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Marte experiment fails
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DeRosa made Marte expendable. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Indians put an end to one of the more disappointing trades of their recent history on Thursday by designating third basemen Andy Marte for assignment. He was taken off the 40 man roster in response to the Indians acquisition of reliver Juan Salas from the Tampa Bay Rays. Marte went from third basemen of the future to expendable for a thirty year old reliever in less than three years.
While still only being twenty-five years old, Marte is basically done in the majors at this point. He will still surely latch on somewhere else in camp, but his inability to produce at the plate will limit his production, no matter where it is.
At one point he was a slugging top prospect in the Atlanta Braves farm system. In fact, at the time the Indians traded outfielder Coco Crisp to the Braves for Marte, it was thought of as a massive coup for the Indians. Going back and reading some of the old thoughts about the Marte trade are quite telling. He was expected to be a huge slugger, but his huge swing never translated well to the big leagues.
Looking back at the Marte saga, what's most amazing is how his trade negatively impacted both the Red Sox and Indians, but how it turned out for the Braves. Originally the trade went like this:
Braves receive: SS Edgar Renteria
Red Sox receive: 3B Andy Marte
The Red Sox about a month later then sent Marte to the Indians:
Indians receive: 3B Andy Marte, C Kelly Shoppach, RP Guillermo Mota
Red Sox receive: OF Coco Crisp, C Josh Bard
Renteria spent two seasons in Atlanta, and then was traded in the October 2007 to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for the Braves receiving SP Jair Jurrjens and OF Gorkys Hernandez. Jurrjens has established himself as a key piece of Atlanta's youth movement in the rotation, and Hernandez is one of the Braves top outfield prospects.
The only saving grace from the trade for the Indians is the acquisition of Shoppach. No one thought at that time that a player once thought to be nothing more than a backup catcher would become so important.
A great year to be 27
The age of twenty-seven is typically looked at as a time in a baseball player's career that he reaches his highest point offensively. For the Indians offense, that could be great news because Grady Sizemore, Jhonny Peralta, and Shin Soo-Choo all turn twenty-seven this year. Filing it under the category of what could have been, this is also the season where Brandon Phillips and Kevin Kouzmanoff reach that magical age.
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