The Rockies announced that they released third baseman Casey Blake (Twitter link). Agent Jim McDowell represents the veteran infielder, who signed a non-guaranteed contract worth $2MM plus $1MM in performance bonuses in December. The Rockies owe Blake $491K in termination pay, Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweets.
Blake hit .252/.342/.371 in 239 plate appearances for the Dodgers in 2011, spending considerable time on the DL with a cervical strain. He had surgery in September and the Dodgers declined his $6MM option for 2012 after the season. The Phillies are known to be looking for infield depth and may inquire on the 38-year-old free agent.
if the a’s were ever looking for a 3rd basemen…now’s the chance i guess
It’s not 2007 anymore…
sadly, he’s still a better option than donaldson/sogard
Yep, gotta make this happen. Sogard is useful as a nice utility guy, above Rosales in my opinion. Put Donaldson in AAA or release him, clearly not 3B material
he’s fine defensively as a 3rd baseman, it’s just his bat that still isn’t major-league ready.
That would be completely pointless. You might as well find out what you have in Sogard and Donaldson. If the A’s sign Blake, he adds a win over the season at best, he’s made of glass at this point so he’s going to break down … you gain virtually nothing and in the meantime you have no idea what your own guys can do. Billy Beane is smarter than that.
sogard is best used as a utility player and donaldson has way too long of a swing and is more valuable as a catcher. casey blake would be a 1 year player until sizemore is fully healthy. beane proved that he’s not just going to let the rookies play (signing crisp, cespedes who’s techinically a rookie but is still better than most/all of our hitters, and manny and trading for smith and reddick).
I think the A’s already know what they have in those guys and it isn’t much.
Clearly you’ve never heard of Arenado. Rocks just need a stop gap.
clearly you don’t get this article “rockies RELEASE casey blake” not “DFA” him, he’s a free agent now…
Nelson Arenado to the Rockies?
Arenado has already been sent down to the minors. Look for Nelson and/or Pacheco to be the primary 3B options.
I will bet the Phillies kick the tires to see what’s left of him. He had a pretty good glove at 3B. He is also RH which is something they need from the bench.
Maybe Blake starts at 3B, Polanco at 2B, and Galvis can continue developing in the minors? Probably not, but who knows?
Polly can’t play 2B everyday anymore. No range.
Is this the Rockies GM?
He can’t. It’s been floated around by guys like Jim Salisbury, Jayson Stark, Todd Zoleki, etc.
He has a great glove, quick hands, and a solid arm. However he lacks range to his left and right, too much to hide at second base.
Could you imagine the right side of Thome and Polly? Close to 80 there.
Yeah, I think you’re right. But if that is not whats up here, than I don’t see where Blake might fit in.
Maybe they can trade him for Carlos Santana?
The singer? Sure…
Read the headline. He’s been Released!! Besides, even at his advanced age, Carlos Santana still plays a better Guitar.
Apparently no one gets your reference Sajju, but I do.
Boy did that get lost on some ….lol
I get it. The Blake to LAD trade in 2008 sent Santana to the Indians. I think the Indians won that one…
The Indians would have to trade with Oakland to get Jon Meloan back and include him.
Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan for Casey Blake. Seems fair!?!
Nelson and Pacheco it is at 3rd. Too bad we didn’t just go this route in 2011 rather waste a ton of money on Lopez and Wigginton.
Also, being a veteran in this case becomes an asset for Blake on a young team
(If he were to go to Oakland)
Ok termination pay is either 1/6th of his base salary or 1/4. (If released with less than 16 days to the end of spring training.) So how does he get 491k ? It’s either 333,333 or 500k ?
Too bad – Blake was always fun to be around at spring training. My daughters got a kick out of Matt Kemp making fun of Blake’s beard and the number of children he and his wife have (four). Good guy who will probably wind up retiring or playing third base in Oakland.
He strained his cervix?
And we thought he had trouble getting to third base.
Brandon Wood.
I’m saying TRIBE! Could be an option. Duncan can’t do it. He MIGHT still have something left in the tank for this season. Maybe a corner reserve for all four spots?
$491k for 3 months’ work… FML
The braves could pick him up with chipper on the dl but if they both went on the dl at the same time, makes no sense. for a player who might do a swan song, help a young team and improve his slash line, it might work.