Indians GM Won't Blind Meloan By Mandating Starting Role

The Dodgers' discard of Jonathan Meloan in the Casey Blake trade comes after his conversion to a starting pitching role was unsuccessful. Indians GM Mark Shapiro told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that rather than push this experiment further, they will evaluate Meloan as a reliever, a more comfortable role for Meloan:

Meloan, 24, was the Dodgers' fifth-round pick in 2005. He pitched out of the bullpen until being moved to the rotation this year at Las Vegas. He went 5-10 with a 4.97 ERA in 21 games, including 20 starts. He struck out 99 and walked 60 in 105 innings.

In his minor-league career -- Meloan made his big-league debut in 2007 with the Dodgers -- he has 355 strikeouts in 262 2/3 innings. The Indians, looking to repair one of the AL's worst bullpens, like him as a reliever.

"The Dodgers needed starting depth so that's why he was starting this year," said Shapiro. "I think most organizations saw him as a reliever. We'll move him to the pen so he doesn't get too many innings, take a look at him as a reliever and then take the off-season to decide what role he'll come to spring training in."

Okay, okay, I know this article is three days late and not really that newsworthy. I came up with the headline pun late, all right? So sue me!

All I can say, is that my life is pretty plain.

FOUND: Pictures of Dodgers' Rookie Hazing! Part 3!

Who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks? Shaft! And who's the submitter and photographer team that's a Dodger-rookie-hazing-picture-providing machine to all the eager Dodger fans? Phil Witte and Belen Mota, respectively!

Background: Eric Hull in frilly red pajamas with devil horns (or as I call it, what I wore to my last job interview. Why haven't they called back?). Foreground: Eric Stults, pirate. Captain Jack Sparrow is unimpressed.

L to R: Andy LaRoche (background) with rainbow wig (John 3:16 sign not visible), Stults the loafer-wearin' pirate, Delwyn Young as a suspiciously broad-shouldered Snow White, Hell-Hull, Chad Billingsley (background) as Robin Hood (he strikes out the rich and poor alike).

Jonathan Meloan as...well, you tell us:

Tarzan?

Bamm-Bamm?

Shadow of the Colossus?

Furious Tiki God?

Whom does Jonathan Meloan most resemble?
	Tarzan
	Bamm-Bamm
	Shadow of the Colossus
	Furious Tiki God
Free polls from Pollhost.com

And in case you missed it...

FOUND: Pictures of Dodgers' Rookie Hazing! Part 1!
FOUND: Pictures of Dodgers' Rookie Hazing! Part 2!

Stay tuned, SoSG faithful, for our next installment—where everyone's favorite catcher with a jazzy middle name is revealed to lead a secret luchador life!

Meloan Gets The Tuscon Love

...but will he get called up to the majors with the Dodgers this year? Well, the Tuscon Citizen seems to think his minor-league performance merits a look.

The best closer in the minor leagues could be former University of Arizona starter John Meloan.

Meloan, who seems to going by "Jonathan" these days, was converted to a reliever after being selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth round in 2005. He was selected by Rotoworld as the 60th-best minor league prospect at midseason, one spot below ex-Cat outfielder Trevor Crowe, a first-round pick in 2005.

Rotoworld called Meloan the "game's best pure relief prospect."

Meloan is ripping through Double-A hitters. Pitching for Jacksonville, he had a 2.11 ERA with a 5-2 record and 17 saves through Thursday.

"He has the arsenal to start, but because of his maximum-effort delivery, the Dodgers figured that putting him in the pen was the best way to keep him healthy. It looks like they were right," Rotoworld wrote.

Jonathan Meloan, 7/8

Peter Gammons' recently posted ten key questions left to answer this spring. None of them involved the NL West, so I won't waste your time. (Unsurprisingly, #1 was about the Yankees (rotation), and #2 was about the Red Sox (rotation). Thanks, Peter, for such a national perspective!)

Buried in his bullet points was this note from an anonymous scout:

One scout had Dodger rookie reliever Jonathan Meloan with a 7 curveball (on a 2-to-8 scale).

I'm glad Meloan was rated 7 out of 8. But can someone explain to me why baseball scouts would use such a wacky scale in the first place?

Meloan Update

From Steve Henson at the L.A. Times:

Rapid climb

How highly regarded a prospect is reliever John Meloan? The Dodgers nearly promoted him to the major leagues last September even though he had only five appearances at double A.

Meloan, a right-hander who was 24-4 from 2003 to 2005 at the University of Arizona, was brought to L.A. for a physical, but team doctors suggested he cut his season short because his elbow showed signs of fatigue.

"There was a chance I was going to join the team, and that was a boost in itself," Meloan said. "I find myself saying I can play at this level."

Meloan was dominant at three levels last season, beginning the season at low Class-A Columbus, Ga., moving up to high Class-A Vero Beach and finishing at double-A Jacksonville. He struck out 91 and walked only 15 in 52 2/3 innings.

The Dodgers say he probably will begin the season as the closer at Jacksonville and could move up quickly to triple A and Dodger Stadium.

He pitched a scoreless inning in his first Grapefruit League appearance, walking the first batter he faced on four pitches before retiring the next three on five pitches.

I thought he was named Jonathan. Good news, regardless.

Gammons Mentions Dodger Youngsters

ESPN.com's Peter Gammons blogged on a number of future stars on which to keep one's eye, and the Dodgers were well represented. No link since it's insider only, here's the skinny:

That is the curse young players live with each spring. Oh, the first few weeks are great, filled with promises, get-me-over fastballs, guys out of A ball and 4-A players. But in the end the hopes of being the next Albert Pujols shooting past the minor leagues is fraught with complications.

But the kids are the enduring siren's song of spring training. We watch lines of pitchers throw from bullpen mounds, study infield drills and listen for the sounds that differentiate bat speeds....Here are the young players most will be watching this spring.

["Most Significant Young Pitchers"]: Jonathan Meloan, Dodgers. Just look at the strikeouts -- 91 in 53 innings. Here is L.A.'s bullpen sleeper.

["Young Players We May See Come August"]: Andy LaRoche, 3B, Dodgers. His time could be April. He's hit 30 and 19 homers the last two years, greatly improved his approach and discipline to the point where he had more walks than strikeouts and made five errors in 54 Triple-A games. He walks on the field and looks like a major leaguer.

Shee-oot, if all it takes to get Gammons' admiration is just walking onto the field, I can handle that. Sign me up!

At the end of the article, Gammons also mentions Preston Mattingly and Scott Elbert of the Dodgers. Granted, he mentioned four Red Sox as well in the same article--but given all the Dodgers newbies who aren't considered as new anymore (Martin, Kemp, Ethier, Loney, Broxton, etc.), that showing isn't too bad.