Throughout the offseason, the Mets have been tied to Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, Starling Marte.
Whether or not the teams ever came close to a deal, or will culminate on one is anyone’s guess. The two teams reportedly swapped names in a potential deal, but nothing came to fruition.
But at the very least, it’s been a major talking point. Even Marte himself said he’d love to play for the Mets earlier this offseason.
At the end of the day though, it’s not worth taking the gamble on the outfielder. The reason being is that it’s likely going to cost a package of prospects, or an MLB player, such as Brandon Nimmo, whose name has been frequently connected to the Pirates.
It seems as though the Mets are unwilling to part with Nimmo in a deal for Marte, but with how quick general manager Brodie Van Wagenen pulls the trigger, you just never know.
For one, the team has depleted their minor league corps a ton already in the last calendar year. Bringing in Marte will only further weaken the Mets farm. Secondly, trading Nimmo in a deal for Marte would be counter productive. At this point in their careers, Nimmo has a better chance of producing than Marte. The Wyoming native put up 4.5 fWAR just a year ago and when healthy at the end of this year, produced yet again.
Should the Mets target Marte as well, they’d likely want him to play center field. However, the 31-year-old has struggled their recently, being worth -9 DRS and had a -7.6 UZR there in over a thousand innings in 2019.
With Yoenis Cespedes on a mission to return in 2020, plus having a healthy Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto and the addition of Jake Marisnick, adding another outfielder isn’t a pressing need.
Instead of draining the prospect pool even more, or making a bad trade in swapping Nimmo for Marte, the team should focus on adding another piece to their bullpen, and even another strong defensive catcher to pair with Wilson Ramos behind the dish.
Marte is still a good player, there’s no doubt about it, but at this point in time, it would be wise for the Mets to allocate their funds to more pressing needs, while also not taking away from their current team or minor league corps.
