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Dodgers Take Cues From Kings, Acquire Joe Blanton
The Dodgers, taking a cue from the Kings, have continued to acquire players from Philadelphia. The Kings got Mike Richards and Simon Gagne before the 2011-12 season and acquired Jeff Carter before the trade deadline en route to their first Stanley Cup Championship. The Dodgers hope to repeat the same feat.
After acquiring Shane Victorino on Monday at the non-waiver trade deadline, the Dodgers acquired right-handed starting pitcher Joe Blanton from the Phillies for the famous "Player To Be Named Later". It is unclear whether Blanton cleared waivers or was claimed by the Dodgers.
Nonetheless, perhaps Blanton is the Jeff Carter for the Dodgers?
The 31-year old Blanton has a 4.59 ERA this season and leads the Major Leagues with a 6.39 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. As Ben Duronio of Fangraphs noted on Tuesday, Blanton also has given up a National League-high 22 home runs.
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The first-round draft pick, 24th overall pick, in the 2002 draft by the Oakland Athletics, Blanton made his Major League debut in 2004 for the A's out of the bullpen. He was traded to the Phillies in 2008 going 2-0 in the playoffs including a no-decision against the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS that resulted in a 7-5 victory. Blanton also got the win in Game 4 of the World Series helping the Phillies win their first World Series since 1980.
Blanton isn't Ryan Dempster nor is he Cliff Lee. But Blanton is an improvement over Stephen Fife or whatever Triple-A-Double-A callup the Dodgers want to stick in there.
But don't despair if things turn out badly. Blanton will be a free agent at the end of the season.
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