Transactions: Indians DFA Marte

by Ryan on Feb 19, 2009 10:21 PM EST in Transactions

Designated 3B Andy Marte for Assignment

So ends the Andy Marte melodrama.

The big trade that brought Marte to Cleveland turned out almost exactly the opposite of what was expected. It was expected that Coco Crisp become an elite center fielder with the Red Sox, and for Andy Marte to become the Indians' third baseman of the future. It was expected that Guillermo Mota would improve an already outstanding Indians bullpen. It was expected that Josh Bard would help the Red Sox reduce Jason Varitek's workload as he neared the end of his career.

None of those things happened. While Coco Crisp did a good job ranging Fenway Park's spacious center field, he lost the ability to hit for power, and Boston this winter dealt him to Kansas City. Guillermo Mota was an immediate bust; and was unceremoniously dumped that August. Josh Bard couldn't catch Tim Wakefield's knucklers, which forced the Red Sox to trade him for someone who could. And of course, Andy Marte didn't hit right away, got hurt, and never got a real chance again with the Indians. He outlasted the guy he was supposed to supplant by just two months, and by that time, the Indians were looking for another third baseman.

Only two players haven't been traded or released since that trade three winters ago: Randy Newsom, who as of yet hasn't pitched in a major-league game, and Kelly Shoppach. Shoppach last season got a golden opportunity when Victor Martinez went down for two months, and he established himself as one of the best power-hitting backstops in the game. So I suppose the Indians "won" the trade, but certainly not how they expected to.

Andy Marte's golden opportunity never came with the Indians. Why he didn't get it depends on your perspective. He didn't hit. He got hurt at the wrong time. His option status worked against him. His manager preferred Casey Blake. He was just unlucky. Marte turned just 25 in October, and many teams will be interested in buying low on a post-hype young player. His defense is certainly not a detriment; he just needs some stability and a chance.

Andy Marte has the potential to be a very productive everyday third baseman for somebody, just not the Indians, who essentially gave up on him after just one look.

(I'll post on Salas later, as I want to give him his own space.)

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I found the whole Bard-knuckle situation comical

by Roger Dorn on Feb 19, 2009 11:27 PM EST reply actions

What amazed me about that whole thing was that he went to SD and hit the hell out of the ball – .338/.406/.537 in 231 at-bats. I was kinda worried that he’d come back to bite us in the ass, but.. yeah, that didn’t last.

DISCLAIMER: I may be bitter.

by zempf on Feb 20, 2009 4:33 PM EST up reply actions

And lo and behold, the Sawx resigned him this offseason. Am guessing he plays at least every 2 out of 5 games as a starter, just not the Wakefield starts.

by talonk on Feb 21, 2009 2:15 AM EST up reply actions

He also didn’t hit when demoted to AAA, so he wasn’t exactly banging down the Indians door. I mean, no the Indians didn’t give him a great chance, but Andy never really forced the situation either.

by Cols714 on Feb 20, 2009 10:28 AM EST reply actions

Did you see the other thread?

by NickFantana on Feb 20, 2009 10:46 AM EST up reply actions

I think this is the most important idea, where Marte starts and ends.

by joeee on Feb 22, 2009 6:31 PM EST up reply actions

Go read the closed Marte thread.

"Less of an Indians fan" - Jay

by Voltaire on Feb 22, 2009 7:26 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks V, I read it.

by joeee on Feb 22, 2009 7:55 PM EST up reply actions

I agree with this. Ultimately it’s the 2007 season that provides the best reason for the Indians to have lost faith in him, and whether you take his numbers that season seriously or not largely dictates whether you think the Indians blew it or not. A year ago, I put Marte at #5 on my PTM prospect ranking (“and you don’t have to like it”), with this comment:

Try to imagine 2007 was Marte’s first season in Triple-A — 766 OPS, 23-year-old third baseman, it’s actually pretty good. But of course, his actual first season in Triple-A was at age 21. His three-year total, ages 21-22-23, are .268/.337/.473.

I stand by that logic, but there is another side to it. I’ve been quick to say that Marte struggled from “trying to hard” after he was twice traded in the 05-06 offseason — this interpretive spin was widely reported at the time — and that’s responsible for his 2006 numbers being mediocre, he was actually much better from June through September, in the minors and majors. But when his 2007 numbers are the same as the 2006 numbers, then we have to ask why. And I’ve speculated that he may have still been struggling with injuries, but there’s no specific evidence of that, except that he had been on the DL in April and May. He may have been totally healthy from June through September … and just not good.

Marte was a little unlucky on BIP in 2007, with a .286 … but that isn’t that unlucky … and maybe he wasn’t so much unlucky as sluggish. His K/BB went from 1.3 to 2.4 to 3.0 … and that is, frankly, a collapse that transcends OPS (and I suspect the nail in Marte’s coffin as far as Adam is concerned).

My argument has been (a) this is potentially an immensely valuable asset, not to be squandered lightly, and (b) every performance disappointment we’ve seen from Marte had a very reasonable, possible explanation that did not involve him sucking. But a possible explanation is only a possible explanation, and on those possible points, the Indians had a lot more data.

The sticking point that’s left is the presumed conflict between front office and dugout — if Marte is so un-valued that we’re cutting him now, we should have cut him a year ago. Nothing has really changed except Wedge’s position becoming more obvious, so this again points to a certain disconnect. That, and the fact that I’m certain that I can construct a run-value playing-time table that would demonstrate, clearly, that starting Marte at 3B last year was likely to get us better all-around production than what we actually got.

But that ultimately is about how the asset got squandered. Whether the asset was worth anything, that all depends on your read of Marte’s 2007 season.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

by Jay on Feb 22, 2009 7:36 PM EST up reply actions

Basically that last sentence is the best takeaway – what some others here, and I’m guessing, based on a few of your hints, the FO thinks. His AAA stint in 2006, or even 07, could have been similar to Asdrubal’s in 2008. I think the fact that the FO intends on picking him back up if he clears waivers is an indication that they recognize the value of his massive ceiling.

by joeee on Feb 22, 2009 8:00 PM EST up reply actions

Nah, they’ll pick him up again only because they can. I don’t know if you saw the quote from (I think) Antonetti, where he basically says that they agonized over DFA-ing Aubrey and were surprised and relieved not to lose him on waivers. But they prioritized Marte over Aubrey — barely — so we can assume the relief will be the same if he clears. As others have noted, our major league-ready depth at 3B is pretty thin, and nobody really wants to see Hodges on the Peralta-2003, I’ll-be-ready-in-two-years tour.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

by Jay on Feb 22, 2009 9:13 PM EST up reply actions

see here

by Brick. on Feb 23, 2009 10:16 AM EST up reply actions

they did WHAT???

by DontCallMeJoey on Feb 20, 2009 12:32 PM EST reply actions

Wedge said if Marte does clear waivers, he’d rejoin the Indians in spring training.

“Wes is going to play third base at Columbus,” said Tribe General Manager Mark Shapiro. “Andy, if we get him back, will play third, first and DH.”

by Brick. on Feb 20, 2009 1:00 PM EST reply actions

good info to have

"Less of an Indians fan" - Jay

by Voltaire on Feb 20, 2009 2:13 PM EST up reply actions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKR3QU3dB0M

by SuddenSam on Feb 20, 2009 2:47 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Well done.

-Erik

by drerikbrady on Feb 20, 2009 3:19 PM EST up reply actions

Truthfully, could there be a better time to try and get him through waivers?

-Erik

by drerikbrady on Feb 20, 2009 3:19 PM EST up reply actions

We need a Marte DFA widget. What is it, 9 days left now?

by afh4 on Feb 20, 2009 4:49 PM EST up reply actions

can we call it the “Andy MarDFA”?

by Brick. on Feb 20, 2009 5:21 PM EST up reply actions

/winces

Though I look right at home, I still feel like an exile

by Manhattan Tribe Fan on Feb 20, 2009 11:06 PM EST up reply actions

Pity

I really liked Marte’s chances of making it to the Bigs and being a major threat. I guess he just turned out to be a bust..

#34: You'll be missed!

by Chanman25 on Feb 21, 2009 6:58 PM EST reply actions

Jay, FWIW, I figured that my comment would close out that other thread. It was about time that was closed.

by lenred on Feb 23, 2009 3:16 PM EST reply actions

I don’t think you intended for it to be as ironic as you’re letting on…

by supermarioelia on Feb 23, 2009 4:08 PM EST up reply actions

What day are we at in the DFA clock?

by APV on Feb 23, 2009 4:59 PM EST reply actions

I don’t know but I read today that he had to go on waivers, so I think that means this is Day 7 (of 10) on the DFA clock, Day 1 (of 3) on waivers, right?

by NickFantana on Feb 23, 2009 5:29 PM EST up reply actions

They can put him on waivers at any point in the 10 days; it just means they decided not to trade him.

Castro says he was placed on waivers Monday morning. Teams have until the close of business Wednesday to claim him. MLB will pronounce him “cleared” or award the waiver claim to a team by Thursday.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

by Jay on Feb 23, 2009 10:45 PM EST up reply actions