After being at the center of a swirling rumor mill for much of the offseason, outfielder Starling Marte has been traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona gave up two prospects in the deal, yet their farm system remains one of the best in baseball. In return for Marte, the Pirates received SS Liover Peguero and RHP Brennan Malone, who were Arizona’s seventh and ninth ranked prospects, respectively.
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Marte will join an improved Diamondbacks squad that will look to make a playoff push in 2020. Marte should fit in at the top of the Arizona lineup, and will add to an outfield that should feature a rotation of Kole Calhoun, David Peralta, and Ketel Marte.
Marte has been an above-average player throughout his career, despite his eighty game PED suspension in 2017. The former Pirate has totaled at least 3.0 fWAR in each of his six full Major League seasons to this point.
The Diamondbacks lineup could look something like this in 2020:
Starling Marte CF
Eduardo Escobar 3B
Ketel Marte 2B
Christian Walker 1B
David Peralta LF
Carson Kelly C
Kole Calhoun RF
Nick Ahmed SS
Pitcher
This is a solid group that should lead the Diamondbacks to contention in 2020. While it will be difficult to challenge the powerful Dodgers for a division title, a run at a Wild Card spot seems entirely possible.
