Casey Sunday

Having already touched on the principals of the trade that sent Casey to the Left Coast for what looks like a close-to-MLB-ready reliever who specializes in strikeouts at the age of 23 and a catcher whose line as a 22-year-old in A-ball is about as good as you’re going to see for a player in the minors, let us all give thanks for what was just acquired…for (as much as it pained The DiaBride this morning to see the picture of her beloved Casey in Dodger Blue) Casey Blake.
Better yet, for 2 months of Casey Blake!

Really?
I was thinking a decent AA prospect that projected to be a fringe MLB player would be an awfully good return for 2 months of Casey Blake…and now this?

I get that Ned Colletti is not exactly highly-thought-of in some circles (one of those circles…um…does not like this trade, while being EXTREMELY informative on the players coming to the Tribe organization), but a guy who projects as back-of-the-bullpen arm, perhaps as early as 2009 and a catcher who walks more than he strikes out while leading the minors in RBI and Runs…for good old Casey Blake?

Don’t get me wrong, Casey has value as a player and his 2008 season has been a ray of light in an otherwise dark year, but Casey’s value is tied to his versatility to play multiple positions and his (sudden) ability to hit with RISP this year. If he’s slotted in as the everyday 3B and regresses to any sort of career mean in terms of his overall hitting numbers, how does this represent an upgrade over what the Dodgers have…all while blocking two young players who figure into their plans beyond this year?

But who am I to question or complain at this point?
Let’s all thank Casey for his contributions to the team, hope that Shapiro saying that he would like to bring back Blake next year (when he’s going to get too much money from someone who will only look at his 2008 season while ignoring that he’ll be 35 or his pre-2008 numbers) is just lip service, and focus on getting Jon “Bones” Meloan (last name pronounced like the trombonist for the “Blues Brothers”, which is where “Bones” comes from) back to the bullpen in the hopes that he is able to recapture the success (and K rate) that he had there in 2006 and 2007 in the minors and slot Carlos Santana down in Kinston, with an eye towards possibly getting him up to Akron (along with Mills and Weglarz) at some point perhaps this season.

Suddenly this farm system that looked bereft of upper-level talent and legitimate hitting prospects mere months ago is looking fuller with each passing day while Dodger fans are left to wonder what in the world just happened. Obviously, it took moving CC and Blake to restock the cupboard, but seeing as how neither figured to be in a Tribe uniform after this year regardless of where the Indians finished their 2008 season, this is certainly making the best of a bad situation.

It will be interesting to see if the acquisition of Carlos Sanatana affects the Indians’ decision on the much-ballyhooed PTBNL in the CC deal as reports that minor-league C Jonathon LuCroy was an option on that “list” of players for the Indians to choose from. While Santana and LuCroy are about the same age and have both excelled at the same level of the minors (though Santana has better numbers in an admittedly more offense-friendly league), I wonder if this acquisition puts LuCroy out of the running for the PTBNL. It’s been mentioned that Santana could be moved back to 3B (he, like Victor, is a converted infielder behind the dish) and having as many catchers in the system that can hit is never a bad thing. But I have to think that this puts LuCroy down the list, perhaps below Brantley (my preference right now) and Green, on the PTBNL ladder.

The real winner in the Blake deal, in the short term at least, is Andy Marte as NO even somewhat legitimate reason exists for him not to be in the everyday lineup. Unfortunately, with the number of games remaining being such a small percentage of the season, I’m not sure how much we’re going to learn about Marte or what numbers he would have to put up to stake a claim on 3B for himself.

If he goes out there and struggles, there’s no way they go into 2009 with him as the everyday 3B…because they could have done that back in May or June without much of a problem. If he thrives down the stretch (and by that I mean he would just have to crush everything to get back into good graces), I think he’d be an option at 3B for 2009 with no guarantee that his name would be written in permanent ink on a 2009 lineup card.

To a lesser degree, this trade benefits Ryan Garko as Gark has the opportunity now to salvage what looks like a lost season for him. His situation is different than Marte’s because of the body of work that he has already established in MLB (Garko has 979 MLB AB to Marte’s 378) and the fact that he has achieved some modicum of success prior to 2008 means that a solid final two months of the season could put Garko right back into the mix for 1B for 2009, whereas that ship may have already sailed for Marte. Of course, if Garko doesn’t turn it around to close out 2009, he could just be greasing his way out of the regular 1B spot for the coming years.

Both players will be given the opportunity to force their way into the plans for 2009 and beyond with Blake not taking AB away from anyone…that is, unless Michael Aubrey or Victor come to play some 1B or the Indians decide to see if Peralta can play 3B now instead of waiting for Winter Ball for a verdict.

For more information on the two prospects en route to the Tribe organization for Lacey Cake, here’s a write-up over at MiLB.com which gets me more excited about these two players and curious as to how the Indians were able to turn 2 months of Casey Blake into this. Additionally, Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus manages to make me only more excited by echoing what I’m feeling about this deal and the return that the Tribe was able to secure for Blake.

As usual, the only local writer weighing in on the trade with any semblance of perspective or insight is Terry Pluto, who hits all the high points of the trade and touches on the Tribe’s ability to acquire good talent from other organizations while struggling to do so in the draft.

On the other trade front, the Indians acquired RHP Anthony Reyes from St. Louis for minor league RH reliever Luis Perdomo. Most casual baseball fans will remember Reyes from his World Series performance against the Tigers, but Reyes has fallen on hard times since those days.
In AAA, Reyes has found success:
2007
2.79 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 33 K, 11 BB in 38 2/3 IP over 6 stars
2008
3.25 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 47 K, 21 BB in 52 2/3 IP over 11 starts

But get him up to St. Louis and watch out:
2007
6.04 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 74 K, 43 BB in 107 1/3 IP over 20 starts
2008
4.91 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 10 K, 3 BB in 14 2/3 IP in 10 games (no starts)

Reports of Reyes butting heads with St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan have existed since early in his 2007 season (when, by the by, he went 2-14 for the Birds) with Duncan wanting Reyes to rely on his sinker and Reyes wanting to be more of a power pitcher. By all accounts, Reyes needed a fresh start in a new organization and, at the age of 26, he’ll get one with the Tribe.

Interestingly, Reyes is out of options after this year so the Indians will not have the luxury of stashing him in AAA in 2009 to see if they can refine his mechanics or approach or whatever happened to him as he went further and further down the ladder of viable starters in the StL. Reyes is an intriguing pick-up in that he was a very highly-thought-of prospect who likely needed a change of scenery to see if he can find any of that past promise or success elsewhere.

The Indians will likely get him to Cleveland at some point to start a few games this year (perhaps if Byrd is moved in the month of August) with the idea that he’ll compete for a starting role next year as it’s likely that the Tribe hope to fill two spots in the back end of their rotation from Reyes and their LH stable of pitchers (Laffey, Sowers, Huff), none of whom are any kind of sure thing…even Laffey these days.

The cost for seeing if Reyes is salvageable comes in 24-year-old RH reliever Luis Perdomo, who started the season in Kinston before being promoted to Akron. He posted great numbers in Kinston (0.92 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 43 K, 17 BB, 18 saves), but as a 24-year-old in A ball he almost had to if he had any hope of staying on the prospect radar. He had only appeared in 9 games in Akron when the trade was made to send him to the Cards, whiffing 17 (while walking 7) in the 15 1/3 IP he had seen in AA.

According to Tony Lastoria’s preseason preview of the Indians Top Prospects, Perdomo came in at #42 with the thought being that Perdomo projected as a “middle-of-the-bullpen” arm. At his age (Jenny Lewis, Mujica, and Stevens are also 24) and the fact that he has so many more levels that he would have to succeed at to be a viable ML option, Perdomo is an interesting power arm who the Cardinals must have coveted more than the Indians, seeing as how Perdomo wasn’t moved up more quickly than he has been, given his age and the success he’s experienced.

I think the important thing to remember on these acquisitions (and players leaving) is to consider the age of said players. Where some could look at Perdomo’s numbers and say, “why would we trade this guy if we need bullpen help”, it must be remembered that Perdomo has been playing in leagues with players two years younger than him, while the likes of Bones Meloan and Rob Bryson (the young power reliever from the CC deal) have thrived while being some of the younger players in their respective leagues.

All of that being said, the 2008 season just got a little more interesting to watch as the development of Meloan and Santana will go lock-step in following what Matt The Door and Rob Bryson are doing while the “PTBNL Watch” goes on. More talented bodies have arrived on the farm, it’s now up to the Indians to separate the wheat from the chaff to allow 2009 to be a year of potential contention and not just a springboard for 2010 and beyond.

Finally, it appears that I will be making my much-anticipated (by the DiaBride, at least) debut on TV as site friend Todd Dery, who runs the Dump Casey Blake website (wish granted, by the way, with a name change already made), is sitting in for Les Levine on his Time Warner show. Todd asked me to be his guest on the show on Wednesday night, which airs from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

I suppose if you finally want to see the “man behind the curtain”, tune in to mock me mercilessly from the comfort of your couch.