminish his trade value as his team control shrinks. For all the club’s struggles, Marté was again productive, slashing .295/.342/.503 (119 wRC+) in 2019. In all likelihood, the 31 year-old is probably as good now as he’ll ever be moving forward.
All these factors combined to make Marté, on the surface, one of the offseason’s most obvious trade candidates. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd even identified some potential suitors. While hardly foreclosing the possibility of a deal, Berry’s report certainly adds an interesting wrinkle. How General Manager Neal Huntington and his front office choose to proceed with Marté will be among the top storylines of the Pirates’ winter.
Inciarte. ATL has 4 CF options when including prospects Waters, Pache.
Inciarte is another mediocre, at best, option. Yes, he has control and a good glove, but his bat has all but disappeared. He is Bradley Jr. with control.. Not a real exciting option.
Right, got to think ender is on the market and his cost wouldn’t be crazy for a team looking for a centerfielder. Truth is, he shown he can hit better than Dyson and Hamilton, he has solid speed, and is a great defender with a good enough contract. Question becomes what’s the Braves asking price. We haven’t really seen AA trade a piece like Ender with the Braves. No idea if he’ll be reasonable or that asking pricing will be way too high
Enders a second half guy, he gets hot with the weather. He’s very streaky but his defense is never slumps. I hope the Braves bring him back.
Idk man. The playoffs proved to me that the youth is what carries this team and is the future. The only true vets I want back are freeman and Donaldson. Ender can bring us some value, like a decent bullpen arm or some AA to AAA near mlb ready prospects
With a better contract
Shouldn’t the pirates first get a manager and a coaching staff before deciding where the team is going?
We already know where the team is going. IMO, they have no chance of competing in 2020, and likely not in the near future.
How exactly is Gardner ” better suited for a corner “? He’s a damn good CFer and any team in need of one would be better off with him in that position.
Calm down Sally. Go back to your NY Post “journalism”.
Gardner is “a damn good CFer”? Excellent sarcasm. Had he been as damn good as you say there never would have been an Ellsbury signing.
He’s getting old. His speed will be at a decline very rapidly soon
Why? This is the time to deal him!
Typical negotiation tactics. Say that you aren’t shopping or intending to sell to make them come to you. For the right price of a top 50 pitching prospect and a major league ready lower cost player….he’s gone.
Marte for Quintana and Almora.
Why would Pittsburgh do that? They would not take on Quintana’s contract.
In hopes Quintana turns it up and deal him in June/July. The market for Marte isn’t going to be as strong as people think. At $11.5 for Quintana that is not bad.
…If that was their plan then why wouldn’t they just deal Marte at the deadline and cut out the middleman? Lol
The Pirates should absolutley be listening to offers, but I wouldn’t deal him unless we can get at least 1 top 100 prospect, and maybe a fringe 100 prospect.
yet another stupid move by the Pirates front office. Marte’s value will never be higher, the public’s opinion of the team cant get any lower. might as well trade for the future. I guess they are hoping he will pull a Vazquez, do something to get arrested so they dont ha e to pay anyone. F-the pirates
Maybe there have been offers coming in and not a team is currently offering anything much more that a bag of used balls. Would you still say they must trad him if no one is offering any type of return at the moment?
not enough IMO pending the quality of the prospect(s) in this off season anyway.
two top 100 or one top 20ish and some fringy player(s).
Personally id wait until closer to the break, see what position the pirates are in and how the current prospects look and if B-rey keeps hitting and then look at what you are saying .. something around a top 50 ish and a fringy top 100.
then in next off season.. similar to cutch’s haul. fringe top 100 and change.
With two years currently,as good as cutch when he was traded and reasonably priced
Joe-As you are aware from your post the timing of the trade is a very important consideration and one in which the GM who has the desireable player has full control.
Waiting until the 1 1/2 year trade deadline may reap the highest return as there could be injuries during the year to other players.
Or in Cole’s case,NH may have thought that it could happen to him.
It is a crap shoot,one which very few give them credit for good trades but many downgrade them for bad ones.
It seems to me that too many posters only remember the bad ones.
Gardner and Garcia are bench players at AAA at this point of their careers. If any team thinks they are solving Center field with these two that is a joke of a team.
Except for Gardner’s 4.0 WAR last year, you’d be right. He’s no longer an excellent player, but he still has value on a one-year contract.
Gardner re-signs with the Yankees. Slam dunk.
Poor move by Pitt, again. Maybe they are just posturing, but there are two low-end alternatives available in JBJ and Gardner, and the all-pro alternative in Betts. PT finished 24th last year, and there is, imo, no reason to expect them to finish any better in 2020.
As a RS fan, I am very pleased that he is off the table. Now, anyone wanting a serious upgrade in CF, has to be looking at Betts.
The Pirates will absolutely deal Marte. It’s the history of the Nutting way. Sell early and reduce payroll in the process.
Einstein: did the Pirates sell early on Cutch? Cole?
Next time, get a clue.
Isn’t the 1st step to dealing a player floating through the media he’s not available to increase leverage? At least that’s the old school approach. In the new analytics driven MLB, every player is available for a price. But Neal Huntington is more your old school type.
Only a few players on the Pirates have value. Beyond Marte & Josh Bell, Adam Frazier is an attractive piece. Are Trevor Williams or Musgrove available? Not dealing Vazquez prior to his suspension is devastating. The roster as constructed without Taillon isn’t even good enough to be in the middle. A worst 2020 is in store. Not to the sub 60 win level, but high 60s as currently constructed.
Huntington’s trades have been embarrassing. Arguably the worst in decades. Gerrit Cole, Austin Meadows & Glasnow were given away. The Cole Trade hasn’t worked out but looked decent at the time, I suppose. But the Rays Trade also including Shane Baz was obviously a mistake from day 1.
Nutting needs to commit to a rebuild.
I’ll say the same thing about Marte that I did about Vazquez. Once you make your decision, don’t get cute. For every player that you make a big score on, there’s probably 20 players that you wind up giving away half price. Vazquez is a fluke, but plenty of players get de-valued every day due to performance and injury.
“Neal Huntington is more your old school type.”
He’s more your summer school type.
OK, now that is funny.
Wilson for Cervelli.McLouth for Morton and Locke.McCutcheon for Crick and Reynolds.Harrison for Grabow.Dickerson for Hudson.Kela for no one.Burnett for no one.Nova for no one.Handrahan for Melancon.Vazquez for Melancon.
Those trades really are embarrassing.
But they do not meet the agenda do they?
Wonder if the Braves pirates would swap ender and marte. I full well know the Braves would have to add more to the deal… but wonder if that would get the conversation going
PIT is gutting the front office. They won’t make changes until the new staff settled in.
If the Pirates aren’t actively looking to move Marte, it redefines idiocy on their part.
How about Matz and I would hate to trade JD Davis but for Marte and Vazquez I would .This gives the pirates power and a lefty SP, it gives the Mets combo of speed/some power and a real CF And a bullpen guy.
You want Vazquez on your team? I doubt that dude ever steps foot in the US after his trial.
Didn’t realize that. Thanks
You do realize that Vazquez is sitting in jail awaiting trial for having sexual contact with a minor, don’t you? He won;t be on a professional pitching mound for a long time, if ever again.
No sorry didn’t know about that. Thanks
read a study last year that said teams rarely receive top talent for top players. teams know which prospects are overrated and trade those prospects. however that does not mean the pirate should not trade him because sometimes it works out either way. plus they have no chance of competing against the rest of the division for at least 2 years. they’re making the same mistake the Reds have made. not breaking the team down quick enough and never Trading and going all-in when they have a good team. there’s no reason to pay his salary and you have to at least give your fans something to hope for even if it is likely you won’t get anything but salary relief
Teams rarely receive top talent??? What worthless news source did this gem come from? Maybe you should look at the Braves roster? Maybe you should look at Rays roster?
I’m a huge fan of the Reds’ FO. Basically, they traded away Jeter Downs, Josiah Gray, and Trammell for one year of Bauer and his projected $18.6M salary. And, while Bauer is good, there was at least a nominal chance he’d have been non-tendered by the Indians at that price.
Not shopping him is Nutting speak for he is as good as gone, but you will have to up your offer a little bit.
I should probably trade him from my fantasy keeper team. Not sure how many seasons he has left like 2018 and 2019. Especially if he stays with the Pirates.
Who is running this team? There are at least 10 teams who would back up the truck in terms of prospects for 2 seasons of cheap control over Marte. Honestly, are the Pirates going to win the NL Central in 2020 or ’21? Probably not. Don’t play this like the Jays played Josh Donaldson’s departure from Toronto. Shapiro/Atkins decided to gamble and Donaldson got hurt, netting Toronto almost nothing in return. Trade Marte now while he is coming off a career best slashline and get a MLB ready arm and a super prospect in A ball and move on. Don’t be the one left standing when the music stops.
They will trade Marte if they get an excellent return.NH overall history for trades is very good.They need a ML ready good pitcher,a near ready catcher,and another strong young player,either a pitcher or an outfielder.
He may learn from the mistake 9f trading Cole a half year too soon,or wait until he gets an offer that he cannot refuse.
He would have done that with Vazquez and the Dodgers if the Dodgers GM had realized that he was losing his chance at the WS from not having enough strong relievers but plenty of good young minor league players.
It was clear by comments and actions Huntington didn’t want to trade Vasquez, because they viewed a window to compete next year. So it’s revisionist history you’re trying to peddle. The whole argument from others was the Dodgers were going to lose without a lock down closer. Whether you want to play hindsight 20/20 be my guest, but still doesn’t really change the fact that Dodgers didn’t lose because of not having a “Lockdown Closer.” Which again wouldn’t have mattered regardless due to the circumstances involved. Seems the Dodgers ran into the problem that the Cardinals and Astros have yet to solve in running into Stras and Scherzer without an ability to chase them early to get to the underbelly of the pen. Which they were able to cover up at times with a Short Series. Even then they had opportunities and just couldn’t cash in offensively. Mix in complete bullpen mismanagement, and yeah the FO was completely accurate.
Not trying to peddle anything.
You can refuse to accept reality all you want.It does not matter to me.
The Achilles heal of the Dodgers was and is the relief pitching.The bountiful farm system could have easily been used to give NH an offer that he could not refuse for Vasquez.
That Friedman did not do it cannot he explained away by someone who refuses to face reality.
It is bad enough that they had to rely on Joe Kelly,but with Jansen the way he was this year,that trade was a no brainer.
You can peddle your hypothesis all you want.
could have easily been used to give NH an offer that he could not refuse for Vasquez.
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You can’t. imo. make that assumption.
If Vazquez got trade to the NYM, for example, then you can look at the package and maybe find fault that the LAD could’ve topped it.
But if none of the other 29 teams traded for him, it gives the impression that the asking price was too high.
Joe-I agree with Blue that NH thought that he could contend in 2020.
I agree with you that the asking price was too high.
Of course this is conjecture on my part as there has been no documentation on his offer.
What I am saying is that the Dodgers had a very fine team and the GM should have overpaid from strength for someone to clearly improve his one weak link on his team.
I also have to say that if they did get an offer and made the trade that you have to assume that it was the best offer as in the Cole trade.Otherwise,the players offered would not be publicized if the trade was not made.
There is a limit on everything. Saying LAD should’ve traded for him is the same as saying the PT should’ve traded him. Even in a WS quest, none of these teams are much better than each other. The RS, for example, gave up small pieces for Pearce & Eovaldi last year. That’s a whole lot different than giving up two top-30 prospects for someone that is unlikely to make the difference between you winning and losing a WS.
The LAD lost in 6 games, and in only one game might Diaz made a difference in. In order to buy into a concept where Diaz was the difference between winning and losing a WS, you have to believe that he would’ve taken Kelly’s 2nd inning, that he would’ve held the Nats scoreless, that LA would’ve gone on to win the game, that LA would then have beaten the Nat’s in the next game, and then LAD would’ve gone onto beat Houston.
The extra chance is worth something, but not breaking up the farm. Greinke hasn’t proven to be a difference maker for Houston. Machado didn’t prove to be a difference maker last year.
The difference maker this year? Daniel Hudson, who was acquired for a 23 year old with no particular pedigree.
Joe-When a team is as close as the Dodgers were this year,it is everything to acquire a key player.
The Pirates May be competitive next year but nowhere near a WS contender even with Vasquez(not Diaz).
Look at what Andrew Miller did a few years ago.
The Dodgers farm system is so loaded that they would not miss two or three top prospects unless it was perhaps their #1 or #2.They would not be breaking up their farm system because it is so extensive.
And you are right in saying that there is no guarantee that Vasquez would have made a difference.But there is even less of a guarantee that these minor league players no matter how touted are going to produce well in the major leagues.
That is part of the reason why in instances like this one the GM of the very good team needs to overpay to get the player that he needs.
1-What did Miller do? Cleveland was automatically winning that division. They swept Boston. They beat TO 4-1. And they lost to the Cubs. Is that not the way it was likely to have played out out, with or without Miller?
2-Who did they give up for Miller? A top 40 and a top 70-80. I have no objection to trading for a guy, but from what I read, PT was looking for a pot of gold.
You can trade the farm away every time a WS is within reach, but you won’t survive very long.
PT thought the playoffs were in reach, so they traded away 3 good players, and set the franchise back 5 years.
The NYMs thought they were one closer away from contention, traded awy two very good prospects, and took on enough money to box them in for the next couple of years.
Miller changed the way a lot of managers thought about bringing their best reliever in when the game was on the line not just the last inning as a closer.
Again One does not “trade away the farm” when a team has a very deep farm.If the NH demand was for Lux then I can see why the Dodgers would turn it down.Otherwise,not so much.
This franchise was not set back five years.NH was due for a bad trade after the 8 or 10 very fine ones.
Minor league hotshots do not always make it in the ML so we will see about the Mets trade also.It takes two-three years to figure them out.
Of course they’re not because it makes too much sense.
They can trade any other player on the roster without changing their odds of winning very much.
If they trade Marte, they need to tear it all down and move Bell and others, too.
They should trade everyone. On the SPs, and maybe a couple of position guys, it might pay to hold off until they re-establish themselves. Otherwise, they are just treading water in the 70-win pool.
In fact, had they traded one or two guys at the trade deadline, they might be looking at the #5 pick in the draft instead of the #7. All these things add value.
Back up the Truck! They need to clean house bad starting with the front office to the new manager and players. Start from scratch