Young Marte already ahead of game
At just 22, Tribe prospect likely to be called up soon
<!-- begin body-content -->So how are we to look at Andy Marte, the Indians' third baseman-in-waiting at Class AAA Buffalo?
Start with the fact that he's only 22. According to Tribe Director of Player Development John Farrell, the average Class AAA player is 26.
At Buffalo, Marte is the second-youngest player on the team -- behind 20-year-old Asdrubal Cabrera.
``And he's the youngest player in Class AAA,'' Farrell said of the young shortstop.
So what does age mean?
A lot, when it comes to measuring prospects.
If Marte was 26, then his statistics (.276, 13 home runs, 43 RBI) would not be special.
As General Manager Mark Shapiro said, there are players being drafted out of college this summer who are the same age as Marte -- and they will begin their pro careers in rookie ball, four levels below Marte.
At 6-foot-1 and a bulky 200 pounds, Marte looks older.
He seems older because he signed with the Atlanta Braves at age 17 out of the Dominican Republic.
He played a year at Danville in the Appalachian League. Homesick and lonely, Marte batted .200 in 37 games -- his only disappointing minor-league season.
So when you look at Marte's numbers the last few seasons, you must do it through the lens of age and projections. Remember that baseball is an unforgiving game; few players take shortcuts to the majors.
Consider that Jim Thome spent parts of three seasons trying to stick in Cleveland before finally establishing himself in 1994.
By then he was 23.
Bartolo Colon went up and down six times in the 1997 season before he became a member of the rotation in '98. He was 26; he signed at 19.
Travis Hafner is a star now, but he signed at 20 and didn't break into the Tribe lineup until he was 26.
That frustrates most fans because the tendency is to want the kids to play like veterans. Very few are like Grady Sizemore or Manny Ramirez, players who don't repeat a level in the minors and just make a relentless march to the big leagues.
Most players stumble at some point in their journey up the ladder.
`Can't-miss' rating
Marte came to the Tribe in the controversial Coco Crisp winter trade with the Boston Red Sox. Marte was ranked the No. 1 prospect in the Atlanta Braves' farm system in 2005, and the No. 1 Red Sox prospect for 2006 by Baseball America. The magazine rated Marte No. 9 in all of baseball.
Atlanta traded Marte to the Red Sox for veteran shortstop and four-time All-Star Edgar Renteria, and the Red Sox also paid more than $15 million on Renteria's contract. The Red Sox then used Marte as bait for Crisp, because they knew the Tribe had been trying to deal for Marte with the Braves.
Some fans saw Marte being traded twice in a few months and wondered if there was something wrong. Actually, there was a lot right with Marte. The Braves didn't need him at third because of veteran Chipper Jones. The Red Sox were desperate for a center fielder to replace free agent Johnny Damon, and they went after Marte to secure Crisp.
Marte is a tremendous prospect, but ``can't-miss'' prospects have missed before. Here's another fact: Tribe players Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook, Casey Blake, Hafner and Sizemore were nothing more than unproven prospects when the Indians obtained them.
Most fans have a tendency to remember those who fail. Several fans have been dredging up the ghost of Ted Cox from the late 1970s, a hot-shot third-base prospect whom the Indians obtained from the Red Sox. He flopped in Cleveland.
For what it's worth, Cox had only 44 homers in 2,070 minor-league at-bats, hitting .287.
Marte has 95 homers in 2,143 minor-league at-bats, hitting .275.
What does that comparison demonstrate?
Absolutely nothing. Every player, every circumstance is different.
In 1970, Graig Nettles was an outfielder with the Minnesota Twins who hit .224 at age 24. He was a prospect with a huge question mark next to his name. The Indians traded for him, moved him to third base, and he became an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner -- with the New York Yankees in the mid-1970s.
So what does that prove?
That sometimes no one knows anything when it comes to projecting young players.
Waiting his turn
Marte hit .350 in spring training, but the Indians sent him to the minors because they had veteran Aaron Boone at third. Besides, there was no rush. Marte will not even turn 23 until the end of October.
Yes, he played for Richmond last season in the same Class AAA International League, hitting .275 with 20 HR and 74 RBI. At 21, he also spent 24 games with the Braves. He was totally overmatched, hitting .140.
Here's what you notice when looking at Marte's record: He has produced about the same at every level from Class A to Class AAA. He hits about 20 homers and drives in about 70 runs in about 110 games. He strikes out about once in every four at-bats, and is usually among the league leaders in walks.
All while being one of the youngest players in his league.
Former Tribe executive Jeff Scott used to say that kind of consistency can be a pattern with some Latino players. He pointed to former Indian Carlos Baerga, who batted .270 in Class A, .273 in Class AA, .275 in Class AAA and then .260 with Tribe in 1990, before breaking through at .312 in 1992 -- when he was 23.
Marte's averages in the last four minor-league seasons at three levels: .285, .269, .275 and .276.
Marte is relatively consistent, regardless of his opponents' pitching. For his career, he's a .285 hitter vs. lefties, .270 vs. righties. This season, it's .286 vs. lefties, .272 vs. righties.
Breakdown in '06
Marte had a strong first week at Buffalo, batting close to .400. He began to slump in mid-April, and really hit bottom in May (.225, two HR, eight RBI).
``I saw a good kid who was pressing at the end of May,'' said Tribe Assistant General Manager Neal Huntington. ``He thought he had a chance to come up because Boone was struggling, and Andy had not been hitting homers. He started to try and pull everything.''
A strong right-handed hitter, Marte is at his best when he hits the ball up the middle and to right-center. If he tries to hit the ball hard to left field, he pulls his head out to third base, loses sight of the ball and messes up his stride and balance as he swings.
Many hitters have this same problem.
``Andy is so sincere, so hard-working that you have to be careful that you don't give him too much advice,'' said Farrell. ``He takes it all to heart, and tries everything.''
When a hitter says, ``I lost my swing,'' it means he suddenly forgets what comes naturally.
In June, what was lost suddenly was found for Marte.
He batted .304 with 10 homers and 22 RBI in 24 games, and he's batting .313 in 14 games in July.
``I think he got over the hype of the trade and the expectations he felt,'' said Huntington. ``We forget, but he's still so young. He really wants to excel. He has natural talent, and just needed to make it flow.''
Here are Marte's batting averages for the first four months of this season: .284, .225, .304 and .313.
``That actually is a pattern that he's shown in the past,'' said Farrell. ``He gets hot right away, then slows down, then picks it up in June and hits well the rest of the year.''
You might have noticed Marte won the home run hitting contest at the Triple-A International League All-Star Game. As for what that indicates, the answer is not much, other than he can hit a lot of home runs off 60 mph batting-practice pitches.
Defensive work
Shapiro and others in the Tribe front office mention that Marte ``is not a finished product.'' They say he will have to be ``finished off in the majors.'' Shapiro has been talking about a call-up near August for Marte.
Right now, the Indians are working on his defense.
This is a strange twist to the story. In his first four minor-league seasons, he was voted by opposing managers and coaches as the best defensive third baseman in his respective leagues.
That included last year in the International League, when he had 15 errors in 109 games.
This season, he has made 19 errors in 87 games in the same league.
Here are his errors by month: six in April, two in May, nine in June and two in July.
How about this: In the month when he hit the best (June), he made the most errors. In the month when he hit the worst (May), he had the fewest errors.
Farrell and others in the Tribe front office have no idea what that means. They just say they are working on his fielding -- especially going to his left. Marte has a strong arm; sometimes, he just doesn't get his body in front of grounders.
At 22, it seems Marte should continue to improve and grow emotionally and physically. Most players don't peak until their late 20s. It's hard to rush experience or maturity.
The 33-year-old Aaron Boone ranks 23rd among all major-league third basemen in RBI (36), 20th in batting average (.246), 37th in homers (four) and second in errors (14). He batted .198 in June, .216 in July.
Ready or not, it appears Marte's time is coming.
For the Tribe, the good thing is Marte's minor-league record shows he has time on his side.
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