We Might Have Screwed That One Up

by Andrew on Sep 4, 2008 10:25 AM PDT Comment 16 comments

Matt LaPorta, age 22: 115 AB .304/.369/.696 eight walks, 30 strike outs between rookie ball and A.

Carlos Santana, age 22: 463 AB .326/.431/.568 89 walks, 85 strikeouts at high A.

One of these guys was the number 23 prospect in baseball and center point of a deal for CC Sabathia, the other one was dealt for Casey Blake so we didn't have to pay his salary. LaPorta has the pedigree of being a seventh overall pick so Santana probably won't be a top 25 prospect next year, but Santana did have a much better age 22 season than LaPorta.

I'm not saying Santana is a better prospect than LaPorta, but imagine what would have been said if the Brewers traded LaPorta for Casey Blake. Right now it's not looking much different than what we did. I didn't really mind the move at the time, but it's looking more and more like we'll really miss Carlos Santana.

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So you’re saying its time to fork stab Ned???

by Brendan Scolari on Sep 4, 2008 11:32 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Yes.

The guys at firejoemorgan.com agree.

To quote the post, re: Blake:

He had a .303 OBP in August. He’s 35.

I still don’t see THAT trade as anything good. I hope to GOODness I don’t see Blake at Chavez Ravine next year or ever again. Ron Cey he isn’t – he reminds me more of Mike Blowers.

by Seanny Rotten on Sep 4, 2008 2:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Terrible trade.

by Brendan Scolari on Sep 4, 2008 9:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Can we stop mentioning Carlos Santana here? It’s depressing.

by Tango and Cash on Sep 4, 2008 2:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Amen.

by Brendan Scolari on Sep 4, 2008 9:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Holy crap, the kid is in A ball...

so let’s not get all pissed off because Ned traded a guy who might end up being good one day. Blake is better than any other option we have at third, and he gives us a chance to win NOW. Without him, we would have no chance at a postseason run. Our current lineup gives that chance, not a bunch of prospects. While I agree that we need to improve our farm system, all the pressure that has pushed Ned to the chopping blocks has forced him to put together a team that can win now. And that’s what he did. Happy?

by WestsideBrandon on Sep 4, 2008 7:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i still think andy laroche could’ve been great. but that’s just my opinion. i’m not a big fan of casey blake, but who knows.. maybe he will get us into the postseason.

Matt Kemp 4 president!

by wongy on Sep 4, 2008 9:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Isn't that kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Ned makes bad decisions, therefore he gets pressured to win now, therefore more bad trades are excused because its the fans fault (or whoever’s applying the pressure) that Ned needs to make bad moves, not his. Making one bad decision doesn’t mean you have to keep making more.

by Brendan Scolari on Sep 4, 2008 9:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

As Andrew already stated earlier, Blake’s defense is so bad at 3B that he isn’t much of an upgrade once you account for the fact that LaRoche and DeWitt both play the position much better. So in order to get Casey Blake, we trade a reliever we could’ve used, and a sweet catching prospect. And it’s not about trading a guy who “might end up being good one day,” it’s about getting proper value for what you trade. A 35 year old “3B” who really should be on an outfield corner with a decent bat, is not good value for a sweet reliever and a great catching prospect. And this has been Ned’s bane his entire tenure here: making terrible, terrible trades, with some bad signings here and there.

It’s really too bad that the Dodgers didn’t go on a giant losing streak before the deadline to keep them far away from contention. Since Ned was in grasping reach of saving his job, he pulled the trigger on two trades, at least one of which is actually definitely helping us.

Unlike some people, I don’t care if we only make the playoffs. If we don’t win the World Series, it doesn’t matter. And yes, the playoffs has a lot to do with luck, but what are we going to do in a short series when Joe Torre is throwing Angel Berroa out as our starting SS, and putting in Scott Proctor with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out in the 7th. I don’t like our chances. So essentially, we cashed in two good prospects and Andy LaRoche in order to have a weak postseason team, rather than waiting another season, letting our prospects come up, firing Colletti and bringing in a competent GM, getting better players, etc. It would’ve been more prudent to wait until next year and build a strong team that would have multiple runs in the playoffs, thereby giving us multiple chances at a Series win, rather than just one, this season.

by Tango and Cash on Sep 4, 2008 11:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

RE:

Patience is for those who die while waiting for something to happen.

by Phil Gurnee on Sep 5, 2008 6:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Or a virtue. You know. Something good.

by Tango and Cash on Sep 5, 2008 9:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

There’s times when it pays to be patient. Giving up Carlos Santana for Casey Blake is one of those times.

I don’t think going for it this year was too horrible of an idea, but we got the wrong guys to do it with.

Co-Author Of The Fourth Most Popular NL West Based Blog On SBN

by Andrew on Sep 5, 2008 10:02 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really

Manny was the wrong guy to do it with? Even Blake who you dislike so much has been heads and tails above what LaRoche would have provided. I know you can quote the one defensive metric that shows it to be a wash, but since the other metrics disagree with you I’ll fallback on my subjective viewpoint which has Casey being average.

I don’t quite understand the logical thought process that spits out a give it up scenario to a team within a few games, and play for the future when the future could be decided by such simple things as torn labrums or ligaments, thus putting a monkey wrench into the whole kit and kaboodle.

You can’t count on the future, live in the present.

by Phil Gurnee on Sep 5, 2008 5:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What he said.

Co-Author Of The Fourth Most Popular NL West Based Blog On SBN

by Andrew on Sep 5, 2008 9:38 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree it would have been better to wait...

But don’t you think we will be able to compete in the future as well? Don’t forget, Manny and Blake potentially give us four extra first round picks. If one or two of those turn out to be studs, I think this was a win for us.

by Brendan Scolari on Sep 5, 2008 1:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Probably Manny, unless the rumor I heard that we’re not even allowed to offer him arbitration as a condition of being traded to us is true (which I highly doubt it is true).

I doubt we are offering Casey Blake arbitration. Casey Blake’s a 35 year old “3B” who’s already making 6 million dollars. I can’t see anybody offering him a long term deal at this point, and I honestly can’t see any team offering the maybe 8-9 million dollars he could make in arbitration were it offered to him. It seems to me that Blake’s best deal he could possibly be offered would be the arbitration offer, so I doubt he rejects it. Consequently, I doubt we offer it, and we lose draft pick compensation.

Dodger Fever: Catch it every summer, head to the ER every October.

by Tango and Cash on Sep 5, 2008 8:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs