Marte was at one time Baseball America’s No. 6 prospect in baseball. I think it is unlikely that he will ever become as good as people expected. His OBP really dropped off the table, even at the minor league level, and that is a warning sign for a 25 year old, in term of a limited potential for developing into a ML starter. That’s not to say that he might not become a decent role player in the majors if he catches on with another team.

Total Zone indicates that he is a plus defensive player at 3d base. His major league defensive stats are mixed, but the sample size probably is too small to tell us much. If Marte is a good defensive third baseman, I wouldn’t mind if the Astros took a flyer on him.

The Astros would have a tough fit getting Marte onto the 25 man roster. Boone has a guaranteed contract and is unlikely to be jettisoned unless he drops dead. Marte would have to take a utility infielder slot, but he doesn’t really play a middle infield position.

if the Astros are going to give a marginal 3B prospect a chance we’ve already got Chris Johnson

yeah but Marte is a better overall prospect than Johnson!!!

If you want to aquire Marte, go play MVP baseball 2005. But I do think we should give Johnson a shot, have him plattoon with Boon at third, and Blum be our backup infielder.