FanPost

The Price is right


With all the swirling trade talks, and some outrageous rumors out there in the Twittersphere, I feel it is my duty as a Pirates fan to put in my two cents.

This is where I introduce the Price Marte Phenomenon.

This crazy occurrence has a lot of moving parts, but none being too outrageous. The first is trading Starling Marte to the Seattle Mariners. The trade would look something like this:

Pirates Receive:

Taijuan Walker (Consensus Top 20 Pitching Prospect)

Nick Franklin (Top 5 Prospect in Mariners Farm system 2B/3B/SS)

Minor league Pitcher to be named later

Mariners Receive:

Starling Marte

This deal would add yet another quality MLB ready arm to an already deep pitching group, as well as a Pro Rated Infield prospect that could be added to the bench in the coming years. With the emergence of Josh Harrison as a viable outfielder for this year, and players such as Travis Snider, Josh Bell, and Andrew Lambo who could step in and fill the void, the Pirates have a good reason to ship off Marte.

That trade would open up some room to breathe and give Neil Huntington one more assurance that he can trade a Pitcher and acquire a much larger prize.

David Price

The trade would look something like this:

Pirates Receive:

David Price (Top 5 Pitcher in the league who the Bucs would control this and next year)

Cash Considerations (A bit of cash to help pay Price's contract)

Rays Receive:

Tyler Glasnow (Top 5 Pirates pitching prospect who has a very bright future)

Clay Holmes (Mid Level Pitching Prospect who with the right coaching could become an MLB regular)

Alen Hanson (High Upside Middle Infielder, for when the Rays have to move Zobrist, and Yunel Escobar)

All in all the Pirates lose two above average to good pitching prospects, as well as a potential All Star in Marte and a decent Short Stop Prospect.

But they receive a pitching prospect is more MLB ready, a "veteran" middle infield prospect (if there is such a thing), and an All Star pitcher that they will control for this and next season at a very reasonable price for as quality of a player he is.

This paired with a couple more subtle moves to get a Lefty Relief Pitcher, and maybe a play on Marlon Byrd which has been rumored to happen (Byrd and Antonio Bastardo for a few Mid Level Prospects) the Pirates roster is more than Playoff ready, and could be considered the best in the NL Central and maybe in the entire National League.

This of course would take a lot of work, and is somewhat far fetched, but not totally out of the question.

Thanks and feel free to comment below!

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