Bye Bye Andy.

He's gone forever
the dominican phenom
yes, marte partay

about 1 month ago obobcatu Comment 59 comments 0 recs |

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by obobcatu on Oct 11, 2008 2:32 PM EDT 0 recs

by obobcatu on Oct 11, 2008 2:36 PM EDT 0 recs

Does this picture represent the departure of Marte, but the return of Trot Nixon? Cause then I might be in.

by JRontherim on Oct 11, 2008 6:47 PM EDT up 0 recs

Huh? What am I missing here?

by ken from alexandria on Oct 11, 2008 2:40 PM EDT 0 recs

Yeah, I don’t get it either.

by Voltaire on Oct 11, 2008 4:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

ditto

by world dictator on Oct 11, 2008 4:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

BANNED

Travis Hafner is overrated. Clarity is underrated. David Dellucci is David Dellucci.

by westbrook on Oct 11, 2008 3:35 PM EDT 0 recs

I thought this was a drunk post. Then I saw it was posted at 2pm and contained a haiku….

by APV on Oct 11, 2008 5:42 PM EDT 0 recs

You don’t drink on Saturday afternoons while writing haikus?

The best thing probably is to hit [Grady] 2nd -- Jay

by Buckeye Brad on Oct 11, 2008 6:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

only in odd-numbered years

by APV on Oct 11, 2008 6:14 PM EDT up 1 recs

i’m bored

Anti-Ben Fran before it was cool.

by Gradyforpresident on Oct 11, 2008 6:42 PM EDT 0 recs

He’s still better than Mike Rouse.

by Toxicadam on Oct 11, 2008 9:46 PM EDT 0 recs

If you won’t miss Andy Marte you are lying to yourself.

by obobcatu on Oct 12, 2008 6:03 PM EDT 0 recs

I won’t miss him.

by Jay on Oct 12, 2008 9:32 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m bored with Andy Marte – I want Casey Blake back!

Resident LGT beer kinda sewer

by mauichuck on Oct 14, 2008 7:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’d still give him a little more time next year Going back to the limited at-bats, but still, I am not quite ready to part with him yet.

by TN1F on Oct 12, 2008 7:27 PM EDT 0 recs

me neither. Part me of me says, get rid of the guy, but then again, I also feel that he could still become a solid player. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him hit 20 bombs for whatever team he ends up with.

by JP_Frost on Oct 12, 2008 9:24 PM EDT up 0 recs

How long can we complain about a hole at third base if we throw them away?

Not only should we have started Marte there this season, he should have been backed up by Branyan.

by Jay on Oct 12, 2008 9:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

Unless Russell has a skinny city-slicker sort of mustache (in which case he would sit), he would have played third base while Marte sat. Marte will not play so long as there are other options.

by odradek on Oct 12, 2008 10:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

Killer platoon, though, right?

by Jay on Oct 12, 2008 10:43 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yes, absolutely. But Russ would instill bad habits in Marte.

by odradek on Oct 12, 2008 10:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

like hitting home runs

by world dictator on Oct 12, 2008 11:19 PM EDT up 1 recs

Russ got a bad rap, apparently everywhere, or maybe he’s just an incredible jerk that nobody can stand to be around.

All I know is, third basemen who can slug 500 basically in their sleep do not, in fact, grow on trees, but you would think that they did from the way this guy has been tossed around like so much Josh Phelpsstuff.

by Jay on Oct 13, 2008 12:35 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, perhaps he’s a jerk. He has an OPS+ of 137 for the Brews this past season. I had forgotten that he was a member of the Tribe in 2007 (August 7 to August 9) before the Phillies bought him (and traded him soon thereafter to the Padres). What was that about?

by odradek on Oct 13, 2008 8:30 AM EDT up 0 recs

Branyan’s status is puzzling – but the way all of baseball ignored Barry Bonds this season is criminal. There’s a guy who can OPS 1.000 while on the DL – and nobody even talks to him? Something just doesn’t add up.

Resident LGT beer kinda sewer

by mauichuck on Oct 14, 2008 7:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

I wonder if he can play 3rd basebase :-)

by world dictator on Oct 15, 2008 12:11 AM EDT up 0 recs

Some of us have similar questions about Marte.

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Oct 15, 2008 1:50 AM EDT up 0 recs

Things that didn’t add up in 2008, in order of mystery:

(1) Wedge’s treatment of Marte.
(2) Hafner’s shoulder surgery and kryptonite fall from grace.
(3) ?
(4) Barry Bonds.

by odradek on Oct 15, 2008 9:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

Betancourt.

by Jay on Oct 15, 2008 9:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

Really that much of a mystery? Overwork for a guy with a screw in his elbow? Also a guy who seemed opposed to throwing anything but the same pitch over and over?

by odradek on Oct 16, 2008 3:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

But from TEH BEST RELIEVER EVAH to EPIC FAIL in one season?

Steel Nick

by nickjs21 on Oct 16, 2008 3:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

2007 BABIP: .240
2008 BABIP: .311

2007 strand-percentage: 86.4%
2008 strand-percentage: 70.1%

2007 homers per fly ball: 4.7%
2008 homers per fly ball: 12.2%

Yes, his strikeout rate fell and walk rate rose, too, so he was definitely a worse pitcher in 2008. But he also benefited from a lot of positive random variation in 2007, which regressed in 2008.

by Peter Bendix on Oct 16, 2008 3:57 PM EDT up 0 recs

Where do you get your BABIP data? I’m seeing .332 and .246 in 2008 and 2007, respectively. I was looking at firstinning.com. Although now I look at Baseball Prospectus, and while I’m not a subscriber I can still see that they have his 2007 BABIP at .242. Hmm.

His GB% stayed the same. He issued walks at a higher rate than at any point in his career.

I see the numbers and I understand what you’re saying, but I think the mystery is WHY they fluctuated so wildly. Amazing luck followed immediately by the worst luck seems to fall short.

Steel Nick

by nickjs21 on Oct 16, 2008 4:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

I got my data from Hardball Times. Odd that it’s different from other sources, though – I have no idea why.

I don’t think it’s odd to see the stats that aren’t as much within a pitcher’s control – BABIP, LOB%, HR/FB – fluctuate a lot. The fact that his K rate went down and BB rate went up could be indicative of his being overworked previously, or his back issues.

Or, it could be a sample size thing. It’s not like his fundamental pitching ability really changed THAT much.

Interestingly, his fastball velocity was normal, but he threw his fastball less often than in the past.

by Peter Bendix on Oct 16, 2008 4:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

I refer back to this article from July 19th, where it is noted that he tweaked his mechanics this year to compensate for a back injury/issues. This alone can have severe effects, and at least he didn’t suffer an injury from the change in mechanics (I imagine the mechanics change was done with the help of the coaching staff so this may have helped in reducing the chance for injury).

by hans on Oct 16, 2008 4:48 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hello Peter,

I wouldn’t totally discount the idea that the long 2007 season may have affected him – after all, 2008 was (I believe) worse than his seasons before 2007.

Additionally, it took a while before Perez and Lewis got on track as well, then Perez seemed to run out of gas before the season ended as well.

It will be interesting to see how they respond in 2009.

Just my 2 cents.

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Oct 16, 2008 5:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

How about Jake Westbrook’s lightbulb filament season … burning brightly before snapping in half? Don’t guys usually suck before they need surgery, as opposed to developing devastating off-speed stuff?

by fleerdon on Oct 15, 2008 11:24 PM EDT up 0 recs

You’ve heard the sinker pitchers work better when they’re arm is tried. Apparently needing surgery makes them devastating.

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Oct 16, 2008 1:29 PM EDT up 0 recs

*the = that

"It's hard to win when you don't score." Cliff Lee, 9/28/05.

by Harry Doyle on Oct 16, 2008 1:29 PM EDT up 0 recs

Phase 3 is profit!

by Roger Dorn on Oct 16, 2008 8:08 AM EDT up 0 recs

underpants gnomes?

by hans on Oct 16, 2008 12:28 PM EDT up 0 recs

oh yes

by Roger Dorn on Oct 16, 2008 12:38 PM EDT up 0 recs

That is a solid episode. I find the show hit or miss, but they certianly hit on that one.

by hans on Oct 16, 2008 4:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

The show has peaked. Seasons 5-8, every single episode was spectacular

by Roger Dorn on Oct 16, 2008 6:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Clue me in?

by Voltaire on Oct 16, 2008 6:47 PM EDT up 0 recs

South Park

by Roger Dorn on Oct 16, 2008 7:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m just gonna throw this out there. I liked a lot of last season.

Steel Nick

by nickjs21 on Oct 17, 2008 9:44 AM EDT up 0 recs

Agreed 100% This season has been stellar as well.

by NickFantana on Oct 18, 2008 1:36 PM EDT up 0 recs

But would Marte batting only every third day against lefties qualify as “giving Marte a chance”?

by oxforddave on Oct 13, 2008 2:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

No, it wouldn’t, but the platoon would have been the fallback plan, just in case starting Marte 5-6 times a week isn’t working out or (ahem) we have a massive power outage elsewhere in the lineup. We also would have saved Blake’s salary and/or traded him for something else of value.

by Jay on Oct 13, 2008 8:03 PM EDT up 0 recs