With Starling Marte gone, Pirates likely will turn to free agency at center field

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t been this unsettled about their Opening Day center field in more than a decade.

General manager Ben Cherington said he will be look for external options to fill the hole created when veteran Starling Marte was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

The Pirates received a pair of 19-year-old prospects in the deal — right-hander Brennan Malone and shortstop Liovar Peguero — and $250,000 in international bonus pool money.

The last time the Pirates were this close to spring training, which begins Feb. 10, without knowing who would play center was 2008. Nate McLouth won a three-way competition with Chris Duffy and Nyjer Morgan that spring and went on to win a Gold Glove.

McLouth started on opening day in 2008 and ’09, then Andrew McCutchen did so for seven straight years from 2010-16.

Marte took over in 2017, moving from left field while McCutchen shifted to right. That experiment ended in mid-April when Marte was suspended 80 games for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

Cherington indicated the Pirates’ next center fielder likely will come via free agency. Among those players still on the market are Jarrod Dyson, Billy Hamilton, Cameron Maybin and Kevin Pillar.

Pillar would make the most sense because he played for Toronto while Cherington worked in the Blue Jays front office.

Pillar had spent his entire seven-year career with the Blue Jays until being traded to the San Francisco Giants five games into last season. In 161 total games, the 31-year-old batted .259/.287/.432 with 21 home runs and 14 stolen bases.

Dyson and Hamilton possess outstanding speed but are below-average hitters. Dyson, 35, batted .230/.313/.320 with seven homers and 30 steals in 130 games for the Diamondbacks, and the 29-year-old Hamilton had a .218/.289/.275 with 22 steals in 119 games with the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves.

Maybin, 32, had one of the best seasons of his 13-year career, hitting .285/.364/.494 with 11 home runs in 82 games for the New York Yankees.

If the Pirates wind up having to look internally for a center fielder, Bryan Reynolds would be the most likely choice. He started 25 games in center as a rookie last year while also making 68 starts in left field and 29 in right.

In eight seasons with the Pirates, Marte batted .287/.341/.503 with 108 home runs and 239 stolen bases in 953 games. He won Gold Gloves in 2015 and ’16 and was selected to the All-Star Game in ’16.