Casey Blake traded to the Dodgers
Casey Blake has been traded to the Dodgers for prospects RHP Jon Meloan and C Carlos Santana. The Indians are sending cash to the Dodgers to help pay off the rest of Blake’s contract this year.
Blake is essentially what Xavier Nady is, except five years older. He can be counted on to produce position-average offense at the corner positions, for now at least. It’s not like the Dodgers made this deal counting on Blake for next year, anyway. It appears that Blake is here to take plate appearances away from Blake DeWitt and NOT Andre Ethier, which is a very good thing. Of course, that means even less chance for Andy LaRoche to get any meaningful major league playing time, but at least this isn’t a total disaster. Things are looking up for the Dodgers!
Meloan has put up eye-popping numbers as a reliever in 2006 and 2007, eye-popping enough that he was close to being only the 3rd reliever on the pre-season Top 100. In those two years he put up a combined 182 K and 43 BB in 118.2 IP. Considering he was remarkably successful as a mostly two-pitch sinker/slider pitcher (he mixes in a curveball as well), the Dodgers decided it was necessary to screw with his mind and move him to the rotation. It’s a defensible decision, as a pitcher is more valuable to a team as a starter than a reliever, especially to a team like the Dodgers who already had Saito, Broxton and Kuo in the late-innings. Still, stud relievers are getting big contracts for a reason; they’re valuable!
This year as a starter, Meloan has seriously regressed. Go figure. It remains to be seen if the Indians will use him as a starter or a reliever, but I seriously hope that it’s the latter.
I recently got asked why Carlos Santana wasn’t on the Top 100 list; he certainly could have been. He’d easily be in the top 150. He’s hitting .323/.431/.563, which as you might guess is helped by BABIP, but it’s not like it’s a fluke either. He’s shown very legitimate hitting tools in the past which appear to have translated into production this year. He has a very good arm behind the plate and a lot of athleticism, but he’s raw and needs some work if he wants to stay there. So why wasn’t he on the Top 100?
Well first, I’m always wary of anybody who has a breakout season in the California League. Second, despite his gaudy numbers this year, I don’t think he has a tremendously high ceiling, especially at catcher. Third, there’s certainly no guarantee that he’ll remain at catcher, and if he has to move to 1B or 3B his value is obviously crippled. Still, he’s a very valuable guy, and a good one for the Indians to get.
Overall, I think this trade is pretty fair, and makes sense for both teams.
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