It is the most wonderful time of the year again, right?
Most folks would take that statement as my happiness with the approaching holiday season and that would be partially true. However, I am also referring to the Major League Baseball "free agent and trade frenzy" that is about to take place over the next couple of months.
Most baseball fans are busy putting together their wish lists for player acquisitions that will give their teams the best possible chance at a World Series title in 2020. Yes, even Mets' fans take part in this annual tradition, despite the financial road block that the Wilpons will undoubtably put in our path. With that being said, there has been quite a bit of conversation about the Mets' needs for the upcoming year.
I am firmly in the camp of upgrading center field as that would provide the most bang for the Mets' buck in my opinion. Especially if they can land a player who contributes on both sides of the proverbial ball (offense and defense). For now, I don't see a player on the current roster that can do both of those things, so importing a player is the way to address this deficiency (sorry, Brandon Nimmo).
The free agent market in center field is a bit lacking in quality players and I am being nice when I say that. The best possible option would probably be Brett Gardner, formerly of the New York Yankees and likely to be back in the Bronx next year. Even if he were open to a change of boroughs, he made just under 12 million dollars last year and his defense has been in steady decline as he ages. Due to this issue, he is probably better suited as a corner outfielder and we have plenty of those already.
No, the best route to obtaining an upgrade in center field is going to be the trade market. Yes, any current fan of the Mets just got a headache reading that line after Brodie's luck last offseason . But, the good news is that I don't think obtaining a quality center fielder will cost as much as the infamous Cano deal did.
The Mets have been linked to Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Starling Marte. For some reason, when I see his name, I immediately think of Hannibal Lecter from the movie Silence of the Lambs (hello Agent Starling.....), but I am a movie buff.
So, who is Starling Marte, you might ask?
He has played all eight of his major league seasons for the Pirates, primarily as their center fielder. In that time period, he has contributed 29.1 WAR or roughly 3.63 WAR per year which is very good in case you were wondering.
In his career he has averaged 456 at bats per season (a bit low, but impacted by not playing a full year when he was called up in 2012, along with some injuries thereafter). In that time, he has averaged the following line;
.287/.341/.452 (.793 OPS)
13.5 HR/52.5 RBI/29.9 SB/69.4 RS
5.7 dWAR and 2 Gold Gloves in 2015 and 2016
So, why would the Pirates get rid of such a good player? They are probably not in a hurry to do so, but two potential reasons are his age (31 in 2020), along with his ever increasing salary (11.5 million in 2020, 12.5 million in 2021). Plus, if the Pirates are going to deal him to another team, this offseason is probably the best time to do so with the limited free agent options mentioned before.
Take a look at his numbers again and ask yourself if you would take that over what the team trotted out into center field in 2019? Better still, if you can obtain Starling reasonably, it is the equivalent of signing a talented player for a 2 year, 24 million dollar deal which is what is left on his current contract. There is even a 1 million dollar buyout for 2021, just in case he does not perform as the team expected.
The only downside is what the Pirates will want in return and having to trust Brodie to make a trade that doesn't gut our minor league system any further.
I wonder if the Pirates would be interested in an established major league bat (Dominic Smith) and an up and coming middle infield prospect (Andres Gimenez) in exchange for Starling Marte (and some serious salary relief)? If that seems like a lot, remember that Gimenez is blocked at the major league level and we have depth at SS in the minor leagues. Smith is a nice bench piece but he is also blocked at his best position (first base) and we have a plethora of utility types in reserve.
Would you make a trade for Starling and if so, what would you give up?
6 comments:
Great choice of a post Mike. I think he could be a big upgrade over the current CF options.
Watching Mets-Pirates games this past season, Marte just did not seem to be the same great defender.
At age 30 last year, while excelling at the plate, Starling Marte did not have his best fielding year. In fact for his career, while he has excelled as one of the best fielding Left Fielders, he has not excelled in Center. For example, his Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) over the years has been 2015: +24 in Left Field, 0 in Center Field; 2016: +19 in Left Field, -2 in Center Field; 2017: +9 in Left Field, -1 in Center Field; 2018: +1 in Center Field; 2019: -9 in Center Field.
In 2019, based on DRS, the Mets had the third worst fielding Center Field in the majors, with a -14 DRS. Only the Rockies with -27 and the Tigers -18 had worse. The fourth worst team? The Pirates with -12.
Compare Starling Marte’s -9 with the players the Mets had in Center Field in 2019: Juan Lagares -2; Conforto -2; Carlos Gomez -4, Nimmo -2, Aaron Altherr -1, and leading the pack Keon Broxton with a 0.
Dom Smith would save them a lot in salary, in exchange for Martels. Pirates are a LOW budget franchise. They need cheap labor, like Dom.
Here's a tougher one. Would you do J.D. Davis and his minimum wage salary straight up for Marte? Would the Pirates do it?
I'm not 100% on trading a chip away for a 30+ year old centerfielder that sold his Gold Glove on Ebay.
The Mets just don't use their noodle. They need a star CFer, they draft one, and then they trade him.
For me... go into 2020 with Conforto, Nimmo, McNeil, Davis, and possibly, Cespedes.
Good point, John......his defense has definitely slipped a bit from his Gold Glove years. I think he has pretty solid in 2018, so maybe he was dinged up a bit? I think he would be a definite upgrade over what Lagares gave to us and I like him between Nimmo (LF) and Conforto (RF) for a season or two.
It all depends on the costs.....if they would do a deal around Smith and/or Gimenez (good players, but spare parts on our roster), it would be an upgrade for 2020 and 2021.
As far as Davis is concerned, I like him a lot more then Smith and it would be tough to deal him away.......straight up? I would pass since Davis is younger and has more $$$ certainty.
Mack, are you referring to Kelenic? I like his trajectory, but it remains to be seen how he progresses once he hits AA. I would prefer to have him still, but he wouldn't be in the 2020 and/or 2021 conversation.
"he wouldn't be in the 2020 and/or 2021 conversation."
The Mariners are already talking about bring him up mid to late 2020 so I would say its definitely in the conversation and could definitely have been a way to solve a problem. Both Dunn and Kelenic would be solving problems instead we inherited 2 problems (Cano/Diaz).
SNY is floating an absolutely insane proposal around Marte. Gimenez, Kilome, Vientos (or Peterson).
Would Martes diminished offense (compared to say a JD/Smith/Conforto/Nimmo OF) really outweigh the increased defense and loss of 3 top prospects? I'm not saying he is bad with the bat but with his defense trending downward and his offense seemingly behind our current crop of OF's this would seem like a really really really bad trade.
Use money to sign Wheeler or Cole or Strasberg and some RP and a backup catcher and move on. Grab Billy Hamilton as a backup CF.
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