Posted by Mike Caprio June 29, 2009

With Cleveland Indians’ General Manager Mark Shapiro beginning his annual “pruning” of his big league roster this weekend, Indians fans should be comforted in the fact, that while current manager Eric Wedge continues to underperform expectations, Shapiro is a savvy evaluator of talent, and a shrewd dealer at the trading deadline.   Last year’s  deadline brought a backstop bounty who will be the feature of today’s Top Prospects on the Farm.  Here’s to hoping that the Tribe faithful will be rewarded with more young talent on the way this season.

Carlos Santana, Catcher, Cleveland Indians (KLGM Hitting Prospect #13)

Last year at the trading deadline, Shapiro acquired two prospects, John Meloan and Santana in exchange for Casey Blake.   Many in the baseball community were surprised at the deal…questioning why Dodgers’ general manager Ned Colletti would trade a “blue chip” prospect for a career 788 OPS hitter.  Colletti’s usual scientific/analytic response was, “Casey Blake is a gamer,” said Colletti. “His experience and character will be a plus as we head down the stretch in the final two months of the regular season.”

The Dodgers made the post-season, and the Indians received one of the top 3 catching prospects in baseball.  Most Dodgers’ fans would take the result 9 out of 10 times…but the Indians should benefit over the long haul.

Undrafted, the 23-year old Santana was signed by the Dodgers in 2004 and was assigned to Rookie Ball with the Gulf Coast Dodgers as a 3B/OF, before being elevated to all the way up to Hi-A Vero in his second professional season. In 91 games combined, Santana hit:

.282 Average, 10 HR, 45 RBI, 4 SB, .379 OBP, .436 SLG (815 OPS)

The following year the Dodgers prompted Santana to switch positions—to Catcher—and demoted him to Lo-A Great Lakes with the Loons (The Loons? You can’t make this stuff up), where he began honing his craft as a backstop.

2008 was a breakout year for Santana with the Hi-A Inland Empire 66′ers with a pre-trade line of:

.323 Average, 14 HR, 96 RBI, 7 SB, .431 OBP, .563 SLG, 994 OPS

After the trade, “smelling an opportunity”, Santana continued his torrid season with the Hi-A Kingston before a 2 game promotion to AA Akron.

In 29 games at Kingston, Santana’s final line with the Indians was:

.352 Average, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 3 SB, .452 OBP, .590 SLG (1.042 OPS)

Santana is nearly universally recognized as a top offensive force behind the plate (think Victor Martinez/Jorge Posada), with a mixed review on whether his 2+ years at battery to learn and hone his craft will be enough to justify a full-time major league job.  His work in the OF/3B provides a nice fallback if Catching proves to be a challenge at the major league level.

This season, Santana has continued his fine play at AA Akron.  In 69 games, his line looks like:

.271 Average, 11 HR, 47 RBI, 0 SB, .409 OBP, .509 SLG (918 OPS)

Much of Santana’s near-term fate will revolve around the status of Victor Martinez.  Kelly Shoppach has done admirably behind the plate for the last two seasons, but Santana appears ready for Jacobs Field sometime in 2010.

Santana is a must-own in all Keeper League formats, and should not be considered in traditional Roto/PPA leagues unless Victor Martinez is traded before the July 31st deadline.

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