Saturday, July 26, 2008

Indians send Blake to L.A.

Casey Blake is going to Hollywood.

Now that's a sentence I thought I'd never type.

Hot off the presses, the Cleveland Indians have shipped 1B/3B/OF Casey Blake to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor leaguers.

Blake is a lot of things. He's dependable. He'll hit .270 with 20 HR. He'll come up with the big hit every now and then.

But Hollywood?

Not exactly. Blake is more the black coffee, Ford pickup type.

Still, the Dodgers, looking to replace slumping rookies Blake DeWitt and Andy LaRoche need some production from their hot corner and that Blake will deliver.

Just like he did last September, when he essentially knocked the Detroit Tigers out of the playoff race with an 11th-inning walkoff HR to put the Indians up 5 1/2 games with 12 to play.

Here's what Blake earned for his efforts:



Blake is enjoying one of his best seasons, average-speaking, hitting .289, including a sizzling .398 with runners in scoring position.

The Dodgers gave up promising Class A catcher Carlos Santana and AAA righty Jon Meloan, who has fanned 335 batters in 262 minor league innings pitched.

Fantasy advice: It goes without saying that Blake is an automatic pickup in an NL-only league, but in a mixed format, Blake's value is virtually unchanged. He goes from hitting in one of the worst AL lineups to one of the worst in the NL. And Dodgers Stadium is not typically hitter-friendly. If anything, facing the tough pitching in San Diego and Arizona may kick his value down a small notch.

As for Meloan, his ERA is a little balky (4.97), but he may be worth a flier in 5x5 AL-only formats if he gets called up in September. He may need a Cleveland injury to open up a starting spot, but at last look, Carmona was getting shelled in his first game back tonight, for whatever that's worth.

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