Pittsburgh Pirates: New Team Enters The Starling Marte Sweepstakes

At the Winter Meetings, both the Arizona D-backs and New York Mets have been tabbed as teams trying to trade for Starling Marte.  The San Diego Padres are now another known team in the mix.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have yet to make any significant moves in the offseason but one thing is certain and that is that there is a lot of interest in center fielder Starling Marte.  The D-backs and Mets were two known teams talking to the Pirates about trading for Marte, and the Padres are now involved too.

The Padres may not seem like a logical fit for Marte.  They have a good amount of outfielders on their current roster and already acquired Tommy Pham in a trade with the Rays earlier this offseason.  However, Pham is better suited for a corner outfield spot which still leaves San Diego looking to upgrade center field.

The Padres are an ideal trade candidate for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They are stocked with young catchers having Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia on their big league roster.  In addition to them, they have Luis Campusano, who is ranked as the 86th best prospect by MLB Pipeline.

The Padres also have a plethora of good, young pitching prospects, including a few top Top 100 arms.  Some of the names that could interest the Pirates are Adrian Morejon, Ryan Weathers, Michel Baez, Joey Cantillo among others.

The Padres being interested in Marte is a good sign when looking at the future outlook of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They currently have one of the best farm systems in all of baseball, and prying a couple of these good young pieces can benefit the Pirates in the coming seasons.

While the Pirates have had an overall quiet offseason to date in terms of player acquisitions, one thing seems certain, Starling Marte will be playing for a new team in 2020. It looks like a three-team race between the Mets, the Diamondbacks, and now the Padres.