Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Potential Landing Spots for Starling Marte

One thing that all Pittsburgh Pirates fans can agree upon is that in any trade the team needs to get pitching and or catching help.  However, Ben Cherington needs to learn a lesson from his good friend Neal Huntington. Two years ago Huntington traded away the Pittsburgh Pirates top trade chip in Gerrit Cole.  In return, he brought back four players at positions of team need but may not have been the quality of players that should’ve been coming back for an ace pitcher.

The new front office cannot make that same mistake.  Cherington needs to try to fill the needs of this team but he cannot sacrifice elite prospect talent coming back just to fill immediate needs.  He needs to take the best package that was offered to him.

With that being said, it has been speculated that the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals could have interest in acquiring Starling Marte.  Obviously, it would be tough to make a deal inside the National League Central. Still, if the Pittsburgh Pirates get the best package from a team inside the division they need to consider it.

The Bucs are not true playoff contenders for next season.  Yes, they are better than they showed last season but realistically they are still a way away from competing with the top dogs in the National League.  The best way for the team to get back to winning 90+ games is to continue to add to the team’s current young core.  Unfortunately, that means trading away a veteran outfielder in Starling Marte.  If it means getting the organization as a whole back on the right track, then it will be worth it.