In a trade deadline deal the LA Dodgers shipped Carlos Santana, the number 26 ranked prospect according to Baseball America, along with John Meloan to the Cleveland Indians for Casey Blake. This is one of the more shocking trades since Santana is such a highly regarded prospect now and plays at catcher. The Dodgers traded one of the best catching prospects in baseball for a third baseman with a career line of .265/.337/.449.
Santana is going to be viewed by a lot of Indians fans as the new Victor Martinez as a switch-hitting catcher with an elite plate discipline and 20-25 home run power. He is also on a very similar schedule: at 23 he has yet to reach Triple-A, much like Martinez, who reached Triple-A at 24.
Comparing their Double-A numbers, Santana has a line of .286/.409/.524 in 540 plate appearances. Martinez had a better average, but his line was .336/.416/.577 in 534 plate appearances. In their age 23 seasons, which Santana is still in, they both had 22 homer seasons playing for the Akron Aeros.
This year at Double-A you can see the plate discipline is going to be his biggest asset. He has a BB% of 17.5% and only strikes out 19.5%. Martinez only had a 11% walk rate at Double-A, but he did strike out at a lower rate. Santana's hitting should not be a drag on his value, and he seems like the type of player who will succeed once given the shot.
Catching has been an adjustment for Santana, who was not originally a catcher. He has a very strong arm and has gotten better each year throwing out runners. He has thrown out 30% of runners this year on steal attempts. His catching and game skills are still a work in progress, but his bat is solid enough to justify a corner infield or DH spot.
Looking at Santana, he seems like a solid bet to make an appearance at the major league level in 2010 at some point. He isn't Matt Wieters, but Santana and Buster Posey are the next class of catchers to watch.
0 comments:
Post a Comment