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Andy Marte

Giants, Twins To Take A Chance On Marte?

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The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes believes the Giants and Twins "are the two teams that would probably have interest in Andy Marte."

Marte, a 25 year-old third baseman, was designated for assignment on Thursday.  The Indians now have nine days to either trade, release or outright him.  As Hoynes notes, both the Giants and Twins are seeking a third baseman and Marte, "young and inexpensive, would fit nicely into their payrolls."

The Giants or Twins could claim him on waivers, take a look at him in camp, and release him at the end of spring training because he’s out of options, adds Hoynes.

Indians Acquire Salas, Designate Marte

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According to MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, the Indians acquired reliever Juan Salas from the Rays today for infielder Isaias Velasquez.  The Tribe designated one-time top prospect Andy Marte (who is out of options) for assignment to make room.  Salas had been designated for assignment by Tampa Bay when they added Brian Shouse.

Salas, 30, posted a 2.62 ERA in 44.6 Triple A innings last year with excellent strikeout and walk numbers.  Salas’ history includes a PED suspension, a falsified birth date, and a conversion from third base.  Aside from that he’s known for his cutter.  Salas dealt with an epileptic seizure, a sore elbow, and visa problems in ’08.  Velasquez, 20, hit .281/.368/.343 last year in Low A ball.

Marte was a regular on Baseball America top 100 prospects lists – 40th in ’03, 11th in ’04, 9th in ’05, and 14th in ’06.  He was traded by the Braves to the Red Sox for Edgar Renteria in December of ’05, and then flipped to the Indians the following month along with Guillermo Mota, Kelly Shoppach, Randy Newsom, and cash for Coco Crisp, David Riske, and Josh Bard.

Cafardo’s Latest: Players Out Of Options

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Lots of stuff in Nick Cafardo’s column in the Boston Globe to go over.

With around 100 free agents vying for less than 20 remaining roster spots, things become more interesting with 227 players on big-league rosters who are out of options. If a player is out of options and is not rostered, he has to either be traded or designated for assignment. If designated, that player has to clear waivers. This could affect remaining free agent signings. Cafardo makes note of a few who are out of options and may wind up as trade fodder or designated for assignment before the season begins:

Red Sox: George Kottaras
Yankees: Melky Cabrera
Cubs: Chad Gaudin, Rich Hill (possibly heading to Baltimore?)
Brewers: Tony Gwynn Jr.
Indians: Anthony Reyes, Andy Marte
Twins: Boof Bonser, Philip Humber
Rays: Jeff Niemann
Orioles: David Pauley

  • With Jason Varitek re-signed, the Red Sox will either have to trade catcher Kottaras or designate him for assignment.
  • Cafardo notes Niemann is a former No. 1 pick and the righthander should garner some attention.
  • Bonser or Humber could be traded to land a reliever. Cafardo also mentions Delmon Young as a possible trading chip.

A few more bullets from Cafardo’s notebook:

  • Scott Boras thinks the World Baseball Classic will showcase Ivan Rodriguez and generate "even more" interest for the 14-time All-Star catcher.
  • Cafardo mentioned Manny Ramirez to Omar Minaya and Minaya laughed it off saying, "We’ll look into adding some offense, but only if it makes sense."
  • All quiet on the Jake Peavy front.
  • Cafardo calls Randy Johnson’s $8MM deal from the Giants as "a stroke of genius" by his agents.
  • In case you missed it, Bobby Kielty signed a minor-league deal with the Mets last week.

Indians Designate Jason Michaels

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2:31pm: According to Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com, Michaels will be designated.

10:30am: Outfielder Ben Francisco will join the Indians for Tuesday’s game against the Yankees.  The Tribe will have to make room for him by then, and Mike Harrington believes the jobs of Andy Marte and Jason Michaels are at risk.  Marte could be designated for assignment, while Michaels might just be released.

Michaels, 32, has been awful in 21 games this year.  He earns $2.15MM this year.  Michaels typically hits lefties well, but he’s been an easy out this year.

Marte, 24, is out of options and would have to clear waivers if the Indians try to demote him.  The formerly well-regarded prospect has only 16 plate appearances on the year.  He made the team after hitting .204/.333/.519 in 54 spring ABs.

Ocker On Blake, Marte, Dellucci, Borowski And Lee

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Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal does some speculating on the Indians’ third base, left field, and closer situations.

  • Casey Blake’s contract expires at the end of the season, and at age 35, Ocker doesn’t believe that Indians’ GM Mark Shapiro will re-up for him.  Ocker points to two reasons why Andy Marte probably won’t work out as the in-house solution to Blake’s potential absence: he could be lost on waivers if he doesn’t make the team as a utility man coming out of Spring Training, and he shows no sign of figuring things out and becoming an impact player.  Check out his Dominican Winter League performance if you need further proof that the 24 year-old Marte is regressing: .198/.213/.260 with seven errors.  Small sample size?  Yes, but wowza!
  • Who from the available 2009 free agent list could be had to man third base?  Could Asdrubal Cabrera be shifted to shortstop, and Jhonny Peralta moved to third?  If so, who could move in to play second in place of Cabrera?
  • Ocker also speculates that Shapiro will allow Jason Michaels of the Michaels/David Dellucci platoon walk unless their productivity rises substantially.  Michaels is slated to make $2.15MM this season, and the club has an option for $2.6MM in 2009.  What about Ben Francisco?  Could he be an option to take over for Michaels in the platoon?
  • This could also be Joe Borowski’s last year as closer in Cleveland, Ocker says.  Borowski will be 37 in 2009, and it has long been speculated that Borowski is on the cusp of losing his job.  Ocker points out that it is always tough to find a closer on the free agent market, but remarks that it’s "questionable" that the role could be filled in-house.  I still don’t understand the reluctance to place Rafael Betancourt in the role.  Anyone?
  • Finally, Ocker wonders how Cliff Lee would handle losing the number five slot in the rotation to Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers.  Relying on Lee’s response to last year’s demotion — which was one of surprise at a player with a multi-year contract being sent to the minors ($3.75MM this year) — Ocker says that Lee has a sense of entitlement regarding the number five slot.  Ocker says that is "fine as long as he holds up his end of the bargain."

Posted by Matt Birt

Odds and Ends: Kelly Johnson, Nathan, Crede

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Time for some early Monday odds and ends.

  • Remember how White Sox GM Ron Schueler embarrassed Cubs GM Ed Lynch in 1998 by acquiring Jon Garland for Matt Karchner?  Rany Jazayerli sees a parallel to that heist with the Royals’ acquisition of Daniel Cortes as part of the July ’06 Mike MacDougal trade.
  • Mike Berardino’s blog continues to entertain; this time with a Dan Miceli story.  Ah, knife fights with siblings.  Who among us can say they haven’t had one or two?
  • Buster Olney learned from Braves GM Frank Wren that Kelly Johnson has been the team’s most asked-for player in trade talks this winter.
  • The look on Kyle Kendrick’s face is priceless.
  • Extension talks with the Twins and Joe Nathan have gone dormant.  Nathan still thinks the gap can be bridged but wants it done before the season begins.
  • Andy Marte and Shin-Soo Choo are both out of options; when Choo comes back from elbow surgery a month into the season one of them could be traded.
  • Henry Schulman says the White Sox may accept prospects from the Giants for Joe Crede.
  • Derek Lowe is entering his walk year, and he hasn’t had any extension talks with the Dodgers yet.

Pirates Rumors: Bay, McLouth, Morris

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MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch jumps into the fray with her own set of Pirates rumors.

  • Jason Bay rumors are flying around.  Langosch mentions Steve Phillips’ rumor at ESPN: Kelly Shoppach and Cliff Lee for Bay. Andy Marte could be involved as well.
  • The Rangers have decided they desire a corner outfielder, and moved from Nate McLouth to Bay accordingly.  Langosch suggests the Rangers would send relievers over to Pittsburgh – now that would be a bad trade for the Bucs.
  • McLouth, by the way, is drawing interest from the Giants and Padres.  He’s also been linked to the Marlins.
  • The Rockies may have some interest in Matt Morris.
  • Dealing Morris might allow the Bucs to give Brett Tomko what he wants – an opportunity to start.  The Pirates will meet with Tomko’s agent this week.

Crisp For Marte Done Deal?

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According to a source:

"I’ve been told it’s a done deal with a contingency regarding Mota’s health.  If he hits the DL a predetermined amount of times Sox might have to give up another player to be named later."

This is the same rumor/source cited in the recent RotoWorld blurb on the topic.  RotoWorld also points to a Paul Hoynes Cleveland Plain Dealer article from this morning.  Here’s that info:

"There is movement in the Coco Crisp trade to Boston.

Indians left-hander Arthur Rhodes, according to a major league source, flew to Philadelphia on Friday morning to undergo a physical by the Philadelphia Phillies. Rhodes is part of a much discussed three-way trade among the Indians, Boston and Philadelphia.

The source said the Indians are still negotiating with Boston on the main part of the trade. The key players discussed between the Indians and Boston – Crisp and third base prospect Andy Marte and right-hander Guillermo Mota – reportedly remain the same. Other players who may be traded include Indians reliever David Riske and catcher Josh Bard and Boston catcher Kelly Shoppach and right-hander Manny Delcarmen.

Rhodes would be traded for Phillies outfielder Jason Michaels, who would replace Crisp in left field."

Crisp For Marte Trade Complete?

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Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald had the scoop last night:

"According to baseball sources, the Red Sox and Cleveland Indians have agreed in principle on a deal that will bring outfielder Coco Crisp to the Sox in a multi-player trade. The deal was agreed upon several days ago under the condition that Cleveland be able to acquire another outfielder to replace Crisp, presumably Jason Michaels from the Philadelphia Phillies."

While everyone seems to agree that Crisp and Marte are the principles and the teams have been talking quite a bit, no other source that I’ve found has confirmed this trade as complete.  Chris Snow of the Boston Glove indicates that talks are still ongoing.

Should the deal go down, it appears that the Indians plan to hold Marte back for one more year.  According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"The Indians feel Marte will have to spend this season at Class AAA regardless of his position, which doesn’t do them much good if they’re going to challenge Chicago in the AL Central."

The Indians restructured and exercised Aaron Boone’s 2006 option in August of 2005, apparently deciding that there was no better alternative considering the price ($3.75MM).  In his age 32 season, Boone posted a .243/.299/.378 line in 511 at-bats.  That performance ranked 36th offensively among third baseman in 2005.  Boone spent much of the season shaking off the rust after missing 2004 because of a torn ACL.  He did manage to improve to .276/.336/.394 in the second half.

Still, you have to think the Indians made the decision on Boone’s option before they realized Marte was available.  Given that Marte hit .275/.372/.506 as a 21 year-old in Triple A, he would very likely approximate or exceed Boone’s 2006 production at a tenth of the cost.

Spinning Edgar Renteria, Guillermo Mota, and cash into Coco Crisp is a fine deal on the surface for the Red Sox.  However, they may have opened up a new hole by solving their center field problem.  The team will now be relying on a positive contribution from Mike Lowell, who is no safe bet for a rebound following a woeful .236/.298/.360 line in 2005.  Lowell was, in fact, one of the few third basemen worse than Aaron Boone in 2005.

The addition of Alex Gonzalez is also probably not a good thing for Boston.  Even with defense considered, the Sox would be lucky to get an Orlando Cabrera-ish contribution in 2006.  (And I’m referring to Cabrera circa 2005, who hit .257/.309/.365). 

The real winner in all of this is the Indians.  Even if they do delay Marte’s debut, Crisp wasn’t irreplaceable as a left fielder.  The average AL left fielder hit .278/.333/.437 in 2005, while Crisp hit .300/.345/.465.  Marte projects to be a solid regular and has star potential.

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