Marte DFA'd

[love_that_reefer]

Indians designated third baseman Andy Marte for assignment.
A change of scenery might do Marte some good. Once pegged as the team's future third baseman, he could never get it going at the major league level. The Indians have 10 days to trade, release or outright him.

Talk about a huge bust, Marte owns a career batting line of .211/.265/.337. That's just awful!! Once a highly regarded prospect, the now 25 year old will try and find a new home. A team needing help at DH and third might give him a look (talking to you Minnesota) but it might be hard for him to find a job. He's a rare case of a prospect who got worse the older he got.

[Pronk48]

Well, that didnt take long.

At least we got Shoppach out of that trade.

[catman]

The Twins might take a flyer on him. Molitor is a pretty good teacher and has played quite a bit of 3B in his career. If the Twins do pick him up, it'll be likely he will get a minor-league contract with an invite. He could work with the minor league instructors for a month or 2 and come up.

[realmofotalk]

Baseball is the most stubborn sport in not letting sleeping dogs lie. If ****ing Brett Tomko and Livan Hernandez each can still have a job even though neither has deserved one in years, Marte will certainly get another shot elsewhere.

[missionhockey21]

Well, the one positive for any team considering to pick Marte up is that his post ASG numbers, while still awful, weren't as bad as his overall line for 2008. He also, in about 60 AB's, had a +.800 OPS against lefties. I doubt he will ever live up to the potential some scouts saw in him once, but he is a young 25 and a change of scenery could be just what he needs to post a semi-productive MLB season.

Cleveland fans, have you noticed any changes in swing at all? I am curious to know if his power disappearance has been purely mechanical, a decline a skills or a mental issue (or some combination of all three.)

[catman]

Baseball is the most stubborn sport in not letting sleeping dogs lie. If ****ing Brett Tomko and Livan Hernandez each can still have a job even though neither has deserved one in years, Marte will certainly get another shot elsewhere.

There is a bit of difference between pitchers that are past their prime and hitters that have never made the adjustments necessary to make it in the bigs. AAAA hitters, as it appears Marte is, are many -- Michael Restovich was supposed to be the Twins' next great power hitter. Dallas McPherson was supposed to be the Angels' next 3B. Felix Pie was supposed to be the Cubs' CF and lead-off hitter for the next decade. None lived up to their potential.
Another "washed-up" pitcher to throw into the discussion is Sydney Ponson. How he still has a job is beyond me.

[love_that_reefer]

Todd Linden

[Pronk48]

I just think he can't adjust to big league pitching.

[missionhockey21]

Certainly could be it as there are plenty of AAAA hitters as catman pointed out. The Reds had a 3B prospect, former first round draft pick, Brandon Larson who had some absolutely dominating AAA seasons with big potential power who simply never was able to hit a lick while up in the majors. He was a late bloomer though, struggling at each level until learning to hit it eventually and the hope was that he would be able to eventually hit up in the bigs but it never happened. Marte started in the bigs much younger though so I guess there is a chance he might figure it out and stick on somewhere, albeit not likely at his former potential.

[love_that_reefer]

Marte needs to switch positions if he wants to make it anywhere. He is just an absolute butcher at third.