Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Potential Landing Spots for Starling Marte

The second team that comes to mind is another National League East team.  The Philadelphia Phillies were one of baseball’s biggest disappointments last year.  The Phillies made some splashy moves last off-season, including giving out a huge contract to Bryce Harper.  The Phillies were one of the early favorites to win the World Series.  Instead, the team failed to make the playoffs and found themselves looking up in the standings at the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals.

One of their primary issues last year was the fact that centerfielder Odubel Herrera was suspended for domestic violence.  Even before the suspension, Herrera continued to be a replacement player both in the field and at the plate.  The Phillies could get aggressive and look to sure up their centerfield spot.

What would the Phillies be able to offer the Pittsburgh Pirates for their star centerfielder?  While the Phillies farm system is not as strong as the Atlanta Braves, there may be more pressure on their front office to make a big move.  Like the Braves, the Phillies have prospects at the Pittsburgh Pirates positions of need.  Right off the bat, two of their top three prospects, Spencer Howard and Adonis Medina, are Triple-A right-handed pitchers.  Both Howard and Medina are highly ranked prospects in baseball.  They also have Francisco Morales, who is a right-handed pitcher that projects to be a back end of the bullpen type arm.

In terms of positional prospects, the Phillies have plenty of catching to offer with three catching prospects ranked inside their top 30 and all being at Double-A or higher.  Deivy Grullon was the catcher at Triple-A last year and hit .283 with 21 home runs and projects to be an adequate defender behind the plate.  He could be an obvious candidate to target in a deal with the Phillies.