The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a trade that sends Starling Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for two prospects. Marte is heading to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Brennan Malone and Liover Peguero. Malone was the Diamondbacks’ first-round draft pick from the Competitive Balance Round A in the 2019 First-Year Amateur Player Draft. ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the news of the two sides coming to the agreement. Zach Buchanan of The Athletic followed up with the players who were going to be sent back to the Pirates.
Outfielder Starling Marte has been traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Arizona Diamondbacks, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 27, 2020
Liover Peguero and Brennan Malone were rated the Diamondbacks’ Nos. 7 and 9 prospects. They are young — Peguero has just a brief time above rookie ball — but exciting. High bust risk, though.
— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) January 27, 2020
The newly revamped Pirates front office with Ben Cherington has decided to make his first move as the General Manager of the organization. Marte played in 132 games for the Pirates in the 2019 season, accumulating a .295/.503/.342 slash line with 23 home runs and 82 RBI on the season. Marte is under contract for the Diamondbacks through the 2020 season and could be sold off as a rental mid-year if the team cannot pursue a playoff run, or kept while making a postseason run.
The Diamondbacks are getting two of the organization’s top ten prospects, with Peguero being ranked seventh and Malone being ranked ninth. Both of these players have high ceilings and have the opportunity to turn heads with their new organization, which is becoming an even deeper farm system. The Diamondbacks are looking to make a postseason run in the National League West division.
