Starling Marteis headed to The Grand Canyon State.
The 31-year-old Dominican professional baseball outfielder has been traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Arizona Diamondbacks for two prospects and $250,000 in international signing bonus pool money.
Marte has spent his entire eight-year career with the Pirates. He has a career .287 batting average with 108 homers, 420 RBIs and 239 steals. He had career highs last season with 23 homers and 82 RBIs.
Marte won Gold Glove Awards in 2015 and ’16.
He reached the All-Star Game in 2016 but also served an 80-game suspension in 2017 after testing positive for steroids.
The players going to Pittsburgh are right-handed pitcher Brennan Malone, the 33rd pick in the 2019 draft, and shortstop Liover Peguero, a toolsy 19-year-old from the Dominican Republic who excelled in short-season ball.
“We’re excited about adding two young players of this caliber and the opportunity we’ll have to help them continue to grow,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said in a prepared statement. “In addition, we now have a greater ability to acquire impact-type talent in this year’s international free agent market.”
Peguero hit a combined .326 (74 for 227) with 11 doubles, 5 triples, 5 home runs and 38 RBIs in 60 games in the low minors last season.