5 teams who should trade for Pirates outfielder Starling Marte

4. San Diego Padres

As a disappointing 2019 season wound down, Andy Green was fired as the Padres’ manager. General manager A.J. Preller is firmly on the hot seat now, if he wasn’t before, with MLB’s top farm system yielding prospect capital that could be parted with and some money to spend despite the big contracts handed out to Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado the last two offseasons. So making a couple more notable moves this offseason, with a legit push up the standings a now-or-never proposition for Preller, seems very possible.

The Padres could be in the mix to trade for Mookie Betts if the Red Sox do entertain offers. But it would surely take less prospect cache, in terms of tout and perhaps volume, to get Marte for what amounts to a one-year deal. If things don’t go as well as hoped for San Diego next year, Marte can presumably be flipped to another team at the trade deadline more easily than Betts could be.

More than really any other team, San Diego can shape an offer of prospects and controllable young talent to get the Pirates’ attention in a deal for Marte. The huge dimensions of Petco Park would surely further expose Marte’s drop-off defensively, but the Padres stuck Wil Myers in the outfield for 98 starts (between left and center field) last year and don’t appear to be too concerned about the defense.

Marte would be a solid addition for the Padres, who can fit at any of the three outfield spots and offer across-the-board offensive production that’s becoming more rare. A top part of the lineup centered around Marte, Machado, Hosmer and Fernando Tatis would be quite good.