Andy Marte Discussion

Overnight, his plate discipline, which had previously not just been good, but rather elite, dropped to far below average. He walked 14% of the time in AAA with Richmond for almost an entire season. Two years later in Buffalo, he’s walking 5.5% of the time. Why? Who knows. But he was never going to hit for high average or BABIP, and not being selective massacred any shot he had of hitting for a decent batting average (and no walks to supplement either).

It’s hard for me to believe that a 25 year old who hits .327 with .345 ISOP (even with weak 7% BB rate) in AAA can’t still be at least a league average hitter; last year was another big wtf from him, but he’s blown it again this year. He’s one of the great enigmas amongst prospects of the last 20 years, imo. Maybe Japan if he can find work there. I don’t hold much hope for him ever playing a full season in MLB.

given regular playing time. He has a poor stat line this year, but it’s in 74 plate appearances, and even then, his BB% is 10.8, which is perfectly adequate.

Marte in 2010 reminds me a bit of Carlos Pena back in 2005-2006. Teams decided he wasn’t good enough and moved on, paying no attention to the fact that he’s legitimately improved. He has never gotten a legitimate shot at everyday playing time. His “playing every day” you mention was a grand total of 155 at-bats last year, and he’s a bench-only guy now. That’s not to say he has 40-homer power, but I absolutely believe he could be a quality regular given the chance.

It’s a head-scratcher why he the Tribe hasn’t given him a real audition given their dire straits, or shipped him to a team that will. Jhonny Peralta is expensive and bad. At the very worst, Andy Marte is Peralta’s equal at the plate and in the field, and there’s much more upside there.