Friday was a day Dodger fans have been dreading for years
Well, a little less than two years, to be exact.
It had nothing to do to Friday's 10-1 shellacking by the Angels. No this one goes back to the Casey Blake deal from July of 2008.
In order to acquire Blake from Cleveland, the Dodgers sent pitcher Jonathan Meloan and catcher Carlos Santana to Cleveland.
Santana was in the midst of his California League MVP season with the 66ers when he was traded, having batted .323 with 14 home runs and 96 RBIs to that point.
The Dodgers included Santana, a premium prospect, so the Indians would cover the remainder of Blake's salary for 2008. Although Blake has been a big part of back-to-back playoff appearances by the Dodgers, some Dodger fans wondered if it would come back to bite them in the long run.
Santana went on to be the Double-A Eastern League MVP in 2009, then started 2010 at Triple-A. He was hitting .316 with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs for Columbus this year until Friday, when he made his major-league debut for the Indians.
In a 7-2 victory over Washington, Santana was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. The Indians think enough of Santana to place him third in the lineup, making him the first Indian to make his big-league debut in the No. 3 spot since 1977. He also threw out speedy Washington leafoff man Nyjer Morgan trying to steal in the first inning.
Santana certainly hasn't proven himself in the big leagues just yet. But that might be happening soon.
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About Pete
Pete Marshall Pete Marshall has been covering sports in the Inland Empire, including the California League, since 1991. Since 2005, he has served as the beat reporter for both the Inland Empire 66ers and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
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Pete, excellent reporting and article on the trade that now swing HEAVILY in favor of the Indians. This is a perfect example of how MANY of those July deals that all fans want to seet their teams make actually hurt the organization for years to come. For every Sutcliffe pickup there are 10 that hurt. Nice job with this article Pete!