Underachievers force Dodgers to pick up Blake

LOS ANGELES – The trade of Casey Blake for two prospects Saturday was telling of two franchises that have not met expectations.

For the Cleveland Indians, dealing Blake became a no-brainer after the team continued to founder in July and ace CC Sabathia was traded. Blake, one of the few proven bats on the market, triggered a moderate bidding war between the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks, and was bound to net a couple of decent prospects.

The Indians didn’t save a dime, agreeing to pay the Dodgers the $2 million-plus owed to Blake, who will be a free agent at season’s end.

For the Dodgers, the trade was a concession as well, although of a different sort.

Sure, they believed they were one veteran hitter away from overtaking the Diamondbacks in the pitiful NL West. But acquiring the rent-a-bat Blake also meant relegating two of their untouchable prospects to the bench and trading two promising players from a vaunted farm system that might be drying up fast.

Had third baseman Andy LaRoche stayed on the same fast track as his peers in the organization – first baseman James Loney, outfielder Matt Kemp and pitchers Chad Billingsley and Jonathan Broxton – he’d have made trading for Blake unimaginable. But LaRoche has yet to approach the potential that made him Baseball America’s top Dodgers prospect in 2007 – ahead of Loney and pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

LaRoche, who will turn 25 in September, is batting .217 with three home runs in 152 major-league at-bats over two seasons. He’s been injured more than once. And he’s struggled mightily when healthy. He simply couldn’t be counted on as the guy who would boost the Dodgers’ offense down the stretch.

And neither could another uberprospect, Blake DeWitt, who took advantage of injuries to LaRoche and Nomar Garciaparra and seized the third-base job on Opening Day. He enjoyed a tremendous May, batting .322 with all five of his home runs, but has since hit .200.

So in addition to their other problems – the injuries to shortstop Rafael Furcal, closer Takashi Saito and outfielder Juan Pierre, the deterioration of outfielder Andruw Jones, the absence of starters Brad Penny and Jason Schmidt – the Dodgers had to address the pop-gun production at third base to hold out any hopes of edging out the Diamondbacks.

It’s a shame they had to trade two of their best minor-leaguers for an emergency solution at a position the front office had projected would be filled capably by the homegrown LaRoche and DeWitt.

Meloan, 24, has been a riser since the Dodgers took him out of Arizona in the fifth round of the 2005 draft. Originally projected as a potential closer, the burly right-hander was converted to a starter this year despite notching 19 saves and striking out 70 in 45 1/3 innings in Class AA in 2007. He was 5-10 with a 4.97 ERA in 20 starts at hitter-friendly Las Vegas.

Santana, 22, might be even more promising. The everyday catcher for the Dodgers’ high Class A California League affiliate, he had 96 RBIs and 14 homers in 99 games and batted .323 with an on-base percentage of .431 and more walks than strikeouts. He also has a tremendous arm.

Of course, the Dodgers won’t need a catcher any time soon, not with two-time MLB All-Star Russell Martin ineligible for free agency until after the 2011 season.

But parting with Santana and Meloan, two of the top trade chips in the organization, for a ho-hum third baseman whose production runs to a .265 batting average, 22 home runs and 80 RBIs a season could not have been easy for general manager Ned Colletti – especially when he’s been waiting, waiting, waiting for LaRoche to begin producing just those sort of numbers.

But, ultimately, making the trade wasn’t as difficult as continuing to watch mediocre pitchers shut down the Dodgers offense and continuing to play under-.500 baseball in a division that will require only moderate improvement to win.

This wasn’t Colletti acquiring Greg Maddux at the trade deadline in 2006, which sparked a winning streak that led to a playoff berth. But maybe that happens in a few days.