Renteria is an upgrade over Furcal

[2Brave2Bscared]

Besides, Marte has proved he can't do shit to ML pitching.

I haven't seen Marte in action but by looking at his numbers I don't see anything in him.

Whoa, whoa...did I really just read that? Are you two seriously touting a highly-rated prospect as "no good" after 57 scattered MLB at-bats? Do you have any idea how foolish that is? This kid hit VERY well at all levels throughout the minors and was renowned as an excellent fielder, yet you two are willing to dismiss him after 57 disappointing ABs in his rookie season?

Unbelievable.

Do you want me to drag out all the stats of current Hall-of-Famers who got off to less than stellar starts to their big-league careers? Believe me, there are quite a few. Not that I think Marte is a sure lock to turn into a superstar player and make the Hall in 25 years, but 50 odd ABs don't make or break a player.

[General]

Well, why is it that he's been on 3 teams in about 3 months then, if he's such an amazing prospect? Sure, I'd like to have him, but his lack of team spirit and mediocre defense didn't exactly excite me, not to mention his bat sucked from what I saw. Will his batting improve? Yeah. But I doubt his defense and work ethic do.

[ATLien]

Andy Marte is going to be a stud, no doubt. People get spoiled by people like Puols who are the shit right away, but it doesn't always work like that.

[2Brave2Bscared]

Well, why is it that he's been on 3 teams in about 3 months then, if he's such an amazing prospect? Sure, I'd like to have him, but his lack of team spirit and mediocre defense didn't exactly excite me, not to mention his bat sucked from what I saw. Will his batting improve? Yeah. But I doubt his defense and work ethic do.

Marte was simply a victim of circumstance. The Braves didn't have room for him with Chipper at third (and moving him (Marte) elsewhere would have decreased his value), and the Red Sox desperately needed a centerfielder after Damon bolted, and Marte was by far their biggest trading chip.

Mediocre defense you say? Lemme guess, you're basing this off of his minimal MLB playing time at third, right? Again, what you're failing to grasp is that the sample size is just too small. Did you know that Andy Marte was named Best Defensive Third-baseman in the Southern League by Baseball America in 2004? He was also honored by BA as the infielder with the best infield arm in that same year. Yeah, that sure sounds like mediocracy to me...

As for his supposed "lack of team spirit" and his poor work ethic go, I'm interested to know where you're getting this from? Because if it's coming from the same method that produced the rest of your off-based Andy Marte opinions, then it's no surprise that it's completely wrong. Marte has always been known throughout his minor league career with the Braves as a hard-working kid with a great personality. He would have moved anywhere the Braves wanted him to if it meant he could get a chance to play at the big-league level and help the team.

I think you and a few others were simply expecting too much of Marte after seeing how well the rest of the Braves' rookies performed last year. I don't think that was very fair to Marte. What Jeff, Ryan, Blaine, Macay, and to some extent McCann did last year was a bit of an anomaly, and I don't think it's fair to expect every rookie to get off to such a great start. Also, I'm sure Marte felt a lot of pressure after seeing the immense success that his fellow rookies were having, so that didn't help much either.

I apologize for being frank with you, but this undeserved Andy Marte bashing really irks me. Once again, don't judge a player based on a handful of ABs--at any level--and especially when it comes to the Major League level. It's foolish.

[General]

As for his supposed "lack of team spirit" and his poor work ethic go, I'm interested to know where you're getting this from?

We asked Marte to consider playing 1B or LF and he declined. And I am not comparing him to the likes of Francoeur, Langy or others.