MLB Trade Deadline: Indians Deal Blake

Early Saturday morning the Indians completed a deal to send Casey Blake to the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash and minor leaguer's Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan.

It had long been rumored that the versatile Blake would be on the trading block because of his increased value to a contending team. Such a team was found in the Dodgers, who, at 50-52, are only one game back in the weak NL West.

Blake's ability to play multiple positions is one of the most attractive things about the player. Blake has the ability to play both corner infield positions and corner outfield positions. In the past he has even played shortstop when the need arose.

His bat certainly is no detractor either. On the season he is hitting .289 with 58 RBI and 11 home runs, which puts him on pace to have a career best year.

Many people consider Blake a utility player, and not an everyday player; however while playing for the Indians as an everyday third baseman he showed that he can, in fact, play well throughout the entire season.

According to ESPN.com Blake will take over as the Dodgers everyday third baseman, replacing Blake DeWitt and Andy LaRoche.

In return for Blake the Indians received switch-hitting catcher Carlos Santana and right-handed pitcher Jon Meloan along with cash.

Through 99 games at Class-A Advanced Santana is hitting .323 with 96 RBI, 14 home runs and an OPS of .993. He appears to be the centerpiece of this trade for the Indians; this season he has been honored as player of the week twice and was named a California League All-Star at mid-season.

Meloan is 5-10 with an ERA of 4.97 and 99 K's for the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. At Double-A last season Meloan was named the Minor League Baseball Reliever of the Year and a Baseball America Double-A All-Star.

It appears that this trade will free up space at third base for the Indians to try Andy Marte out for the rest of the season. Many have speculated that should Marte not pan out, Jhonny Peralta will be shifted from shortstop to third base to move Asdrubal Cabrera to his natural position of shortstop.