A sad day in baseball: Ventura, Marte killed in accidents

Andy Marte, 33, and Yordano Ventura, 25, were both killed in separate car accidents in the Dominican Republic Sunday morning.

Marte signed with the Atlanta Braves back in 2000 and his time spent in the minors saw him rise from a Top 50 prospect to a Top 10. He made his debut at the age of 21 with the Braves in 2005 and he would be on the move quite a bit over the remainder of his career. That 2005 offseason alone, he was traded twice. First the Braves sent him to the Red Sox, who would later send Marte to the Indians.

The right-handed corner infielder spent seven seasons in the big leagues, primarily with the Cleveland Indians. After a brief stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014, Marte finished his MLB career with a .218/.276/.358 slash line.

Ventura was the fiery ace of the Kansas City Royals who came to prominence during their surprising 2014 World Series run. Ventura would pitch one of the finest games of his career in that World Series, days after his friend Oscar Taveras' life was taken too early in a car accident of his own.

He would go 13-8 the following season as the Royals would win the World Series. Though he had his fair share of controversy over the past seasons, he was nothing less than exciting every time he took the mound.

Signed in 2008 at the age of 18, Ventura would become a consensus Top 100 prospect in both of his final two years in the minors. He ends his brief major league career with a 38-31 record behind a 3.89 ERA and 1.34 WHIP with 470 career strikeouts.

Our thoughts here at Minor League Ball are with the friends, families, and organizations of both Marte and Ventura.