In a bit of shocking news, Cleveland Indians third baseman of the future Andy Marte has little time left in Cleveland, MLB.com beat writer Anthony Castrovince reports.
Marte has not performed up to expectations in his three seasons with the organization, although he didn’t have many opportunities to either.
Marte saw the most action of his career last year as he played in 80 games. After Casey Blake was sent to the Dodgers in a midseason trade, Marte assumed a more consistent position on the field.
During the last 34 games of the season Marte hit .291 with seven doubles and 11 RBIs, according to Castrovince. the performance raised his season average from .167 to .221.
Barring an injury, or miraculous spring training performance, Marte is destined to hit the waiver wire; missing out on the 25-man roster for 2009.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
How is this shocking? Marte’s days were numbered when he couldn’t produce in the second half of last season. He was confirmed all but gone the day the Tribe traded for DeRosa. It’s amazing that the Tribe, Sox, and Braves all could have been so wrong on him.
dwhit,
It was a bit of dry sarcasm.
Although he didn’t perform well in Cleveland — which for right now he is still in Indian; teams will be interested when he is available. Players with the tools he has aren’t easily disposed of. Plenty of teams will be willing to take the chance.
When you play 80 games and you’re barely hitting .200 you need to go back to the minors or find another job. That’s almost half a season and a third baseman is supposed to be a power hitter. Marte had plenty of chances to prove himself over the last three years and didn’t make it. See you later.
I agree that Marte should be let go. Just like I agreed way back when that Brandon Phillips should be let go (.206 in 400+ at bats). This team is trying to win now and needs guys who can handle the pressue to perform.
My guess is Marte will get picked up and go on to hit 20+ homers this season for a no-pressue non-contender (just like Phillips does) and all of Indian fandom will demand blood from the front office for letting another slip away.
Jonas —
Oh, a joke? I get jokes!
Sorry, must have been reading too much of the PD and ABJ Browns coverage to recognize sarcasm
And this is not at all the same as letting Phillips walk.
while its true someone else may take a chance on marte, no one is going to give us a coco crisp for him…total waste of endeavor
we wish him well, hope he becomes a 20 year man, but there was never one single stat in his prior professional history to make anyone think he would hit for average and/or power on the level needed to make that trade work…potential is in the eye of the beholder
shapiro can’t be perfect, and isn’t expected to be; win some, lose some…his overall percentages are a heckuva lot more impressive than marte’s
Say what you will about Coco Crisp but he didn’t really pan out for the Red Sox either. And don’t forget we received Kelly Shoppach in the Marte/Crisp deal, meaning this is one transaction that should probably go in Shapiro’s “hit” column.
I don’t disagree with letting Marte go, but I do disagree with letting him walk before management knows anything about him. By sticking with Casey Blake at third — rather than use him in the utility role he handles so well — Tribe management missed the chance to properly evaluate Marte over an extended period.
I never liked him as much as others did; that’s not the point. The point is that Marte will walk away before we got to know enough about how he’d perform in long-term game conditions. That’s mismanagement.
I loved the Crisp-Marte trade when it happened. Shapiro took some grief over letting a fan fave go but Crisp at his best is still a 4th OF. But as others hint here, the Indians screw it up by never giving him a legit shot. This is the hidden danger of conning yourself into thinking your club is a contender. Makes it too easy to rest your hopes on the Delluccis and Blakes while being too impatient with the Martes. Very bad management. In recent years the Indians have taken the same foolish, short sighted measures that the Royals were once known for. KC has figured it out, but Cleveland has not.
At what point does Shapiro just get over himself and run this team like a rebuilding club should be run?
BTL
Maybe the Browns could use Marte somewhere. They sure have a lot of holes to fill.
The Red Sox weren’t wrong about him, they never wanted him in the first place. The only reason they made the trade with Atlanta to get him was because they wanted Crisp from us and knew we were hot for Marte. Luckily Shapiro was smart enough to get Shoppach thrown in.