Marte Clears???

by ~ February 25th, 2009 at 12:22 pm

Cleveland Indians 3B Andy Marte somehow cleared waivers today.

How does this happen?

Marte on waivers represented a FREE 25 year old who has showed big power throughout his minor league career.  Baseball America ranked him as baseball’s 40th best prospect in 2003, 9th in 2004 and 14th in 2006.

Yeah, he strikes out, and no, he doesn’t walk all that much, and he’s been tagged with the dreaded “AAAA” tag after posting a .211/.265/.311 line over 561 big league plate appearances scattered between 2005-2008, but how does every single team pass up on this guy?  There is still some definite upside there.

I didn’t think Seattle would go after him, although he would add some 3B depth for once Adrian Beltre leaves, but I figured the San Francisco Giants would definitely put in a claim as their corner infield is a bit up in the air, as well as a few other teams with 3B questions, or low payroll teams looking for cheap power.

This continues to be a strange offseason.

«
»

  • bakomariner

    I was hoping Seattle would pick him up…I’d rather have him on the 40-Man than LaHair…oh well…

  • Mr.Benton

    This really puzzles me.

  • SABR Matt

    Hm…odd

    I was NEVER a Marte fan…and I’m still not…but he’s better depth for San Fran and Seattle than their other third base alternatives. Matt Tui will IMHO be the better player, but Marte would have been nice to file away in case of emergency.

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com Jon Shields

    ^I agree with that 100%. I’m not saying Marte is going to turn out to be a stud, but he’s free, young 3B depth with big raw power. You’d think SOMEONE would want that.

  • Mariners121212

    I’m surprised about the Giants not picking him up.