Tim Benz: Different melody, same lyrics from Pirates after Starling Marte trade

Ask someone more social media savvy than me.

You know, one of “these kids today.”

But I think now that Ben Cherington has made his first significant trade as Pirates general manager, this would be an appropriate time to go with the Spider-Man meme that I see on Twitter all the time.

Because this deal that he swung to ship Starling Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks sure resembles something Neal Huntington would have done.

Am I doing this right? Is that how this works?

Perhaps I should use a more age-appropriate “OK, Boomer” reference. How about “meet the new boss, same as the old boss”?

Yeah, that’s more in my wheelhouse.

I wrote about the similarities between Huntington and Cherington back in November when Cherington was first hired. From their educations, to their backgrounds, to their philosophies, to the way they talk with the media.

They might as well be the same guy.

And the Marte trade is simply cementing my hunch.

Just because Cherington worked in bigger markets (Toronto and Boston), that doesn’t mean that he has a vastly different approach.

Cherington shipped Marte — the organization’s starting center fielder — to Arizona for two 19-year-old prospects (pitcher Brennan Malone and shortstop Liover Peguero).

In other words, the franchise’s most accomplished player has been dealt for nothing in return for this year’s opening day roster.

No catcher with a starter’s pedigree. No pitcher to help fill out the rotation. Instead, two guys are coming back who probably won’t be in Pittsburgh until long after Marte’s contract would’ve expired anyway.

So why not just keep him then?

Oh. Wait. I know the answer to that one. He would’ve cost $24 million over the next two years.

That’s why.

After the trade, Cherington spewed a few very familiar lyrics from “Huntington’s Greatest Hits” collection.

• Like when he promised the money saved by dealing Marte would be “reallocated back into the team.”

He didn’t say when. And he didn’t specify what part “of the team.”

• Like when he said we’d see additions to the team before it left Bradenton.

• Like when he started talking about the team competing “deep into September and October.”

My god! Huntington should sue for copyright infringement.

Defenders of Cherington’s decision to trade Marte will insist this is a totally different situation than a Huntington-type trade. Huntington moved Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen for older prospects who may have been stuck in Houston and San Francisco as perennial ‘Quad-A’ players, bouncing between the minors and the big leagues.

They may have lower ceilings than Malone and Peguero. But Bryan Reynolds, Kyle Crick, Colin Moran, Joe Musgrove, Jason Martin and Michael Feliz have at least all played at PNC Park.

Reynolds has been great. Moran is decent. The results for the others have been mixed.

The common thread is that Cole, McCutchen, and now Marte are gone, and there isn’t much big-league roster improvement to offset their departures.

I suppose that I shouldn’t convict Cherington of sins he hasn’t committed yet.

Maybe he’ll genuinely invest in quality players with the difference in money left over from the Marte deal instead of just acquiring dead weight like Lonnie Chisenhall. Maybe he’ll retain the assets he gets instead of spinning them off at the first possible opportunity like Corey Dickerson.

Hopefully you’ll pardon a few decades worth of built-up skepticism.

Tell ya what. I’ll apologize if that happens.

But for now, all I know is that a team that already had a bargain-bin payroll just traded away its most expensive player for two guys who may not be ready for MLB action until many of the other guys Marte is leaving behind are also gone.

Seriously, who is next to go? Josh Bell? Chris Archer? Adam Frazier? Gregory Polanco? They’ll get close to Marte’s salary soon enough or hit free agency.

So attempting to figure out where Malone and Peguero fit in the grand scheme of the current roster is a fruitless endeavor. And wondering what support will be around them to replace their soon-to-be-departed new teammates is even more useless.

But, please, let’s keep talking about meaningful games in October with no frontline catcher, questions at two outfield positions, and an entire pitching staff in a state of flux.

All while pretending that unloading a former All-Star will help you play “meaningful games in September and October.”

There. I know I’m using that one properly.