The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired outfielder Starling Marte in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
While the Pirates' return is not clear just yet, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that Pittsburgh received two prospects from the Diamondbacks.
Marte is coming off a 2019 campaign in which he slashed .295/.342/.503 with 23 home runs and 82 RBI over 586 plate appearances.
The 31-year-old was originally signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2007.
The Diamondbacks' new outfielder eventually made his big-league debut in 2012, playing in 47 games and slashing .257/.300/.437 with five long balls and 17 RBI across 182 trips to the dish.
The following year, Marte began to flash his potential, registering a slash line of .280/.343/.441 with 12 dingers, 10 triples and 35 RBI through 566 plate appearances. He also stole 41 bases.
Marte continued to ascend in 2014, slashing .291/.356/.453 with 13 homers and 56 RBI. In 2015, he slashed .287/.337/.444 with 19 home runs and 81 RBI while notching a Gold Glove award.
He repeated as a Gold Glove winner in 2016 and also made his first All-Star appearance after slashing .311/.362/.456 with nine long balls and 46 RBI across 529 trips to the plate.
Marte was limited to just 77 games in 2017 because of a PED suspension, but in 2018, he returned with a vengeance, as he slashed .277/.327/.460 with 20 homers and 72 RBI through 606 plate appearances.
The Diamondbacks went 85-77 and missed the playoffs in 2019. They have made the postseason just once since 2012, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series in 2012.
Going back even further, Arizona has qualified for the playoffs only four times since winning the World Series in 2001. However, in addition to Marte, the Diamondbacks also added Madison Bumgarner this offseason.
The Pirates scuffled to a 69-93 record last season. They have missed the playoffs four years in a row.
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