After trading Marte to Arizona, the Pirates' '20 payroll of $50.1M will be the third lowest in MLBGETTY IMAGES
The Pirates are "projected to spend" only about $50M for the "salaries of players currently on their 40-man roster" after trading CF Starling Marte to the D-backs, according to Bill Brink of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Pirates GM Ben Cherington said Marte's salary will be "re-allocated back into the team." He added, "That could happen in 2020, it could happen past that." Brink notes the Pirates' "recent record of reinvesting saved money has been spotty." It also is unclear whether Pirates Owner Bob Nutting's "willingness to spend on the major league payroll will change under a new front office, especially after years of attendance decline" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/28). In Pittsburgh, Dejan Kovacevic wrote, "Will any of this make the 2020 Pirates better? Hell no. And not in 2021 or 2022, either." The Pirates current payroll of $50.1M is third-lowest in the majors, with the "miserable Orioles and miserly Marlins, as ever, bringing up the rear." That "should be embarrassing to all involved, chiefly Nutting himself" (DKPITTSBURGHSPORTS.com, 1/27).
SAME OLD PIRATES: In Pittsburgh, Tim Benz writes the Marte deal "sure resembles something" former Exec VP & GM Neal Huntington "would have done." Cherington the organization's starting CF to the D-backs for two 19-year-old prospects. In other words, the franchise's "most accomplished player has been dealt for nothing in return" because he would have cost the club $24M over the next two years (TRIBLIVE.com, 1/27).
