If you had to make a guess right now, is Starling Marte a member of the Pirates one week from today?
It doesn’t appear inevitable that Marte will be moved. However, about the only rumors we’ve heard related to the Pirates have been on the possibility of shopping him. The latest comes from Jon Heyman this morning, who says that Marte is said to be available.
Starling Marte is said to be available but there’s no evidence trade talk has gained much traction yet. Word is that the Pirates covet a top catching prospect in trades.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 6, 2019
I’m not sure how to take this tweet. Heyman says that trade talks haven’t gained traction, so I wouldn’t expect a deal to be imminent.
He also added that the Pirates are looking for a top catching prospect in trades. That makes total sense. I’ve detailed how they have no starting catching options throughout their system.
If the Pirates trade Marte, they really don’t need to worry about adding a catcher for the 2020 season, since they won’t be contending in 2020. So any catcher focus should be on the future.
What the Pirates shouldn’t do is trade Marte and try to force a catcher in the same deal. Marte is the best trade chip they have, and their focus should be on getting the best return. Try to get a top catching prospect in that return, but don’t sacrifice the return to make that happen.
We saw Neal Huntington do this a few times, most notably with the Neil Walker/Jon Niese trade with the Mets. Huntington identified a need for a starting pitcher, and identified Walker as a top trade chip to send out that offseason. They traded Walker for Niese, killing two birds with one stone.
The problem here is that you could argue they would have been better off separating those deals/priorities. Trade Walker for the highest upside return and then try to get the best pitcher you can get in a separate deal.
We don’t know what Huntington could have gotten if he traded Walker for higher upside guys. What we do know is that by tying those two moves together, you severely limit your upside. That combo requires that you find a team interested in the guy you’re trading, and with a big enough need for that position to trade for him. It also requires that the acquiring team has a good enough player to fill your need, and that the player you’re getting back is the best player you can get from them.
In the case with Marte, his trade and a trade for a catcher shouldn’t be linked. The only way it should is if the catcher they could get back is the best return they could get from any team. That requires a difficult combination of finding a team with your need who also values Marte the highest.
The truth is that the Pirates don’t need a catcher right now. They’ve got Jacob Stallings and whoever else in 2020. That’s not great, but it’s not going to matter if they lose 100 games in 2020, since we know they’re not making the playoffs. They don’t give out awards for missing the playoffs, but winning X amount of games.
What the Pirates need is talent. Marte should be traded, because he can bring the biggest return in talent, and because the Pirates aren’t winning with him over the next two years. The return should focus on the best talent available.
The Pirates can focus on a catcher separately. They have some time to get a catcher of the future, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be via trade. It definitely doesn’t have to be in a Marte trade. That would only be an unnecessary attempt to combine the two biggest moves the Pirates need to make into one single transaction.
I don’t know if Marte will be gone by this time next week. I do think he’ll be gone by Opening Day. And if he’s traded, the Pirates only need to focus on maximizing their return.
**With a Marte trade likely this offseason, I wanted to take a moment to remind you how our 2020 Prospect Guide works. The eBook is now available, with our initial top 50 prospect list. Your purchase also gets you every single update to the book, including the final version of the book on Opening Day.
If Marte is traded for a top prospect, or if any big moves happen to impact the top 50 in the book in a significant way, we’ll provide an update. That means you could purchase the eBook today and see the state of the system now. Then you could check back after a Marte trade and see where the new prospects rank.
For those of you who have already purchased the book, we’ll have an article tomorrow looking at players who just missed the top 50, along with a special prospects Q&A coming up after the winter meetings.
SONG OF THE DAY
DAILY QUIZ
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
By John Dreker
Six former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, plus a few transactions of note.
Tim Foli, shortstop for the 1979-81 and 1985 Pirates. Foli had his best career season in 1979, helping the Pirates to their fifth World Series title. He batted .291 and set career highs with 70 runs scored and 65 RBIs. He was a .251 career hitter over 16 big league seasons and 1,696 games. With the Pirates, he hit .269 in 365 games. He led NL shortstops in fielding percentage in 1980 and he’s rated as one of the top 100 defensive players ever, with a 16.5 dWAR.
Jose Contreras, pitcher for the 2013 Pirates. He finished his 11-year big league career with the Pirates, giving up five runs in five innings over seven appearances. He won 78 games during his career, mostly spent with the Chicago White Sox.
Adam Hyzdu, outfielder for the 2000-03 Pirates. He debuted in the majors at 28 years old, but still managed to put in seven seasons total, including his first four years with the Pirates. He was a first round pick of the Giants in 1990 out of high school. Hyzdu hit .231 with 18 homers and 55 RBIs in 173 games with the Pirates. He played a total of 18 years of pro ball and hit 299 homers.
Frank Luce, outfielder for the 1923 Pirates. His big league career consisted of nine games at the end of the 1923 season and just one of those was as a starter. Despite the brief career, he went 6-for-12 at the plate, drove in three runs and stole two bases. Luce played 11 seasons in the minors and batted over .300 six times.
Walter Mueller, outfielder for the 1922-24 and 1926 Pirates. In four seasons, he hit .275 with two homers and 49 RBIs in 121 games. He never played more than 40 games in a season, and split his time evenly between left and right field, making 41 appearances at each spot. He also played center field five times.
Tun Berger, utility player for the 1890-91 Alleghenys. In 104 games for the worst team in franchise history, he hit .266 with 40 RBIs and 64 runs scored. As a bench player in 1891, he hit .239 and played five positions. Berger played everywhere for the Pirates during his two seasons except pitcher and first base. His only other big league time was 26 games with the 1892 Washington Senators.
On this date in 1983, the Pirates traded outfielder Mike Easler to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher John Tudor. Easler hit .313 with 27 homers and 91 RBIs in his first year with the Red Sox. The next season, both his average and power numbers dropped off, and he finished with a .737 OPS. He moved on to the Yankees the following season. Tudor went 12-11 in 32 starts for the Pirates, then moved on to the Cardinals and helped them to the World Series in 1985, where he won two games over the Royals.
On this date in 1989, the Pirates signed pitcher Neal Heaton as a free agent. He spent three years in Pittsburgh, making 43 starts and 71 relief appearances. Heaton went 21-19, 3.46 for the Pirates before being dealt in early 1992 to the Royals for Kirk Gibson.
On this date in 1990, the Pirates re-signed Zane Smith as a free agent. During the middle of the 1990 season, the Pirates traded for Smith and he pitched well, going 6-2, 1.30 in 11 games. He ended up playing another four years in Pittsburgh, then moved to Boston for one season before finishing his career with the 1996 Pirates. In six seasons with the Pirates, he went 47-71, 3.35 in 768.1 innings.
