After 8 seasons in Pittsburgh it appears that Starling’s days in the steel city are numbered. The past few days talks have really started that a deal could be in place within the next week which would send Marte to the big Apple to become the Mets starting center fielder. Marte has gone on the record to say that he wants out and even better stated to Depertivo Z 101, “it would be an honor to play with them”(meaning the Mets). Starling is not a superstar by any means but he would be a great piece for the Mets to add considering the lack of production they have gotten in center the past few years. No shade towards Lagars but the guy is simply not a good enough hitter to be an everyday player, and with the injury bug always lingering around the organization it would behoove the Mets to pickup an outfielder. With Cespedes pronounced dead the Mets need to look elsewhere, and Marte is an extremely viable option. This would give them a strong outfield with Nimmo in left and Conforto in right. Although Marte is a pretty shaky defender(-0.7 dWAR), he brings a lot of other things to the table like his ability to run the base pads and his extremely consistent bat. For his career he has been 30+ double guy, 25+ steals, with an average near .300 annually. He is coming off his best offensive year of his career with over 20 homers and 80 runs driven in, while having an OPS of .845. Not too shabby, and like I said really anyone is an upgrade over Juan. With a friendly contract making only $24 million combined for the next two years, it’s a cost of effective deal the Mets should jump on. As for what they would have to give up I would say that unfortunately they might have to part ways with Dom Smith, and Andres Gimenez who has become more expendable do to the rise of other infield prospects within the organization. Make this trade, sign a starter and a reliever, and hey who knows what could happen. A championship? Doubtful but their lineup will be much deeper with a guy like Marte in it.
Published by Fran Cava
TheBuzzedBeat 