Remembering Andy Marte as part of the Boston Red Sox Organization

          

Former third baseman Andy Marte with the Braves

Rest in Peace Andy Marte Oct. 21, 1983- Jan. 22, 2017

          Former major leaguer Andy Marte died in a car crash early this morning while in the Dominican Republic. Marte was a former top prospect, ranking in baseball’s top prospects four times throughout his career and as high as ninth overall, per baseball America. Marte spent a brief amount of time with the Boston Red Sox in 2005. This is a memory of Marte as part of the Red Sox farm system.

            The Red Sox played to a 95-67 record and were swept by the eventual World Series Champions Chicago White Sox. They had signed shortstop Edgar Renteria to man the position the previous offseason. Renteria had a decent line of eight homers, 70 RBI and nine stolen bases while he maintained a .276 batting average in his one season with the Red Sox. However, Renteria’s defense was horrible, committing 30 errors and garnering boos at Fenway Park. Red Sox ownership was also disappointed with Renteria’s performance, which lead to ownership, acting without a general manager, trading Renteria to the Atlanta Braves for third base prospect Andy Marte.

            The trade received high praise for the Boston Red Sox. Many writers believed Andy Marte had a huge ceiling, while hardballtimes.com quotes some saying “Marte is a future All-Star, a possible hall of famer.” I remember the ownership group saying Marte was the type of players you could start a team with.

            I remember little about what sports talk shows and baseball beat writers had to say, for I was only 10 at the time of the trade and didn’t listen or read much from those two products. However, I remember liking the trade because Marte could hit a lot of home runs and I liked players that could hit home runs. I had never seen the Red Sox trade a major-league player for a top prospect before. Marte was the first prospect I had ever seen the Red Sox “sell” and acquire a minor leaguer (During the 2014 season I saw much more of the team “selling”).

            Marte’s Red Sox tenure didn’t last long.  Forty-nine days later, the team shipped Marte off to Cleveland along with pitcher Guillermo Mota, catcher Kelly Shoppach, and cash for center fielder Coco Crisp, catcher Josh Bard and pitcher David Riske. This came after Theo Epstein’s return to the Red Sox as general manager, who wanted to trade Marte to the Devil Rays for Julio Lugo (Epstein would later sign Lugo via free agency).

            Marte never panned out to his top ten prospect in all of baseball status, struggling to stay on major league rosters throughout his entire career. If Theo Epstein never took a hiatus from the team, who knows what would have happened, whether he would have traded for Marte and/or traded him away. Maybe if the Red Sox kept him, he would have fulfilled his potential.

            However short his Red Sox tenure was, Marte played a big role in the history of the Red Sox organization. When I and most others think of the decade of the 2000s, the Marte trade(s) come to mind. Marte will forever remain in the history of the 2000s decade for the Boston Red Sox. He will be missed amongst the baseball and baseball writers community. Taken too soon, rest in peace Andy Marte.