A few days after acquiring Shane Victorino, the Dodgers raid of the Phillies continues.
Both teams agreed to a trade that sends Joe Blanton to the Dodgers for a minor league player to be named later. Blanton will immediately fill a role in the rotation, which became more of an urgent matter after Ted Lilly was recently shut down while rehabbing.
Even more interesting was the Dodgers' waiver claim on Cliff Lee and his massive contract. And that's massive as in $100 million still owed to him. But these are the new Dodgers, and had the Phillies agreed on which players to acquire, the deal would have gone through. Alas, it was not meant to be.
As for Blanton, he hasn't exactly had a great season, but has turned things around of late. Overall, he's 8-9 with a 4.59 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 115 strikeouts in 133 1/3 innings. Most impressive is that he has issued a microscopic 15 walks all season long, hence his strong WHIP.
His splits show that he actually just went through his best month in July, where he was only 1-3, but with a 3.82 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and .241 BAA. He's been victimized by the long ball, as he's given up 22 on the season. The silver lining is that 14 of those have been in the hitter's park known as Citizens Bank Park, so a change of scenery to Dodger Stadium must feel like heaven to him.
Obviously, an acquisition of Lee would have been huge, as he would have immediately made a ridiculous 1-2 punch with Clayton Kershaw. Blanton is not as sexy of a trade, but what it does do is strengthen the back end of the rotation. He also has plenty of postseason experience, winning a ring in 2008 with the Phillies.
Blanton's arrival is a solid addition. It's certainly not spectacular, but I'm pretty sure Ned Colletti and Don Mattingly know that anyway. It will be good to give him the ball instead of patching together starts from guys who aren't ready yet.
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