Why Marte is expendable

[RockRaines]

Cotts has right stuff

Sox left-hander's emergence makes Marte expendable

 

 

 

July 25, 2005

 

Johnny Damon knew he'd faced Neal Cotts before Saturday but mostly because the research told him so.

 

"I'd faced him three times before," Damon said. "That's what the numbers showed, anyway."

 

Damon will be better prepared the next time he sees Cotts—most likely when the White Sox travel to Fenway Park in three weeks. The 25-year-old left-hander struck out Damon on three pitches Saturday night and then got him out again in the sixth inning on Sunday, this time with the White Sox clinging to a 5-3 lead against the Boston Red Sox.

 

Moments like that one, when Cotts just about blew a 90-m.p.h. fastball past Damon, are why the White Sox are willing to consider sending veteran lefty Damaso Marte to Florida in the trade for A.J. Burnett that is on the table.

 

"His fastball just seems to get up on you," said Damon, who flied out to Scott Podsednik to leave two runners on in the sixth. "He's got nice 'short-arm' action. That's what makes it tough on us. … It seems like he's having a good year against everyone."

 

Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox manager, says Cotts and right-handed setup man Cliff Politte are his most underrated players. They have become his most used pitchers, with Cotts working in eight of the last 10 and Politte working in six of the last eight.

 

"I guess it's like growing up," said Cotts, who has cut his earned-run average to 2.36 from 5.65 last season. "You take your lumps and keep coming at them. You have to learn from 'em. The kind of a year I had last year, you either learn from the lumps or you aren't going to stick around."

 

Sticking around in the big leagues is never easy.

 

It's possible that Jose Contreras, the Cuban who weathered 100-degree heat to be the winning pitcher in Sunday's 6-4 victory, won't still be with the White Sox when they return from the upcoming trip to Kansas City and Baltimore. The Sox might have to send Contreras, Marte and pitching prospect Brandon McCarthy to Florida to get Burnett, who raised his stock by holding San Francisco to one unearned run in 71/3 innings Sunday.

 

That's a huge price to pay for a guy with a 44-44 career record. It reflects the magnitude of this potential deal.

 

But the possibility of landing the biggest impact player on the market—this year's Carlos Beltran—hasn't gotten into the White Sox's collective head.

 

Despite all the talk about Burnett, Guillen and his players remained focused on the team in the other dugout. As a result, and with much credit going to Contreras, they gained a split of the four-game series with Boston.

 

Contreras, the holder of a 13.50 ERA in six previous starts against Boston, pitched awfully well for a guy who wouldn't figure in a four-man playoff rotation including Burnett. Orlando Hernandez, who could be reduced to a playoff long man by a Burnett trade, had done the same thing in a 3-0 loss Saturday night.

 

Even if Contreras isn't in a Burnett deal, he could be dealt somewhere (maybe even Boston) in a subsequent deal. He's won three of his last four starts and worked at least five innings in 15 of his last 16 starts. Those guys don't grown on trees.

 

Ditto tough left-handed

 

relievers.

 

In Marte and Cotts, the White Sox are one of the few teams that have two of them. The Marlins have none. That's why these teams fit so well in trade talks.

 

With an 111/2-game lead in the American League Central, the Sox can look ahead to October. Florida, only 41/2 games back in the bunched National League East, is trying to get more than a draft pick for Burnett (a potential free agent) without waving a white flag.

 

An absolute animal in 2002 and '03, Marte hasn't been as tough the last two seasons. Guillen wanted him to get the save on Sunday but had to summon Dustin Hermanson after Marte walked two of the first three he faced in the ninth inning.

 

If this was a showcase, it didn't go as the White Sox hoped.

 

The wonder is Florida isn't insisting on Cotts, who has been throwing zeroes since the All-Star break. He is thriving on the heavy workload (thus far, anyway), holding opponents to four hits in 71/3 scoreless innings in his last eight outings. Oakland and the Cubs (on a Jason Dubois homer) are the only teams that have scored on him in his 24 outings in June and July.

 

In addition to the sneaky-quick fastball, the key to his success has been a pitch he didn't start working on until the spring of 2004.

 

"The cutter, or slider, whatever you want to call it, is better this year," Cotts said. "I was just learning it last year."

 

That pitch should be familiar to White Sox opponents. It's the one that helped turn Mark Buehrle into one of the AL's top starters.

 

Buehrle and pitching coach Don Cooper have tried teaching it to other left-handers, giving them another pitch to neutralize right-handed hitters, and Cotts has listened well. The changeup that was his second pitch in the minors has become his third option.

 

Buehrle, a midseason promotion in 2000, established himself as a reliever on a playoff team. Cotts is doing the same thing, possibly even with better pure stuff than Buehrle. It's not a reach to picture him as a member of the starting rotation down the road, provided general manager Ken Williams doesn't just keep importing experienced starters.

 

"You get in trouble if you start looking at the future," Cotts said. "I'm just going to look at what's going on right now, starting with getting to the airport safely. You can't go wrong with that approach."

Edited July 25, 2005 by RockRaines

[thelatinoheat_30]

i dunno if burnett is worth mac and marte, just cause of his injuries and his .500 lifetime record. if you gotta trade contreras too, that's way too much to give up for an unknown.

[RockRaines]

i dunno if burnett is worth mac and marte, just cause of his injuries and his .500 lifetime record.  if you gotta trade contreras too, that's way too much to give up for an unknown.

BMAC is an unknown and Marte is a declining bullpen arm. I think he is the worst arm in the whole pen. I dont see how that is getting ripped off.

[drowninginflame]

I'll pack marte's f***ing bags for him

[southsideirish71]

Stupidest comment in that article is that we would even consider trading Contreras to the Bosox. Nothing like sending a power arm to the team you will most likley have to beat in the playoffs.

 

Do these reporters even think at times.

Edited July 25, 2005 by southsideirish71

[illinilaw08]

i dunno if burnett is worth mac and marte, just cause of his injuries and his .500 lifetime record.  if you gotta trade contreras too, that's way too much to give up for an unknown.

 

I agree that adding Contreras to the mix makes this deal far less appealing. Contreras is locked up through 2006 and it seems as though Burnett is nothing more than a rent-a-player. Also, Contreras has really shown some flashes of brilliance this year. Based on most published reports, the market has declined for Burnett and therefore, I feel KW will force the Marlins hand and make them accept just BMAC and Marte. I also agree with the earlier post that Marte's arm is in decline. Hawk made a comment yesterday that he is walking a lot of lefties. If a left handed reliever can't retire lefties, and you can turn him and a prospect into AJ Burnett, I dont see how that move does not make sense.

[RockRaines]

Stupidest comment in that article is that we would even consider trading Contreras to the Bosox.    Nothing like sending a power arm to the team you will most likley have to beat in the playoffs. 

 

Do these reporters even think at times.

Maybe we would send JC and Jenks to Boston for Mike Myers?????

[elrockinMT]

If we trade Contreras then the only other one going should be BMac OR Marte not both. Marte has so much upside and BMAC has so much potential. You don't give up 3 good pitchers for one. Burnett has a lot going for him, but he is a .500 hurler at this point. Florida should be charged with rape of the Sox if we give them 3 for 1.

[bjm676]

No way we send Contreras, McCarthy AND Marte. That's way too much IMO. It's has to be two of the three.

[Soxfest]

BMAC is an unknown and Marte is a declining bullpen arm.  I think he is the worst arm in the whole pen.  I dont see how that is getting ripped off.

 

 

LV is the worst by far.

[RockRaines]

LV is the worst by far.

Disagree, he is more valuable considering he is the only long reliever. Damaso is just another set up man, who can only get righties out. We already have 2 guys who can do that.