Casey Blake traded to Dodgers, Carmona activated from DL, Laffey sent down, Reyes acquired from Cardinals
by Jay on Jul 26, 2008 3:04 PM EDT
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PrintThe Indians have traded Casey Blake to the Dodgers for two quality prospects — Carlos Santana, a 22-year-old catcher who has been dominating the Advanced-A California League with a 993 OPS, and Jon Meloan, a reliever in Triple-A who just turned 24. Reports that a deal was close leaked out this morning and have been confirmed by Dodgers GM Ned Colletti.
Santana leads all minor leaguers with a staggering 96 RBI in just 99 games — yeah, I know it's an "idiot stat," but that is just a ton of RBI. With the caveat that we don't really know the relative park factors, Santana is hitting almost exactly as far above league average as Victor Martinez was in 2001, at the same age and level. His batting line is stunningly without flaw — .323 / .431 / .563, 16% walk rate, 1.74 ISO, 52 extra base hits and 69 walks against only 59 strikeouts. Optimistically, he'll be ready for the majors around 2010 or 2011, which coincidentally are Martinez and Shoppach's respective walk years.
Meloan dominated as a reliever last season in Double-A and Triple-A, but he struggled this season as the Dodgers attempted to make him into a starter. The Indians probably are interested in converting him back to the bullpen, where the club badly needs a few more strong, potential contributors in 2009. Meloan has two more option years remaining after this season.
One somewhat surprising detail of the deal is that the Indians will send the Dodgers cash to cover all of Blake's remaining salary for the season, about $2.2 million. This is an unusual detail in a deal that isn't essentially one team ridding itself of part of a horrendous contract, and it's especially unusual when the team receiving the money has a much larger budget for player salaries ($118 million) than the team sending it ($78 million).
That said, the arrangement is not so unusual considering the Indians' history of deals under Dolan and Shapiro. In most of the famous 2002 deals, the Indians passed up chances to shed payroll, opting instead essentially to continue paying the player they were giving up (Chuck Finley then, Blake now) or to take on "payroll steerage" to even the books (Lee Stevens in the Colon deal). By agreeing to shoulder an extra cash burden, the Indians consistently have given teams an added incentive to include better talent in these deals — given Blake's fairly marginal value over the next nine weeks, one could argue that the Dodgers have essentially sold the Indians a terrific catcher prospect for the bargain price of $2.2 million.
The Indians did not send the Brewers any cash in the Sabathia deal, which saved the club approximately $5.4 million and probably contributed to their generosity in this and any further trades.
In a separate and unrelated deal, the Indians have acquired RHP Anthony Reyes from the Cardinals for RHP Luis Perdomo. Reyes, 26, has had a solid season in Triple-A with a 3.25 ERA over 11 starts but fared poorly in ten appearances as reliever for the big-league club. Perdomo, 24, utterly dominated much younger Carolina League competition, and he's pitched well since being promoted to Double-A earlier this month. Neither is considered a significant prospect.
Reyes famously shut down the Tigers in Game One of the 2006 World Series, playing a key part in the 82-win club's improbable postseason run to a title. He has struggled to find any lasting success in the majors, however, with just 10 wins in 38 starts and a career ERA+ of 82. Ironically, the Cardinals to talked seriously to the Indians about acquiring Reyes this past offseason, in exchange for another young starter experiencing serious career difficulties — Cliff Lee.
The Indians presumably are looking at Reyes as a fifth starter option for the rest of this season, giving them a credible option especially in the event they trade Paul Byrd by August 31. Reyes will be out of options after this season, however, making him a non-option as a sixth or seventh starter in 2009. It's unlikely the Indians will see him as a quality option for the rotation next year, so barring key injuries in Spring Training, he likely will be off our 40-man roster by the end of next March, one way or another.
But wait — there's more!
The Indians have activated Fausto Carmona from the Disabled List to start tonight's game against the Twins, his first start in the majors in over two months. He's, like, awesome, and we have him signed until, like, forever.
Aaron Laffey was optioned to Buffalo to make way for Carmona. Laffey was suppressed runs like crazy in his first two months, garnering a 2.83 ERA over 11 starts despite poor K/BB numbers, 30/19 over 70 IP. The league seemed to catch up to him in his last five starts, in which he allowed 27 runs (22 earned) in just 23.2 IP. A trip to Buffalo might help him catch his breath, or it might just help the Indians keep him an extra year.
Andy Gonzalez has been called up to take Blake's spot on the active roster. He can't really hit at all, but he has played 26 games at 2B for the Bisons this season, plus 15 or more games at each of four other positions: 3B, 1B, SS and LF. Travis Hafner was moved from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL, a formality with little consequence other than opening up a spot on the 40-man roster for a few months. Reyes and Meloan take the 40-man spots vacated by Hafner and Blake.
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I’m really pleased with this deal, and applaud Shapiro for taking extreme advantage of the highest trade value Casey Blake has or will ever have. Santana looks like a great guy to have in the mill for 2010 or so, and I’m looking forward to him.
I guess I’m just curious about Meloan, and am wondering if anyone knows anything about him beyond the numbers, because the shift from 2007 to 2008 is pretty extreme in terms of K/9, BB, and HBP, and ERA, all for the worse this year. Has he spent this entire season as a starter? Is he a headcase? Struggling in late innings? What made the Dodgers think he should start when his relief stats were so strong?
WTAM will have it, so I would assume they will be streaming it if those out of the area want to listen.
by Fundamentals on Jul 26, 2008 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions
meloan is a fireballer and i’m very optimistic that the has a future at the end of a bullpen in his career. i play in a 75 man roster sim fantasy league and we have extensive minor league scouting and involvement so i’ve been watching meloan for a while.
meloan is listed by sickels at minorleagueball.com as the dodgers 5th best prospect while santana didn’t crack the preseason top 20. while his numbers are staggering, this is clearly santana’s breakout year.
this article from last summer talks about meloan (http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/57436.php) and had this to say:
“Rotoworld called Meloan the “game’s best pure relief prospect…He has the arsenal to start, but because of his maximum-effort delivery, the Dodgers figured that putting him in the pen was the best way to keep him healthy. It looks like they were right,” Rotoworld wrote. With a 92-94 mph fastball and a pair of strikeout breaking balls, he could prove to be a long-term closer.”
interestingly, meloan was college teammates with trevor crowe at arizona.
So in the past two days Crowe, Laffey, Meloan and Reyes were all sent to Buffalo. Who was moved to make room for them?
The way that last season ended for us, who would’ve thought that our AAA affiliate in late July would include:
Jeff Weaver
Morgan Ensberg
Tony Graffanino
Anthony Reyes
Bryan Bullington
Todd Linden
You guys always complain about the team is uninteresting, but the collection of players they have on that team is pretty hilarious.
by supermarioelia on Jul 26, 2008 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions
You could get me to watch an Indians-Bisons series right about now.
by fleerdon on Jul 26, 2008 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Martin sent to Akron,
moves to make room for Reyes, Meloan have not been made yet; they have a window before they report and space needs to be cleared.
right now, Buffalo has 13 active pitchers and only 11 postition players and they need to make space for
2 more pitchers, so 2 pitchers (plus Stevens going to Olympics) will not be in Buffalo for long
I’m guessing wtam.com. They are just starting their coverage right now.
by Fundamentals on Jul 26, 2008 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions
No kiddin, I was hoping for this too, especially since now Garko has first all to himself. eek.
by supermarioelia on Jul 26, 2008 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Andy Gonzalez has played 16 games at 1B this season in Buffalo. Along with time at 2B, SS, 3B and LF.
Gonzalez is the new kid on the Marte blocker.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 26, 2008 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Wow, even including his 0-5 last night, Aubrey has an OPS of 997 over his last 10 games.
by supermarioelia on Jul 26, 2008 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Perdomo would have been exposed to the Rule 5 this winter assuming he wasn’t added to the 40-man (which it’s really doubtful he would have), right?
Hello APV,
If that’s true, I can see why they were willing to trade Perdomo, who looked promising. Reyes, in my opinion, has lost some of his luster, but perhaps new scenery will lead to him becoming more like the pitcher many were expecting (not an ace, mind you, but at least a very solid #3 starter, if not maybe a decent #2 pitcher).
I’ve noticed St. Louis used Reyes exclusively as a reliever this year – is the plan for us to put him in the Buffalo rotation or in the Buffalo bullpen? Just curious.
Just my 2 cents. :-)
The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.
Shapiro said in the press conference that they view Reyes as starting depth.
by Fundamentals on Jul 26, 2008 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks for the info. – I suspected they probably seen him as a starter, since even his Minor League appearances were still starts, but thought I’d just confirm it – thanks!
The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.
He’s offended.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 26, 2008 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Hello luifer5,
Thanks for asking! :-)
I liked Perdomo and thought he could factor into the Indians’ bullpen, being that he has that power arm that we are mostly lacking in our bullpen.
For Reyes, provided we can get him to be more consistent at the ML level, it seems to be a solid trade. I hope Reyes can fill our rotation for at least a few years, at least as a #3 pitcher, if not maybe a #2 pitcher. Otherwise, it may be a bit of a bust if Perdomo develops as expected.
However, I do have higher hopes for Reyes (as a starter) than I do for Zach Jackson, though to his credit, he is pitching quite well so far at AAA Buffalo, so perhaps I dismissed Jackson too quickly.
Just my 2 cents.
Again, thanks for asking! :-)
The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.
Not surprising given his performance the last few weeks.
Free Andy Marte!
by woodsmeister on Jul 26, 2008 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Luis Perdomo
Cards fan here. Sorry to see Reyes go but happy he is getting a fresh start to play. Could you guys tell me a little more about him and maybe I can answer some of your questions about Reyes
Here’s another report from the same site:
This is an opposing scout’s take on him:
Luis Perdomo (RHP – Kinston): “That guy, he is interesting. I saw him last year, and he is definitely better this year. He has done some things that are pretty interesting. To me right now he would be a middle reliever guy and not a setup guy or closer. He pounds the zone with the fastball and slider. So goes his slider, so goes his upside. This year the slider has spiked and it is a lot better. He would be a good middle relief guy to come in and wipeout righties with that two-pitch plan. The slider is a swing-and-miss under the bat type pitch, so he can get lefties out too. Because of his velocity, guys will have to amp up on that and then they will get tricked with the slider. Command and control is the key with him. The mentality is there. He really flourishes in that role. He is aggressive and pounds the zone. He is 24 and right at the league average of 23.1, so he is a little old for the league. I like his velocity and slider, which is a swing and miss put away pitch.”
Shap: “Eric and I and Chris expect him [Hafner] to be back and strong next year” but later he backtracks and says he expects Hafner to be back this season.
"A good body with a dull brain is as cheap as life itself."
by Fiddlesticks on Jul 26, 2008 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t know that those are mutually exclusive.
by fleerdon on Jul 26, 2008 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Also he mentioned that moving Hafner to the 60-day was strictly a “paper move”, designed to free up a spot on the 40-man roster.
"A good body with a dull brain is as cheap as life itself."
by Fiddlesticks on Jul 26, 2008 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Kinston, per Shapiro.
"A good body with a dull brain is as cheap as life itself."
by Fiddlesticks on Jul 26, 2008 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Matt McBride now trade bait?
Free Andy Marte!
by woodsmeister on Jul 26, 2008 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t think so. If he gets back on track, that’s two catchers due in 2011 or so, when we’ll need them.
by fleerdon on Jul 26, 2008 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Shapiro: “We’re not closed for busines. We have nothing active right now” but scenarios might develop over the next week.
Free Andy Marte!
Translation: Does anyone out there want Paul Byrd?
by Buckeye Brad on Jul 26, 2008 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Shap says he doesn’t anticipate any more deals at this time, we have nothing active right now, but he remains open/receptive to overtures from other teams.
Guess that means we keep Byrd.
"A good body with a dull brain is as cheap as life itself."
Is it me, or do we actually have a lot of interesting catching depth? In addition to have Vic and Shoppach locked up in Cleveland, we’ve got Chris Gimenez playing primarily at C in Buffalo, Wyatt Toregas doing his Babe Ruth impersonation in Akron, Santana and McBride in Kinston, Richard Martinez in Lake County, and Robert Alcombrack in Mahoning Valley. That’s about as deep as we are at any position.
Man I would hate for us to have Santana stop getting reps behind the plate this early.
by supermarioelia on Jul 26, 2008 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Wonder if Blake’s contract included a “No-Shave” clause.
by Otto on Jul 26, 2008 4:42 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs
A Look at the Tribe’s New Prospects (Kevin T. Czerwinski / MLB.com)
"A good body with a dull brain is as cheap as life itself."
Done.
"A good body with a dull brain is as cheap as life itself."
by Fiddlesticks on Jul 26, 2008 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions
This front office never ceases to amaze me. I’d rather have the two guys we got from LA for Blake than the four guys that PGH got from the Yankees for Nady and D. Marte. Not even close, IMHO.
by ken from alexandria on Jul 26, 2008 5:29 PM EDT reply actions
So does the acquisition of Santana mean acquiring Lucroy is less likely now as the PTBNL?
Also!! Is is just me, or does Shapiro always acquire (or deal) a catcher at the deadline ;) Our last two deadline deals involved Max Ramirez.
Their opinions on how his defence will impact their club is pretty spot on. They should be a bit more enthusiastic about his bat than they are though. The way they talk about the prospects makes me prety happy.
by supermarioelia on Jul 26, 2008 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions
If my numbers are right, CC, Byrd, Borowski, and Blake represent 27-28 million in payroll freed up. That’s real money that could do something. I’d hate to see a big chunk of it spent on Casey.
MANRAM!!!!
Dear Mr. Sabean, I hear you have a reputation of being stupid. Want to deal Lincecum or Cain? You can pick THREE of these 4 players for either: Borowski, Dellucci, Blake, Byrd.
by westbrook on Jul 26, 2008 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I’m just glad Marte is finally going to have a proper evaluation in Cleveland. Whether he sticks or not doesn’t bother me as much, just as long as he gets a fair chance and the Front Office doesn’t make a blind move.
On a similar note, how far off is Hodges? Is 2010 too optimistic for him to be a starter?
No, 2010 isn’t too optimistic, but it’s dependent on his continuing to make strides in 2009.
It unfortunately is too late for Marte to get a proper evaluation this season — 60 games is pitiful.
Back in 2003, Brandon Phillips got 300 at-bats, starting 82 games out of 94. Just last season, Josh Barfield got 390 at-bats, starting 106 games out of 113.
I see your point about how small 60 games is in comparison. The situation seems awfully tricky though. If Marte takes off the question is, can he sustain it (Cabrera is a good example, but it turns out he needed some more seasoning first)? Second, if the Tribe looks elsewhere for a third baseman, was it enough (not really)?
The team has sort of backed themselves into a corner for 2009 based on how they’ve treated Marte for the past couple of seasons.
Some things the BA handbook just taught me that I hadn’t seen mentioned:
Meloan was a starter at Arizona, going 27-2 over his lat two year. His fastball is 89-94 and he has a mid-80s slider. He does have some mechanics issues and he missed time in 2006 due to “elbow soreness.”
Santana is actually a converted catcher-prior to the instructional league following 2006 he was an outfielder. He is apparently an “athlete” who is expected to eventually suceed behind the plate. Plus arm.
Interestingly, coming into this year, Santana wasn’t even the best catching prospect in the organization-that was a guy named Lucas May who Santana has blown by this year. Santana is 18 months younger, a level lower, and OPSing 200 points better.
Sadly, neither Tom, Mastny or Indonesia have a K in them.
Dear Mr. Sabean, I hear you have a reputation of being stupid. Want to deal Lincecum or Cain? You can pick THREE of these 4 players for either: Borowski, Dellucci, Blake, Byrd.
Keith Law on the prospects from the Dodgers (while noting that Casey is a “statue at third base”):
Carlos Santana is a recent convert from third base to catcher, and like most players converted to the position, he has an above-average arm. He’s also a good receiver and has unusually good plate discipline. He has a compact swing and generates power through hard contact and upper-body strength. He projects as an everyday catcher with great defense, average power and an average to above-average hit tool.Jonathan Meloan has worked this year as a starter with awful results. It’s no surprise, as he projected all along as a good reliever. He works with a solid-average 88-92 mph fastball, but he’s effective because he has two plus offspeed pitches, a 12-6 curveball with great depth and an 86-87 mph cutter with a long, late break. His downside is that despite his size (he’s 6-3), he gets no downhill plane on his pitches and tends to leave his fastball up in the zone.
Meloan could probably pitch in Cleveland’s bullpen this year, and at worst should be in it in April of 2009. Long term, he should be an above-average short reliever, maybe even an unconventional closer because he can miss so many bats in spite of the average velocity.
Overall, he says it’s a great return for Blake. He then summed up Blake’s career in Cleveland:
When you consider that Cleveland signed Blake as a minor-league free agent on a one-year deal in 2003, received almost five years of big-league production and flipped him for two prospects, the ROI on the original deal must be off the charts.
Also, the LA Times is reporting that the Dodgers are shopping Andy LaRoche for relief pitching or middle infield help. I wonder if Shapiro ever talked about getting him back in the Blake trade if the Tribe offered a reliever too.
That’s a good point about the ROI on Blake. When we picked him up, he was essentially Andy Gonzalez.
hat tip to you, if buckeye would have posted that quote and made us guess who said that i would have guessed you. you’ve pointed out what an aquisition blake has been before this trade with similar thoughts – basically that exact quote up unitl the “and flipped….” part.
Ugh, Reyes.
Anthony Reyes has the worst pitching mechanics this side of Mark Prior.
http://www.drivelinemechanics.com - An unconventional look at baseball video analysis.
by Driveline Mechanics on Jul 28, 2008 4:22 AM EDT reply actions
Reyes is one of those that suffers from really straight fastball syndrome. Much like Jason Davis once did for the Tribe. The difference between the two though is that Davis could hit the high 90’s while I am pretty sure Reyes peaks at 93, and sits mostly in the 90-91mph range. He’s starting depth for this year and nothing more
I kind of don’t agree with the oft-repeated notion that he’s starting depth for this year and nothing more. I think there may be a spot for him next year, between the bullpen and the rotation and it seems the Indians have been interested in him for a while. That makes me believe they think they can turn around his performance and they may be willing to negotiate his optionless straits.
I see no reason he should be excluded from the picture for next year.
by NickFantana on Jul 28, 2008 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, I bet the tentative plan is to work with him the rest of this year than in the winter and spring and pencil him in at #5 to start the season. The flexibility comes in Laffey and Sowers’s options. If you get into one of those everyone is dominating AND healthy, or everyone is failing situations you deal with it then.
Let me put it to you guys this way … how excited were you about Jeremy Guthrie’s future with the club two years ago?
He’s out of options and not at all established. They have to think of him as expendable next Spring, and the only real question is whether they want to reserve a spot on the 40-man for him over the winter. I suspect that they’ll keep him on the 40-man until/unless they sign a major free agent in November or December.
The smart play here is to let him pitch for a couple of months, get to know him, tell him that they really like him and believe that he can get his career back on track in 2009 with their help — but the option situation is a bitch, and 40-man spots are always tight on a good club … so they have to release him but really, really want him to stay on a minor league deal, and he’ll get every opportunity to move up to Cleveland if he pitches well, possibly even to start the season there.
I really believe, unless he dominates in the majors for six or seven weeks this season, that that’s how they have to play it. (Technical note … they could DFA him, put him on waivers and then outright him if he makes it through. What I’m suggesting here is that they shouldn’t do that, but rather they should just DFA him and then release him outright as a gesture of good faith — giving him the option to choose his next club.)
Do you feel like explaining the Mark Prior part?
He was renowned as a prospect for having perfectly repeated mechanics.
Here’s his take on Prior, which seems to amount to “what Chris O’Leary said.” I’m way unqualified to opine, but you could look to Carlos Gomez for a contrary view.
With Perdomo being a Rule 5 eligible pick this year the Indians probably preferred not to wait and find out and instead traded him for something of value now in order not to lose him for nothing in December.
also! a nice summation thought:
If you combined the players into one trade as Blake and Perdomo for Reyes, Meloan and Santana, the Indians were able to upgrade from Perdomo to Meloan and essentially get Reyes and Santana for a two-month rental.
I would have been happy with Blake for Reyes and Meloan for Perdomo. Santana, the most exciting guy in the bunch is some pretty sweet gravy.
That’s the “I really want Casey gone – whatd’ya got?” school of thought, muddled by his postseason record. News Flash: if the best Dave Duncan can wring out of a pitcher is 10-24 with a 1.350 WHIP and ERA+ of 82, don’t pencil him in as a starter for 2009. You’d be better off with John Halama.
I was kidding about Halama. I’ve watched the Cards a lot having lived there. I seriously doubt that this organization is going to get anything out of Reyes the Redbirds did not, unless Willis can convince Reyes to keep the ball down and throw strikes, which is pretty much what Duncan always tries to do with pitchers who aren’t going to strike you out, which Reyes isn’t.
Meloan made his Buffalo debut this afternoon in relief of Halama. He gave up a weak leadoff single, which was followed by a SB and sac bunt, leaving a runner on third with one out. Meloan then induced two straight popups to end the threat. I really hope the Tribe doesn’t try to make the guy a starter, as his record in the LA system suggests he’s got good bullpen stuff.
“The Dodgers needed starting depth so that’s why he was starting this year,” said Shapiro. “I think most organizations saw him as a reliever. We’ll move him to the pen so he doesn’t get too many innings, take a look at him as a reliever and then take the off-season to decide what role he’ll come to spring training in.”
He’s just being polite of course. Most organizations would have bothered to have some Halama/Stanford types hanging around to be depth starters, rather than screwing up a perfectly good relief prospect.
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