Goodbye Casey Blake

I didn't find out about the Xavier Nady deal until 12pm today. I don't think the Bucs got the better end of the stick, but at least Tabata has some hype around him. Hopefully Huntington knows what he's getting himself into, I'd hate for him to be stuck with an Andy Marte type player.

As for the Tribe, it really has been a rough rough year. While I'm more of a narcissist when it comes to anything Cleveland sports, I was actually optimistic about this season. Bad idea.

Since falling flat on our faces in April, May didn't get better. June sucked. And then comes the best part of the year, July. In July we've had our two bright spots Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee honored in the All-Star game. Our brightest spot for the last 7 years, CC Sabathia was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers for promising OF prospect Matt Laporta and some other scrubs who will probably break into AAA but not much higher than that.

With talk about others being dealt, Casey Blake found himself on the chopping block today, and was dealt right quick to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was never a huge fan of Blake, but I truly respected the way he carried himself. Soft spoken and a true team player. I remember when we signed Aaron Boone and Blake without a qualm changed his position to the corner OF. And he turned into a very productive outfielder with his rocket of an arm.

What we got in return is Single A catcher Carlos Santana (awesome name) and reliever turned starter Jonathan Meloan.

I'm actually pretty excited about this deal. Not only are we in desperation for catchers in our system (wish we still had Max Ramirez), but unlike the few we have in the minors, Santana is pretty promising. He started his career off as an OF but quickly was made into a catcher. Apparently (according to rotoworld) he is still green behind the plate, but his numbers on offense seem to make up for this (.323/.431/.563). He's currently 22 right now and will most likely report to either Kinston or Akron. If he goes to Akron I'll really need to attend a game seeing as how we have Hodges, Newsom, and Laporta down there. Plus it's a 20 minute drive for me.

When I heard Meloan's name I recognized it but couldn't remember why. My first Topps 2008 Mini-Box contained his autographed card (along with the hype of Redemption number 2!). Prior to this year Meloan was considered a top reliever prospect, but the Dodgers decided to try and turn him into a starter. With some mediocre results put up this season, I wouldn't be surprised to see us continue to utilize him as a stater, and if it is deemed a failure (read: most likely will fail), we should send him back to his normal position as a reliever. I am expecting Meloan to be sent to Buffalo.

As much as I'm going to miss Casey Blake, I'm not going to deny that I think now was the best time to deal him.