Dodgers links: Rob Rasmussen, John Ely, Ronald Belisario

I plan to have more on John Ely on Thursday morning, but in the meantime let's look at other news regarding the trade with the Astros to acquire former UCLA pitcher Rob Rasmussen.

• John Sickels at Minor League Ball said the trade made sense for both teams, and here is how he described Rasmussen:

  Although he doesn't give up a lot of walks, his command within the strike zone isn't as sharp as it needs to be. While it may seem like Rasmussen would make a good LOOGY, he had a reverse platoon split last year and is probably better off as a starter or long reliever. He will likely begin 2013 in Double-A, working on polishing his command.

• John Manuel analyzed the trade at Baseball America, and had this to say about Rasmussen:
  
  

  He sits average with his heater at 89-92 mph, though it tends to come in flat. His pitchability allows him to pitch backwards, but Rasmussen tends to nibble and gets in trouble with walks. Scouts are split on whether he should remain a surprisingly durable, back-end starter or slide to the bullpen, where being lefthanded and throwing two breaking balls would make him an asset.

• Isotopes beat writer Chris Jackson wrote about the trade for the Albuquerque Examiner, and also tweeted, "if every Dodgers minor-league pitcher worked as hard as he did last year, org would be in much better shape."
• Mike Petriello bid farewell to Ely at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness.
• Dustin Nosler at Feelin' Kinda Blue called the trade a good deal.
• To make room for Ely on the 40-man roster, the Astros designated outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin for assignment.
• In other news, Danny Knobler of CBS Sports said the Dodgers kicked around the idea of trading Andre Ethier and signing Michael Bourn, but within a few hours the post was updated to add "a Dodgers official said definitively Wednesday night that nothing of the sort will happen."
• Manager Don Mattingly was a guest with Jorge Jarrin and David Vassegh on Dodger Talk on Wednesday night on KLAC 570, and among other things Mattingly said Carl Crawford would likely bat second, though he planned to meet his new left fielder in Houston some time after the new year to discuss the options. Mattingly pointed out that Crawford has stated his distaste for batting in the leadoff spot, a position in the batting order Mattingly admitted he was "concerned" about.
• In case you missed it, Ronald Belisario was kicked off the Bravos de Margarita in the Venezuelan winter league. Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times has more info, including that Belisario is now represented by Dan Lozano, his third agent in three years. Mattingly said in his KLAC interview that he wasn't concerned about the Belisario news, that it was more of a miscommunication between the front office in Venezuela and manager Hensley "Bam Bam" Muelens regarding time off for the pitcher.