JohnG71097 Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 A decision on Triple-A Columbus third baseman Andy Marte is coming very soon. Possibly as soon as tomorrow or Friday. That decision could be to trade/release him or call him up. Tonight, Marte went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, and two RBI. On the season he is now hitting .319 with 10 HR, and 44 RBI. Columbus opening day third baseman Wes Hodges has been sidelined with a wrist and shoulder injury since the beginning of May, and he currently is in the midst of a rehab assignment at Low-A Lake County. He had two three innings stints and then a six inning stint to ramp him up and get him back into game shape and tonight just played a full nine inning game (2-for-4 with a double) as the designated hitter. He is expected to get one more full game in with Lake County and likely play the whole game at third base to see if he is cleared to be brought back to the Columbus active roster. Once Hodges is brought back to Columbus, which could be by this weekend, he will move back to the regular third base slot playing there seven to eight games of every ten game set. This would only leave Marte two to three games every ten game stretch for playing time at third base. The Indians have discussed with him getting him playing time at first base, outfield and at designated hitter (five spots in the batting order), but with Matt LaPorta, Trevor Crowe, Stephen Head, Michael Brantley, and Jordan Brown all to get the lion's share of at bats among those five spots it will likely squeeze Marte out of regular playing time. In fact, one of the reasons first baseman Michael Aubrey was moved last week was because they needed his at bats to go to recently activated first baseman/outfielder Stephen Head. This same fate could happen to Marte when Hodges is activated anyday, and it would make sense as this is probably the highest value Marte will have in any trade. Once relegated to a backup role, that trade value (if any) would start to take a hit. There is a small chance Marte could be activated and called up to Cleveland, though with Peralta entrenched at third base as well as the first base and designated hitter's duties maxed out with the likes of Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Chris Gimenez and Travis Hafner, it seems unlikely. http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosar_For_President Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Who's Andy Marte? JK Watching the Tribe is like watching your brother implode from drug use. I'll be back next year when they go to AA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIMO. Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 At this point, I'm kind of hoping we give him another shot. He's always been called a "AAAA" player, but he's never been this good before, especially since joining the Tribe organization. Who knows, designating him for assignment might have been the wakeup call he needed. He's still only 25, yes, the same age as Brandon Phillips was in his breakout season in Cincinnati. If we get a real offer for him, I'm fine cutting him loose instead of risking him losing all his value with a bad showing in the majors. But if the only offers are guys like Winston Abreu, keep him. Give him one more shot, Jhonny will throw a fit but he hasn't earned his spot at 3rd this year. Like I said, I won't really care too much if we trade him...and realistically, his upside at 3rd is basically Jhonny Peralta. 20ish homers, decent average. Marte is supposed to be better defensively, but probably not enough to make a big difference. And obviously Marte's downside is, well, Andy Marte. Tough call. I don't think I'll complain either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLEVELandMILIDH Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 I think we have to bring him up before even think about trading him. Shapiro can't risk another Brandon Phillips situation. The teams in the dumps, whats there to lose, bring the kid up and give him a chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YtownBrownsBacker Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 At this point, I'm kind of hoping we give him another shot. He's always been called a "AAAA" player, but he's never been this good before, especially since joining the Tribe organization. Who knows, designating him for assignment might have been the wakeup call he needed. He's still only 25, yes, the same age as Brandon Phillips was in his breakout season in Cincinnati. If we get a real offer for him, I'm fine cutting him loose instead of risking him losing all his value with a bad showing in the majors. But if the only offers are guys like Winston Abreu, keep him. Give him one more shot, Jhonny will throw a fit but he hasn't earned his spot at 3rd this year. Like I said, I won't really care too much if we trade him...and realistically, his upside at 3rd is basically Jhonny Peralta. 20ish homers, decent average. Marte is supposed to be better defensively, but probably not enough to make a big difference. And obviously Marte's downside is, well, Andy Marte. Tough call. I don't think I'll complain either way. I'm not a big Peralta fan but batting 300 in Columbus isn't batting 300 in the bigs. I'd trade the guy who could get me the most in return. Personally I don't think either are the answer. I don't want to see Hodges's path to Cleveland blocked by Peralta playing 3rd or Marte taking time away from him at Columbus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIMO. Posted July 12, 2009 Report Share Posted July 12, 2009 Marte at peace with play Andy Marte picked third base clean last night in Louisville Slugger Field. The six assists he made behind Fausto Carmona did not help the Clippers to a win. Louisville won 5-4. When the season opened with a four-game series against the Bats in April, Marte played third base once and was the designated hitter in one other game. He watched the other two games from the dugout. The one-time top prospect had accepted the fact that Wes Hodges was the everyday third baseman for the Clippers and set about using the pregame to keep as sharp as he could in case a chance came his way. As it happened, Hodges suffered shoulder and hand injuries in May that led to Marte's insertion into the lineup. He responded well enough that he named the starting third baseman for the the International League in the Triple-A All Star Game in Portland, Ore., next week. Personal business at home in the Dominican Republic will prevent Marte from playing in the game. Hodges came off the disabled list on the Fourth of July. He will be the team's designated hitter for the seventh consecutive game tonight. After the break, however, Hodges is expected to return as the primary third baseman for Columbus. Marte is returning to part-time play at third, designated hitter, first and possibly even the outfield. If the turn of events disappoints him, he is keeping it to himself. He became an All Star, he said, by tending to business. "Before I was just trying to be ready if the opportunity came," he said. "When the opportunity came, I just tried to put up numbers to show them that I can play in the big leagues." "Them" in this case would be the parent Cleveland Indians. "My agent has called them," Marte said. "They talk about it. They say they aren't sure when they're going to call me up. They're not sure what they're going to do or if they're going to trade me. I'm still waiting. I can't control that. I can only control what I do on the field." Marte knows that Hodges is going to play. "Oh yeah," he said. "They said he was going to DH the first 10 games. After that I don't know what they're going to do (with me). He's the guy. He's a young guy and a prospect. I understand that. I've been in that situation before." http://blog.dispatch.com/clippers/ (Farm Director Ross Atkins) On Andy Marte: "I think first and foremost we are very glad that he cleared waivers and he is still with us. He is obviously very talented, and even to do it at the Triple-A level you have to be very talented. I think what we are looking for from him is to sustain that in Triple-A, which he has really never sustained this type of success at Triple-A. Once he has done that he is going to make us make a very tough decision. At this point it would be too early to say that Marte is the next third baseman or is an extremely valuable piece, but if he can sustain it for even the next month or the remainder of the year he is going to make us make a very tough decision. What we are trying to answer is if his swing is easier to attack against a pitcher who can execute his pitches better. We are trying to answer that, which is hard to do without seeing it [at the major league level]. Just watching a guy swinging and saying it is not going to translate is a difficult thing to do. I would say though if he can sustain this level of performance at Triple-A, that he has major league value to someone at some level on some front. He is extremely athletic, a very good defender and versatile, so if that type of offensive production holds up he is going to help a major league team." http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIMO. Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Would anyone complain if he's our starting 3rd baseman next year? He's been on fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 wow marte is hitting the cover off the ball. he just hit a go ahead 3 run homer. what do we do with this guy? he is a free agent after this year. this is certainly a conundrum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIMO. Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 He was hitting .175 when LaPorta got called up. So he's had his best year of his career in the minors after getting DFA'd, then struggles after getting the call to Cleveland, then starts hammering the ball when LaPorta comes up and challenges his spot at 1st base. Two ways to look at it.....either he handles adversity really well, or he's just lazy and needs a reason to perform well. I'm not really comfortable relying on him for a full season, but if we get a good package for Peralta...I wouldn't complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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