Who the hell gets a violent flu bug July? Evidently, I do. July is supposed to be a time for activities, vacations, having fun in the sun, not getting paid, etc. But yesterday, at around 6:30 PM, I got hit rather suddenly with the most untenable achiness and chills and tremors and nausea one could imagine. Up all night, still uncomfortable, but my blog must be attended to. Especially in light of the Dodgers’ latest move which I halfway predicted in an earlier blog from this past week. (See “Hot Corner Hotline” from July 21st)
So, Ned Colletti took my warnings seriously and he finally pulled off a deal. The Dodgers get veteran 3rd baseman, Casey Blake , he of the.289 BA, 11 HRs and 58 RBIs, with a .390 BA with runners in scoring position and the Cleveland Indians get hot prospect, Carlos Santana (Oye como vas) and up and down farmhand, pitcher John Meloan. Overall, not a bad deal. Of course, nothing like the steal the Yankees pulled off yesterday, acquiring .330 htting outfielder Xavier Nady and left handed reliever Damaso Marte for a few sketchy minor leaguers, but not a bad deal. So, how much of an impact will this trade have on the Dodgers, who barely beat the lowly DC Nats last nights 3-2 during the height of my unscheduled illness? Honestly, not that much. Sure, Blake is an improvement over the other Blake (DeWitt) and Andy LaRoche, and maybe he’ll prove to be as clutch with the Blue as he was with the Tribe but he’s not that 30 + home run guy they need and he doesn’t solve their dilemma over lack of range at shortstop. (Garciaparra tried going to his right last night to field a not-so-hard-hit ball and he reminded me of my late grandmother going to her right) Casey Blake is no David Wright or Barry Bonds. He’s not going to strike fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers, but, it’s not the worst deal in the world and it should help to some degree. Wonder if he’s arrived in LA and if his bearded self will be in the lineup tonight. If Blake can keep his average up and continue to drive in runs, Colletti, believe it or not, will be owed an iota of praise.
Last night, before fever-related delerium set in, I noticed the Dodgers were making Nats lefty, John Lannan look like another Cy Young candidate. The way the Dodgers are hitting, Yoko Ono could go out there and shut them down. However, a quality start by Billingsley, the first one by a Dodger starter since the All Star break, and a few hits in the 6th by Juan Pierre, Kemp and Nomar and the Dodgers pull out a tough one. Problem is, it shouldn’t be a “tough one” at home against the awful Washington Nationals. Couldn’t help noticing that Torre elected to sit Ethier and start Pierre and Jones. When asked if Torre would sit Jones now that Pierre is back, or if they’d even consider sending Jones to Vegas to work on his swing, Joe got very irritated, responding with something along the lines of, ‘when you get your team, you can run it the way you want.’ Come on, Joe. You know as well as I do and as well as everyone that the Andruw Jones “experiment” should come to a grinding halt. Although yesterday, he really got a hold of one. It went to the warning track for a double. His batting average with runners in scoring position is .070. Enough said.
Like always, I hope I'm wrong, but I still think the Rockies are going to end up taking this thing, but what the hell do I know? Ned Colletti, you have 5 days to make another move.
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