From Bless You Boys (a Detroit Tigers Blog)
From Let's Go Tribe! (a Cleveland Indians Blog)Peralta will take over 3rd base until the return of Brandon Inge. At that point, he could become an option at short. The operative word being "could."
Peralta has been a starter at either short or 3rd for the Tribe since 2005. There had been rumors he was being actively shopped, as his numbers have been tailing off for three seasons. Peralta was putting up a not good at all line of 246/.308/.389 in 2010, well down from his '05-'08 peak where he was a 20+ HR, 80+ RBI threat.
As for his contract status, Peralta is making $4.6M this season, with a $250K buyout on a $7M club option for 2011. According to Jason Beck, the Indians will continue to pay Peralta's contract for this season.
Considering what the Tigers gave up to get him, Peralta isn't a bad get. There is still some pop in his bat, and a change of scenery may be just what Peralta needs.
The Indians got for Peralta a skinny 6'3" teenage left-hander named Giovanni Soto, not to be confused the Cubs catcher named Geovany Soto. This Soto was picked in the 21st round of the 2009 draft, and even though he's only throwing his fastball in the high-80s is still missing bats in the low minors (8.3 SO/9 in the Midwest League). He's listed at 155(!) pounds, so you'd figure that he should be able to add some mphs to his fastball as he adds weight to his frame.From Royals Review (you guessed it, a Kansas City Royals Blog)
From True Blue LA (a Los Angeles Dodgers Blog)Pimentel is a 21 year old pitcher who has been in A-ball. (B-R page) Pimentel has a 3.49 ERA this year, with good strikeout numbers. A definite interesting live arm. He is the second Pimentel from the Dodger organization to be acquired by Dayton Moore. Since 2008, the Dodgers have used him as a reliever. He has a 3.68 career minor league ERA.
Lucas May / Luke May is a 25 year old catcher with an .848 this season in AAA. (B-R page) May also hit decently last season in AA. I'm sure Albuquerque is a good hitters park, but for a catcher in his first AAA season, those are interesting numbers. I would have taken one of these guys for Pods.
Perhaps the Pierre comparison is a bit unfair. Both are speedy left-handed corner outfielders with similar career numbers (career 89 OPS+ for Podsednik, 84 OPS+ for Pierre), both have a ring in a box, but the 34-year old Podsednik has actually enjoyed a bit of a resurgence the past two years. Since the beginning of 2009, Podsednik has hit .306/.353/.407, for a 101 OPS+. His .335 wOBA this season is higher than anyone currently on the Dodger bench.
Podsednik has 30 stolen bases this season, but also led the American League being caught 12 times.
The acquisition of Podsednik at the very least means dramatically less playing time for Xavier Paul, who has started 13 of the last 21 games since Manny Ramirez was placed on the disabled list. Podsednik will likely become the everyday left fielder at least until Ramirez gets back, and even then given Manny's fragility, Podsednik figures to see quite a bit of playing time down the stretch for the Dodgers.
