Taking a Look at the Corner Infield Heading Into 08
Indians.com’s Anthony Castrovince popped out a new article today on the site about the third base and first base spots and what options the team has going into 2008. First base seems pretty simple - you have Ryan Garko coming off a pretty solid season (despite some lapses) and Victor Martinez can play there as well to give his knees a break and when Gark is out of the lineup. At third, things are a bit more tricky. The famous Casey Blake debate rolls on, as I have heard more back and forth over the years on if he’s good enough to be an everyday player or not it makes me drive off the road. He’s never going to be A-Rod with the offensive numbers, but hey, he’s had some pretty big hits over the years for a guy that is supposed to be a “stopgap” year after year.
Andy Marte’s (remember him?) name comes up in the article as well, as Anthony talks about the team needing to find out once and for all what type of future this kid has, and if being a member of the Wahoo is going to be in his future long-term. “He’s going to be a part-time player,” Mark Shapiro said of Marte. “He has to win at-bats.” That tells me for now, expect to see Blake get the job out of the Spring, with Marte on the MLB roster getting to play 1-2 times a week. Link to the story is below.
Matt has covered Major League Baseball and the "other two" Pro teams in Cleveland since 1994. He has been on the beat of the Indians in full-time mode since 1996, working for various raido and print networks around the country.
