Jul 26th 2008 2:32PM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
With five days to go until the trade deadline, I can’t remember a more active year on the trade fronts. One night after the Pirates and Yankees exchanged six players, it looks like the Dodgers are close to acquiring corner infielder Casey Blake from the Indians for two prospects. That’s right. Casey Blake for two prospects. Remember when I said Ned Colletti was going to do something stupid? Yeah, it just happened.

The key player in this deal for the Indians is 23-year-old pitching prospect Jon Meloan. He’s having a rough go of it this year, after being converted from the bullpen to the rotation, but his numbers in the low minors as a reliever are lights out. John Sickels listed him as one of his top fifty pitching prospects in baseball this year (#35) and he’s way too good of a prospect to be traded for Casey Blake. On top of that, they’re getting 22-year-old catcher Carlos Santana who’s killing the ball in Class A.

In return, the Dodgers get Blake, who plays first base (where they have James Loney), third base (Andy LaRoche), and sometimes the outifield. He’s a decent hitter that’s having a pretty good year, but this trade is pretty baffling. If it’s true that the Dodgers have been showcasing Andy LaRoche in the past week or so, it also might portend another trade in the next couple days to create a position for Blake. Anything in the name of a shot to win a division title, I guess.