FanPost

Trading Marte: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

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There are a couple of names on the roster that could be offloaded and are on the "higher" end of the Pirates payroll; none more relevant than Starling Marte. Trading him offers the chance to rebuild the minor league system of the Pirates with a fresh infusion of talent, ideally pitching talent.

Marte is in a unique position where he seems to be improving with age, runs as fast as anyone in MLB, is a Gold Glove level talent, and provides a great veteran presence in any locker room. Additionally, he only costs the Pirates about $5 million a year and is controllable for another year. This makes him affordable to more contenders with deep prospect systems, that maybe don't have the payroll of the Yankees or Dodgers.

I pose a question in the title, but honestly I think we are beyond the question. If the return is valuable, the answer is yes. Below are the teams that have either expressed interest in Marte or should express interest and trade with the club.

1) New York Mets: They have been the loudest in this conversation thus far. The Mets have good reason to want Marte and the Pirates have good reason to listen. The question is: can they provide the best offer?

The Mets appear to be in "win now" mode as evidence by their refusal to trade Thor and trading for Stroman with full expectations to sign him on a multi-year deal. Their division rivals just won the Series and they don't have a deep enough farm system to be competitive in the coming years with a young Atlanta ball club. They almost need to go all in on the next 1-2 years or totally "blow up" this off season.

Marte adds needed star power to their outfield and adds a nice .342 OBP option to get on base ahead of Pete Alonso. On the Mets, he won't be under the same pressure to carry a club on both sides of the ball like he is in Pittsburgh.

What do the Mets have to offer? Honestly, not much. Understanding their own minor league depth problems, the club used its first two draft picks in 2019 on pitchers: Matthew Allen and Josh Wolf, neither of which crack the Top 100 prospects list even though listed very high in the Mets system. In fact, the Mets don't have many prospects (3) cracking the Top 100 list, the highest at #80, and all three are infielders. Ronny Mauricio and Andres Gimenez are great SS prospect options, but trading for one or both of them doesn't solve the Pirates minor league pitching depth issues.

2) San Diego Padres: The National League West was weak in 2019 outside of the Dodgers. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the Padres who were at minimum expected to put some runs up and be competitive in tight games. For all their money spent, they only had one more win than the Pirates. Any team in the west making one or two moves could put them in a position to fight for a wildcard, and no team in the West (other than LA) will have the same pressure to win because of the "hype" San Diego brought to MLB with Hosmer, Machado, and Tatis Jr.

Marte offers a consistent bat in the lineup that could not only raise their team average (3rd worst in MLB), but cover a lot of ground in a very big outfield on defense. The Padres had the 10th worst HR totals, but with Marte's numbers in the lineup, they would have approached top 10. His numbers should translate as well, moving from one bad hitter's park to another.

What do the Padres have to offer? The best prospect system in baseball. San Diego is in a position that they could comfortably give up two to three major prospects and still have the best, or at least top three prospect system in the game. It wouldn't be a stretch for them to give up either Luis Patino or Adrian Morejon plus any two other prospects (ideally pitchers). This would also give the Pirates the best chance of adding depth to their minor league pitching talent. The question is: do the Padres want/need Marte bad enough?

3) Chicago White Sox: The Chisox are a team on the verge of taking that "next step" aided by an extraordinarily weak division. They have an exciting lineup, and with cash to spend are contenders for most SP signings during the off-season, free agency period. If, they are able to sign one or more big FA pitchers this off season, trading for Marte could bring big benefits to both clubs.

After signing Abreu and Grandal, the Sox weakest position is CF. Marte would be a massive upgrade over Engel and give the defense and pitchers alike a "security blanket" in center field, a much needed asset with young pitching. Cleveland is on the decline, and about to lose their prized asset: Lindor. The Twins will probably remain to be good as long as the Tigers and Royals remain in a rebuild.

The White Sox also have a very deep prospect system to offer the Pirates. Similar to the Padres, this is a club that could give a top pitching prospect (not named Kopech) along with two to three other high level pitching prospects, and it would not severely dent their farm system. Their system is deep enough as well that they could try to fill some of their other gaps at position spots (even at the pro level) like C/1B Zach Collins.

Again, most of this is predicated on the White Sox signing FA pitchers to bolster their rotation until Michael Kopech is healthy and recovered from his Tommy John surgery. If Strasburg, Cole, Wheeler, Stroman, and others all sign elsewhere; the White Sox will be unlikely to be in a position to trade for any position player, let alone Marte.

Who will the Pirates not hear from/not talk to, that could be beneficial?

1) Los Angeles Dodgers: It must be so frustrating to be a Dodger's fan. Ownership has all the money in the world, they spend it, have a deep farm system and superstar prospects; and they can't win it all. Their main weakness being bullpen pitching, if they weren't willing to part with prospects for Vasquez, they won't for Marte. They will keep their very valuable prospects.

2) Arizona Diamondbacks: Right now the Diamondbacks currently have Ketel Marte listed as the starting 2B and CF. They could benefit with the depth of Marte, and provide a veteran presence to build on the winning season they produced last year. However, four of five top D-back prospects are outfielders (despite 3 being in the Top 100) and don't have enough high quality pitching prospects to seriously engage conversation with Ben Cherington.

3) Atlanta Braves: It hasn't been this good to be an Atlanta fan since the 90's. Their farm system is deep, they're winning games with very young players, and they keep making the playoffs. Marte in CF would solidify an already stout OF defense and make their lineup an even bigger threat. They're in a position to give up prospects without detrimentally harming their farm system. The big question though is why would they? If they hadn't been to the playoffs the last two seasons, maybe they pull the trigger on a trade. As of now, there's no reason as long as their young players keep over-performing.

If you could trade Marte, where would you send him and why? If you don't want to trade Marte, let me know in the poll.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editors or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.