Fausto returns; Casey departs

Fausto Carmona's return last night could hardly have gone worse; he gave up nine runs on seven hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings of the Tribe's 11-4 loss to the Twins. But it's good to have him back. He's one of my favorite Indians. I really admired the way he kept his concentration in that playoff game against the Yankees last year, when the flies swarmed the field and, unlike Joba Chamberlain, he successfully ignored them. He'll do better after he's got a couple of starts under his belt. Aaron Laffey got sent to Buffalo to make room for Fausto, and that's a good thing too. Laffey did some good things when he first got called up this year, but he seems to have lost his confidence, and the International League is a much better place to try to regain your confidence than the American League is.

Speaking of my favorite Indians, Casey Blake is gone. Mark Shapiro sent him to the Dodgers for pitching prospect Jonathan Meloan and catching prospect Carlos Santana. It was a smooth trade; a black magic woman could hardly have done better. But I'll miss Blake. Taken from the AP story on the trade:

"There were quite a few rumors out there," said Blake, playing for his fifth big league club and first in the National League. "Nothing like this has ever happened to me, so it's all a new experience. A lot of emotions hit me at once and I didn't really have a lot of time to let any of them soak in. I kind of got anxious real quick."

Blake's been an Indian since 2003, when Shapiro signed him to a one-year, minor-league deal. As ESPN's Keith Law points out (subscriber only), this is a pretty good return on that investment. The Law on the two guys we got:

Carlos Santana is a recent convert from third base to catcher, and like most players converted to the position, he has an above-average arm. He's also a good receiver and has unusually good plate discipline. He has a compact swing and generates power through hard contact and upper-body strength. He projects as an everyday catcher with great defense, average power and an average to above-average hit tool.

Jonathan Meloan has worked this year as a starter with awful results. It's no surprise, as he projected all along as a good reliever. He works with a solid-average 88-92 mph fastball, but he's effective because he has two plus offspeed pitches, a 12-6 curveball with great depth and an 86-87 mph cutter with a long, late break. His downside is that despite his size (he's 6-3), he gets no downhill plane on his pitches and tends to leave his fastball up in the zone.

Meloan could probably pitch in Cleveland's bullpen this year, and at worst should be in it in April of 2009. Long term, he should be an above-average short reliever, maybe even an unconventional closer because he can miss so many bats in spite of the average velocity.

This year, Santana is hitting .323 with 14 homers and 96 RBIs at Class A, and that RBI total is the most in the minor leagues at any level this year. Meloan is 5-10 with a 4.97 ERA in AAA (the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League). He's got 335 strikeouts in 262 innings in his minor-league career. So these are guys with some serious upside. The Indians sent Meloan to AAA Buffalo, where he'll move to the bullpen; and Santana to Class-A Kinston.

Blake will be a free agent at the end of the season. This piece appeared in the Plain Dealer yesterday, the same day the trade was made. Blake told Paul Hoynes he'd like to finish his career in Cleveland. Of course, he still could. If Andy Marte doesn't show anything the rest of this season, the Indians are going to need a third baseman next year. And Marte hasn't shown anything at all at the major-league level. He did hit his third home run of the season yesterday, and has been a little bit better lately, but he's still hitting just .190 on the year.

Shapiro also got reliever Anthony Reyes from the Cardinals yesterday, in exchange for AA reliever Luis Perdomo. This is a pretty minor trade, but Reyes has been pitching in the majors, and a major-league-ready reliever is almost always worth more than a reliever who's not ready for the bigs.