“Words can’t express the emotions from the loss of our client Andy Marte. Gone too soon. A great person on and off the field,” Marte’s agency, J.M.G. baseball, stated (via Twitter).

Marte signed with the Braves as an international free agent in 2000 and quickly became one of the majors’ premier prospects. Baseball America regarded him as a top 40 prospect each year from 2002-05, and he peaked at No. 9 after the 2004 campaign. Marte cracked the big leagues a year later in a 24-game, 66-plate appearance stint with Atlanta, which then traded him to the Red Sox the next offseason in exchange for longtime major league shortstop Edgar Renteria.

Marte again ended up on the move in 2006, this time going from Boston and Cleveland in a large trade that saw the Red Sox net outfielder Coco Crisp. The majority of Marte’s major league action came as a member of the Indians, with whom he batted .224/.281/.369 in 858 trips to the plate from 2006-10.  Marte then spent time with the Pirates, Angels and Diamondbacks organizations, though he only amassed 16 more PAs in the majors (all with the D-backs) before signing with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2014. Marte thrived in Korea over the past two seasons, hitting a stellar .312/.390/.547 in a combined 867 PAs and amassing 20-plus home runs both years.

MLBTR extends its condolences to Marte’s family, friends and fans.

• MLB commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement about Ventura and Marte earlier today. “Today is a very sad day for our entire game and particularly for the many loyal fans in the Dominican Republic, the home of both Yordano Ventura and Andy Marte,” said Manfred. “Yordano was a key figure in the Royals’ recent success. His electric talent on the mound helped lead the Royals to two American League pennants and the 2015 World Championship. Andy was a respected member of six organizations who played seven Major League seasons, including for the Cleveland Indians from 2006-2010.  On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to the families, teammates, friends and fans of both players.”
• This morning was perhaps even more difficult than expected for Royals GM Dayton Moore, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports relate (Twitter links). Moore first heard about Marte’s death, then received a call about Ventura and thought it was a mistake. Moore and Royals assistant GM Rene Francisco were close with both players — Moore and Francisco were both in the Braves organization when Marte was a top prospect there.
• Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star offers a beautifully written remembrance of Ventura, who he describes as a fighter with sharp edges but a good person and prodigious talent. “[H]e was relentless and unapologetic and desperate to be great — both for himself, and for everyone back home for whom it meant almost as much,” Mellinger writes. “His teammates and coaches might occasionally grow frustrated at some of the rougher moments, but they saw a good soul, a big heart, and an earnest learner.”
• Rosenthal offers similar sentiments in a column for FOX Sports, noting that Ventura’s sometimes rough on-field demeanor was not all of who he was. “The Yo that I knew had the warmest of smiles, the most engaging of personalities, a genuine, effusive love for the game,” writes Rosenthal. “[H]e was a diligent worker, one of the Royals’ most regimented pitchers — a kid who was engaged between starts, watched film, worked on pitches, looked and acted the part.”
• Ventura has “always had a zest for life, an innocence about the game, a freshness, a fearlessness,” says Moore, via Dodd. “And he’s been really the same guy from day one, as far as his character traits and what made him special. He’s just a really passionate human. He loved to compete. He no doubt challenged us. But that made us better.” Dodd adds that police will take three weeks to complete a toxicology report, but there was no sign of alcohol at the scene of Ventura’s crash. The pitcher was not wearing his seat belt and lost control of his vehicle while driving through dense fog on a mountainous road.
• Ventura was the opposing starting pitcher in Marte’s last Major League game in 2014, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince notes. In contrast to the fiery Ventura, Marte (formerly one of the top prospects in the game) was “an easygoing guy” who took his career disappointments in stride. Marte never could stick in the big leagues after coming up as a top prospect with the Braves and Indians (and, for a month, the Red Sox), and after stops in the Pirates, Angels and Diamondbacks organizations, he finally excelled in Korea, where he totaled 44 home runs with the KT Wiz between the 2015 and 2016 seasons. “The only thing I know how to do is play baseball,” he told Castrovince. “That’s why I didn’t stop.”

The 31-year-old Marte once ranked as one of the consensus top prospects in the game but has seen his star fade after failing to produce on a consistent basis at the big league level. He made it back to the Majors for the first time since 2010 this season, going 3-for-16 with a homer in six games with the D’Backs.

Marte absolutely mashed at the Triple-A level with the D’Backs this year, as he’s done many times in the past. The right-handed hitting corner infielder batted .329/.388/.531 with 19 homers in 531 plate appearances with the Reno Aces and is a career .284/.347/.487 hitter at the Triple-A level. Marte is repped by Metis Sports.

• Angels: RHP David Carpenter, RHP Dane De La Rosa, C John Hester
• Braves: RHP Pedro Beato
• Cubs: C Eli Whiteside
• Diamondbacks: 3B Andy Marte
• Giants: 2B Brandon Hicks
• Indians: MI Elliot Johnson
• Marlins: OF Brian Bogusevic
• Mets: LHP John Lannan, SS Omar Quintanilla, C Taylor Teagarden
• Orioles: RHP Josh Stinson
• Padres: OF Jeff Francoeur, 3B Chris Nelson
• Phillies: SS Reid Brignac, LHP Jeremy Horst, RHP Jeff Manship
• Pirates: SS Michael Martinez, RHP Vin Mazzaro, 1B Chris McGuiness
• Rangers: 1B/OF Mike Carp, LHP Ryan Feierabend, 2B Josh Wilson
• Red Sox: OF Corey Brown, 2B Ryan Roberts
• Royals: INF Pedro Ciriaco, RHP Blake Wood
• Tigers: RHP Kevin Whelan
• Yankees: LHP Josh Outman

• The Brewers have outrighted infielder Irving Falu, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. They claimed him last month from the Padres, who had previously claimed him from Milwaukee, so that the Brewers finally got him through to the minors must represent a small victory. The 31-year-old has hit .289/.342/.333 in 230 plate appearances for Triple-A Nashville this season.
• The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Brad Mills and optioned infielder Ryan Goins to Triple-A Buffalo. The Jays outrighted Mills in late July. He’s posted a 1.81 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 at Triple-A this season.
• The Mets have released outfielder Bobby Abreu, according to MiLB.com. The 40-year-old was designated for assignment last week after hitting .238/.331/.336 in 142 plate appearances in his first big-league action since 2012.
• The Cubs have outrighted outfielder Ryan Kalish to Triple-A Iowa, per the team’s transactions page. The 26-year-old was designated for assignment Friday after posting a slash of .242/.303/.330 in 100 plate appearances.
• The Indians have released right-hander Frank Herrmann from their Triple-A affiliate, tweets MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The 30-year-old, the longest-tenured player in the Cleveland organization, has struggled in 28 relief outings for Columbus to the tune of a 6.37 ERA, 9.1 K/9, and 5.8 BB/9 in 29 2/3 innings. Herrmann hasn’t pitched in a MLB contest since 2012 when he recorded a 2.33 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 1.9 BB/9 over 19 1/3 innings (15 games) for the Indians.
• The White Sox have released right-hander Shawn Hill from Triple-A Charlotte, according to the International League transactions page. The veteran 33-year-old pitched to a 4.81 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 58 innings for the Knights after being acquired in a minor trade with the Blue Jays back in June. Hill last saw the bigs in 2012 with Toronto, and he has a lifetime 4.69 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 242 Major League innings.
• Jason Pridie has accepted his outright assignment by the Rockies to Triple-A, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. The 30-year-old outfielder, who was designated for assignment Wednesday, had the option to become a free agent since he had been outrighted previously, but chose to remain at Colorado Springs where he has hit .275/.341/.426 in 378 plate appearances.
• Cotillo also tweets Andy Marte has accepted his outright assignment with the Diamondbacks rather than electing free agency. Marte, who batted .332/.385/.513 at Triple-A this season, will return to Reno in pursuit of the Pacific Coast League batting title, Cotillo adds. Marte was DFA’ed last week and sent outright to Reno last night, but, like Pridie, had been outrighted in the past and had the option to elect free agency.
• With the Dodgers and Phillies designating Colt Hynes and Sean O’Sullivan, respectively, for assignment today, a total of six players are now in DFA limbo. As can be seen in MLBTR’s DFA Tracker, in addition to Hynes and O’Sullivan, the following players have yet to have their DFA situation resolved: Chris Young (Mets), Ernesto Frieri (Pirates), Nate Schierholtz (Cubs) and Chone Figgins (Dodgers).

Edward Creech and Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

The 30-year-old Marte, once regarded as one of the Top 10 prospects in all of baseball, went 3-for-16 with a homer in his brief cameo with the Snakes this season — his first big league action since 2010. Arizona is Marte’s third Major League club (along with the Braves and Indians), but he’s never delivered on his once lofty upside. The third baseman owns just a .218/.276/.358 batting line in 940 big league plate appearances.

Lamb, on the other hand, will seemingly be auditioning for a long-term role with the D’Backs. The former sixth-round pick and University of Washington product has absolutely mashed minor league pitching in 2014, slashing .327/.407/.566 with 15 homers, 39 doubles and five triples in 460 PA between Double-A and Triple-A (though just 21 of those PA came at Triple-A). There would appear to be a clear path to playing time for Lamb, following the trades of Martin Prado to the Yankees and Matt Davidson to the White Sox over the past calendar year.

• The Indians outrighted right-hander Joe Martinez to Triple-A Columbus over the weekend, according to the International League transactions page. Martinez was designated for assignment last week and has a 5.88 ERA in 19 games (16 starts) for Columbus this season.
• The Angels have signed infielder Andy Marte to a minor league deal, according to York Revolution play-by-play announcer Darrell Henry (Twitter link). Marte, 29, once ranked as a one of the game's top 10 prospects, according to Baseball America, and was hitting .301/.367/.526 with 19 homers in 96 games for the Revolution in the Atlantic League.
• Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com reports that the Halos have signed right-hander Jason Urquidez out of the Atlantic League (on Twitter). Urquidez, 30, was a 17th-round draft pick of the Diamondbacks out of Arizona State back in 2005. Serving as the closer for the Atlantic League's Lancaster Barnstormers, Urquidez posted a ridiculous 0.25 ERA by allowing just one earned run in 36 innings with 12.8 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9. Urquidez allowed just 19 hits as well, en route to a 0.72 WHIP with Lancaster.
• Four players are currently in DFA limbo: Julio Borbon of the Cubs, Josh Sullivan of the Rockies, Jason Bay of the Mariners and Yusmeiro Petit of the Giants.

Fields, 28, missed most of the 2010 season due to hip surgery, though he had 104 interesting plate appearances before being non-tendered.  Aside from third base, he's dabbled at first and left field.

Fields was drafted 18th overall by the White Sox in 2004 and was once considered a top prospect.  He crushed 23 home runs in 418 plate appearances with the Sox in '07, nine of which came in August of that year.

Among San Diego's 20 NRIs is a small handful of players with big-league experience and a decent chance of making the 25-man roster at the end of Spring Training. Here's a quick look at some of those guys:

• Kevin Frandsen has spent parts of five seasons with the Giants and Angels, and he has a "good shot" of catching on with the Padres as a utility man, according to Brock. The 28-year-old plays multiple positions and would earn a salary of $575,000.
• Guillermo Quiroz could challenge Rob Johnson for the backup catching job, notes Brock. Quiroz, 29, has played for four teams (Rangers, Blue Jays, Mariners and Orioles) in parts of seven seasons.
• Gregorio Petit spent parts of two seasons with the A's as a utility infielder in 2008-09. The 26-year-old spent the entirety of 2010 with the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate.
• Bullpen hopefuls Luis Perdomo and Scott Munter each have Major League experience. Perdomo made 35 appearances with San Diego in 2009 but only one last season, and Munter was with the Giants for parts of three seasons.

The Pirates, meanwhile, have a slightly more interesting cast of notable names:

• Garrett Atkins, Jeff Clement, Josh Fields and Andy Marte form a quartet of one-time blue-chip prospects. Atkins, in particular, was an above-average player for the Rockies in 2006-07, but he declined quickly in the following years. Clement, a former catcher, was a No. 3 overall pick of the Mariners in 2005, and Fields and Marte were raw-power corner-infield prospects coming up with the White Sox and Braves/Indians, respectively.
• On the pitching side, Tyler Yates has a 8.1 K/9 for his career but did not pitch in the bigs in 2010. Donald Veal, selected by the Bucs from the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft prior to the 2009 season, is a hard-throwing but wild lefty. Brian Burres has started 54 games in his five-year career with the Orioles, Blue Jays and Pirates. Sean Gallagher was dealt from the Cubs to the A's in the deal that sent Rich Harden to Chicago, and has appeared in 91 games. Fernando Nieve has appeared in 99 games (19 starts) with the Astros and Mets in parts of four seasons.

Marte, a former top prospect, failed to make an impact in parts of five seasons with the Indians. Now 27, the third baseman has a .218/.277/.358 line in 924 career plate appearances. The Indians released him last month.

Brown, 28, appeared in seven games for the 2010 Red Sox, but has spent most of his ten-year career in the minors. He has a .259/.340/.389 line in a decade's worth of minor league plate appearances. The Red Sox dropped him from their 40-man roster in October.

Marte was a top prospect in the Braves system for years, but he has yet to have extended major league success. He posted a .707 OPS as a 22-year-old in 2006 and has not matched that mark since. Marte rose through the minors as a third baseman and has since spent considerable time at first base.

• Infielder Drew Sutton is eligible for free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A by the Indians, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  The article notes that Andy Marte is expected to be removed from the Cleveland roster before the Rule 5 draft deadline.  Also from Hoynes (via Twitter), the Phillies claimed shortstop Carlos Rivero on waivers from the Tribe.  Rivero has a .676 OPS in 2156 minor league plate appearances, none above the Double-A level.
• Hal Steinbrenner's recent comments about the Derek Jeter talks strike ESPN's Buster Olney "as if he's preparing the NYY fans for an ugly Jeter negotiation" (Twitter link).
• Now that the A's have exercised Mark Ellis' option for 2011, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that the team will look into an extension for the veteran second baseman.
• Buster Posey and Brian Wilson are the key reasons why the Giants have a chance to win another World Series, says Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.  "How many teams can say, right now, they have zero interest in upgrading at the need-to-have positions of catcher or closer?", Morosi asks.  He cites just the Phillies and Twins, and even those two clubs come with question marks.
• Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com thinks the Giants should sign Eric Chavez to a minor-league contract.  (Twitter link)
• Bruce Chen wants a multiyear deal but the Royals are "unlikely" to make the left-hander such an offer, tweets The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton.
• It could be a bad omen for David Ortiz's $12.5MM option that another slugging DH (Vladimir Guerrero) had his $9MM option for 2011 declined by Texas earlier today, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
• Tampa Bay added Elliot Johnson to its 40-man roster, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.  Without the move, Johnson would've become a free agent.  Johnson had a breakout minor league campaign in Triple-A last season, posting a .319/.375/.475 line and winning the International League MVP award.
• In response to a fan mailbag question about Adam Dunn, MLB.com's Bill Ladson warns about the dangers of the Nationals offering a long-term deal to a defensively-challenged slugger.  He points out how fans were also wishing the Nats signed Alfonso Soriano to an extension, but in hindsight Washington made the right move.
• Nationals right-hander Collin Balester is looking for members to join his 'Movember' team.  Click here to sign up and join Balester in raising money and awareness in the fight against prostate cancer.

• Stark lists 16 players currently on the trade block. Among the names we haven't seen mentioned recently: Willie Harris, Andy Marte, Tim Stauffer, Omir Santos, and Brad Thomas.
• The Mets are looking to move one of their extra catchers, either Santos or Chris Coste, and are looking to add "major league-ready triple-A pitching depth." Aren't we all…
• The Phillies are looking to add all sorts of pitching depth, and have interest in the recently released Chad Gaudin.
• Scott Sizemore's rocky spring has the Tigers looking for a second base upgrade.
• Kansas City is shopping Brayan Pena in their perpetual search for starting pitching.
• The Braves have told other clubs that David Ross is available, "possibly in a catcher-for-catcher swap for a younger backup-catcher type."

• There's "no way" the Indians will sign someone as expensive as Kerry Wood this year.
• If the club is involved in signing free agents at all, Hoynes expects the deals to happen later in the offseason, and at very little cost.
• Hoynes wouldn't be surprised if GM Mark Shapiro targeted one or two inexpensive, low-risk starting pitchers. Hoynes doesn't offer any specific names, though one reader suggests Noah Lowry. Check out MLBTR's free agent list for an idea of what type of reclamation projects the Indians might look at this offseason.
• Hoynes thinks Andy Marte has a decent chance of remaining on the roster through the winter and competing for a spot on the team in the spring

• Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune talked to Aramis Ramirez about his $14.6MM player option for 2011, and the Cubs' third baseman was noncommittal.  Other third basemen who may become free agents after the 2010 season include Garrett Atkins, Jorge Cantu, Mike Lowell, Jhonny Peralta, and Scott Rolen.
• Former top prospect Andy Marte spoke with Indians GM Mark Shapiro about the future, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  Shapiro told Marte to play first and third base in winter ball and show up early to Spring Training.  It was a tough year for Marte, who turns 26 in November.  He was designated for assignment to make room for Juan Salas in February, cleared waivers, raked at Triple A, and then struggled in the bigs.
• Braves GM Frank Wren told MLB.com's Mark Bowman that Derek Lowe "pitched really well for us."  Aside from his home run rate, Lowe's numbers declined across the board this year.
• The Nationals will improve their minor league catching depth for next year, GM Mike Rizzo told MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
• Miguel Angel Sano is on the backburner for the Orioles, Roch Kubatko of MASN learned from team president Andy MacPhail.  MLB's inconclusive age investigation is the problem.
• David Waldstein of the New York Times says Ramon Pena, a special assistant to Mets GM Omar Minaya, will not be back next year.  Waldstein says a scouting/player development shakeup is in order.  Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News has info on possible changes aside from Pena.
• White Sox closer Bobby Jenks is out for the season with a calf injury.  Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times wonders about the righty's future, given a possible $7MM arbitration reward for the 2010 season.
• Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News notes the impending raise for Giants closer Brian Wilson, who enters his first arbitration year.  Jenks' $5.6MM salary this year will serve as a comparable, so the Giants will add around $5MM to the payroll compared to Wilson's $480K this year.
• Braves manager Bobby Cox was not happy with the way GM Frank Wren handled the John Smoltz situation last winter, according to Yahoo's Gordon Edes.