With the Arizona Diamondbacks closing in on Starling Marte on Monday, it left a lot of question marks around whether or not the Mets made the right choice in passing up the opportunity to snag the outfielder. Many fans expected a big trade ahead of spring training, especially after reports stirred during the Winter Meetings that the Mets were interested in trading for Marte. At that time, it was a deal in which Brandon Nimmo was expected to be a piece.
Ultimately, the Mets believed they wouldn’t be getting equal value for giving up the 26-year-old, and I’d have to agree that they made the right choice in passing up Marte in order to retain both Nimmo and prospect talent.
The deal for Marte included the Pittsburgh Pirates acquiring the Diamondbacks’ two top prospects, Brennan Malone and Liover Peguero, in addition to $250,000 in international pool money. Marte secured $11.5 million for 2020, including a $12.5 million club option with a $2 million buyout for 2021.
If the Mets hypothetically did trade for Marte, losing Nimmo and likely one or more of their three top prospects (Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty, Andres Gimenez), I’m not sure this could be deemed a solid trade for multiple reasons.
Although Marte could offer some offensive help, given his .816 OPS and 43 home runs over his last two seasons, the veteran may be a detriment to the team’s defensive strategy. Marte finished the 2019 season with a lowly -9 DRS, which leaves a lot to be desired if the team is going to make a move such as this.
With Nimmo mostly unable to tap into his potential in the 2019 season due to injury, playing only 69 games, it’s quite possible that 2020 may be a breakout year for the 26-year-old. Despite his -7 DRS in center field, Nimmo finished out September strong with a .261/.430/.565 slash line, four doubles, a triple, five homers, and 15 RBI over 93 plate appearances in September. All this to say the deal may not have been worth to give up Nimmo himself, let alone any top-100 prospects.
The potential of giving up 18-year-old Mauricio is vaguely reminiscent of the Jarred Kelenic deal that made way for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz on the Mets. Since that didn’t prove to be a fruitful deal, it seems like the Mets stuck with the safe route for now in retaining the shortstop, who ranked in at 66 in Baseball America’s top-100 prospects. Mauricio finished his season with a .268/.307/.357 slash line with 20 doubles, five triples, four homers, and 37 RBI for Single-A Columbia.
As it stands, the Mets can operate effectively with an outfield that includes Nimmo, Michael Conforto, J.D. Davis, Jake Marisnick, Dominic Smith, and potentially even Yoenis Cespedes. With an already-stacked outfield, it seems that adding another into the mix would require the team to make a decision that may not put them ahead by any means.
