Well, you’re right in that much of Blake’s real talent is hidden—that is, not easily recognized by so-called idiot stats—and to a certain degree the BP analysts will always rail against the trading of any young talent for “proven winners.” But isn’t the old-school value for Blake in the intangibles? In his leadership? His steadying hand in the clubhouse? His Dudley Dooright demeanor and prominent chin? These intangibles are what I was referring to, not to his ability to play four corner positions. Plus, Casey will not end the season with the highest OPS. And that’s not because Dodgers Stadium is a tough hitter’s park.

And do you really think the Dodgers dismissed Casey’s career RISP? Or were they instead enamored of this year’s garish “clutch-hitting” numbers? I think Blake represents both to Wedge and Torre an example of teams’ falling in love with their players, and projecting desired qualities unto them. As I remember, this is a fallacy Bill James often cited.

Does Casey provide above-average defense at first base? Anecdotally he seemed to make a lot of sharp plays there.

By the way, it’s always a pleasure and honor to have a dispute with a Fyodor character. FD is the boss.

First, both of those guys are making statements to the media for public consumption, and they are fairly boilerplate.

Second, neither is paid to be a statistical analyst per se. Yet you will note neither cited RISP or “clutch” in their statements — the reporters makes a statement about “clutch,” then follows it up with a Torre/Colletti quote about “experience” or “character” or “gamer.” These concepts should not be conflated, and Torre and Colletti aren’t the ones putting them adjacent.

Third, there is a necessity not to knock the guys Blake is displacing in the lineup. The Dodgers may have significant concerns about those guys that they’re afraid to voice. LaRoche has the upside, but maybe they have good reason to think he isn’t going to snap out of it in the middle of a tight pennant race — maybe they’re concerned he’ll collapse totally. There’s nothing dumb or old-fashioned about that.

Fourth, Casey’s grinding is a real, measurable and positive attribute, at least in terms of making opposing pitchers work harder to get the out.

Fifth, it’s foolish to overlook clubhouse issues entirely, and Torre certainly has the experience to speak on that with authority. The mistake comes in over-valuing a player’s modeling of productive behavior, that is, to the point where a player is vastly overpaid or preferred to someone who is substantially more productive on the field. It is not a mistake to value a player’s personality and leadership qualities; it is a mistake to over-value it, as it is a mistake to over-value any quailty, tangible or intangible.

Or at least send him his old dominoes set.

Who is going to catch that first pitch now that Andy Marte is starting at 3b? Andy Gonzalez? David Dellucci?

Hello Brad,

It sounds like the same situation with Brady Quinn getting advice from Aaron Rodgers on how to “sit and wait your turn behind someone else” (in those cases, though, a Pro Bowler (Anderson) and a Pro Bowler who is probably a HOF QB (Favre)). Additionally, Tony Romo gave Quinn advice too on how to “wait your turn and take advantage when you get the opportunity.”

That’s the situation I thought of when I read your comment about Marte and LaRoche getting together to talk about how to occupy yourself on the bench.

Just my 2 cents.

I like the comp a lot actually. Casey Blake OPS+ this year = 121; Kenny Lofton last year when we traded for him = 116. All we got was 170 AB from the guy and he didn’t play up to his season’s numbers even. Casey Blake is a good player, and very useful. Just wasn’t useful to us this year anymore and probably wasn’t used correctly when he was here. Just because he had a beard and Wedge preferred him, doesn’t actually make him a bad player. Heck, if anything, the season Blake has had justifies Wedge’s decision to play him over Marte to win games (that is until the season was lost, which some people think was in early June). I really doubt Marte would have put up an OPS+ of 121.

Anyway, it was a good haul, but I wouldn’t be crying too much as a Dodger fan. I would push Torre to play him in RF, instead of 3B, but who knows what they are thinking, with their OF situation.

That’s more or less my thinking. Somebody else must have been willing to pay a lot for Blake as well. This is the kind of package designed to beat another team’s bid; unless the Dodgers know something we don’t or are colossally stupid, there’s no way Meloan and Carl was just something the two teams hammered out as a fair swap.

Of course, in order for that to happen, you’d have to be the sort of organization which would get involved in a bidding war for Casey Blake. Kind of a chicken-egg thing.

Max was actually sent down to Double-A today.

Since his first week in the bigs, he’s started seven games in four weeks, all of them at catcher. Here’s something amazing, though: in those seven games, the Rangers have allowed 74 runs, while in their other 15 games over the same period, they only allowed 70.

I’m not saying it means anything necessarily, but … holy crap!