Dodgers send pair of prospects to Indians for Blake

[dannymac910]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3506150

The Cleveland Indians traded third baseman/outfielder Casey Blake and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor leaguers on Saturday.

Casey Blake

Blake

"Casey Blake is a gamer," Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said. "His experience and character will be a plus as we head down the stretch in the final two months of the regular season."

The Indians received minor league catcher Carlos Santana and right-handed pitcher Jon Meloan. Santana is hitting .323, with 14 homers, for Inland Empire, in the Class A California League. The hard-throwing Meloan is 5-10, with a 4.97 ERA, at Triple-A Las Vegas -- but has piled up 335 strikeouts in only 262 innings in his minor league career.

With the trade of Xavier Nady to the Yankees on Friday, Blake was possibly the most highly sought-after bat on the market. Other teams that pursued Blake included the Rays, Mets and Phillies.

Those three teams would have played Blake in the outfield. But with the trade completed, he'll become the Dodgers' everyday third baseman, replacing slumping rookies Blake DeWitt and Andy LaRoche.

Blake, who can be a free agent after this season, was batting .289 for the Indians, with 11 homers, 58 RBIs and a .398 average with runners in scoring position.

Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

[HoustonGM]

Steal for the Indians.

Meloan's been a starter this year but has top setup reliever/closer upside, and Santana's transformed himself into a good prospect since becoming a catcher.

Blake...I don't know what the Dodgers want in Blake. The only plausible scenario is that they're planning to trade Andy LaRoche. They're not giving that guy a fair shake at all. They need to just give him the starting job and let him play. It's worked out with the Blue Jays and Adam Lind, after the Jays did the same thing with Lind that the Dodgers are doing to LaRoche. Blake is a corner man, and the Dodgers should be set at the corners with Kemp, Ethier, Loney, and LaRoche, but nooooo, Colletti can never resist the urge to block a young guy with a veteran.

[koolzach1]

Blake was a very good pickup by the Dodgers, and should help the Dodgers out quite a good bit, since he is a major upgrade, IMO. The thing is... Meloan is gonna be a closer, more than likely. He has GREAT stuff, but just needs time, and needs to be a RP/CL, not a starter.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

I think its a pretty even deal, but the Indians will probably win in the longterm.

Blake is a good upgrade for the Dodgers, and I figure they plan on playing him at 3B because he does have a good deal of experience there. But Meloan is a very good prospect and should help the Indians a great deal down the road, and is also an immediate upgrade. Santana I don't know a whole lot about, however.

[filihok]

Do I blame this on Colletti or ownership?

Argh! I can't believe I'm having thoughts of breaking up with the Dodgers and I'm jealous of the way the Angels run things.

[RickD]

Well if you leave the Dodgers you can always join the Yankees Fan Club!

[dannymac910]

I would rather have Blake than Blake at third, if I were the Dodgers.

Me too.

[robinhoodnik]

Well if you leave the Dodgers you can always join the Yankees Fan Club!

That's not a relationship, it's a dirty little tryst.
Come over to the light Filihok, you're old Yankee animosities will be accepted and lovingly nurtured as a BoSox fan.

[ohms_law]

Argh! I can't believe I'm having thoughts of breaking up with the Dodgers and I'm jealous of the way the Angels run things.

Welcome!

[HoustonGM]

I would rather have Blake than Blake at third, if I were the Dodgers.

I'd rather have Andy LaRoche. DeWitt belongs in the minors and the only reason he's still playing is because he got off to a solid start and had a hot May. Now the pitchers have figured him out. He belongs back in the minors.

Since June 1st, he's hit .200/.263/.240.

Getting Blake means that the Dodgers won't be handicapping themselves with that bat anymore, but they would likely get similar, if not better, production from Andy LaRoche if they just handed him the starting job and stopped screwing around with him. Even with his poor play in very limited playing time in the majors, a .217/.348/.316 line in 152 at bats, he's showing EXCELLENT strike zone command with a 30 to 31 walk to strikeout ratio. Let the guy play, and he'll hit .280 with good power while drawing a good amount of walks.

[RedsoxRockies]

Do the Dodgers need more 3B?

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

I'd rather have Andy LaRoche. DeWitt belongs in the minors and the only reason he's still playing is because he got off to a solid start and had a hot May. Now the pitchers have figured him out. He belongs back in the minors.

Since June 1st, he's hit .200/.263/.240.

Getting Blake means that the Dodgers won't be handicapping themselves with that bat anymore, but they would likely get similar, if not better, production from Andy LaRoche if they just handed him the starting job and stopped screwing around with him. Even with his poor play in very limited playing time in the majors, a .217/.348/.316 line in 152 at bats, he's showing EXCELLENT strike zone command with a 30 to 31 walk to strikeout ratio. Let the guy play, and he'll hit .280 with good power while drawing a good amount of walks.

I agree. The guys gone from the #1 prospect 2 or 3 years ago to a "bust" because they've screwed him up and haven't given him a fair shake.

He'll be the next Carlos Quentin, the guy who doesn't get a shot with his original team and flourishes after getting traded, mark my words. And the Dodgers will be kicking themselves in the a$$.

[gRYFYN1]

Andy LaRoche if they just handed him the starting job and stopped screwing around with him. Even with his poor play in very limited playing time in the majors, a .217/.348/.316 line in 152 at bats, he's showing EXCELLENT strike zone command with a 30 to 31 walk to strikeout ratio. Let the guy play, and he'll hit .280 with good power while drawing a good amount of walks.

I agree with this LaRoche has 152 ABs! hes started 42 games and 14 so far this year, people seem to think he "underperforming" yet he not even playing.

Conversely look how the Sox handled Pedroia, after 152 ABs he was hitting about 190 and OPSing less than 600, yet they played him and now look.

[filihok]

At least he's not traded yet.

Fine, they let Blake finish off the year, but it's gotta be LaRoche next year.

But, Colletti will be losing Furcal and Kent, so he's bound to sign some veterans. We'll see...

[OldFatGuy]

I'd rather have Andy LaRoche. DeWitt belongs in the minors and the only reason he's still playing is because he got off to a solid start and had a hot May. Now the pitchers have figured him out. He belongs back in the minors.

Since June 1st, he's hit .200/.263/.240.

Getting Blake means that the Dodgers won't be handicapping themselves with that bat anymore, but they would likely get similar, if not better, production from Andy LaRoche if they just handed him the starting job and stopped screwing around with him. Even with his poor play in very limited playing time in the majors, a .217/.348/.316 line in 152 at bats, he's showing EXCELLENT strike zone command with a 30 to 31 walk to strikeout ratio. Let the guy play, and he'll hit .280 with good power while drawing a good amount of walks.

HGM, this makes perfect sense to me. The problem is, with my aging memory going bad, I'm having a hard time remembering when Ned Coletti did anything that made perfect sense.