Goodbye ElyMania

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that John Ely has been traded by the Dodgers to Houston for left-handed pitching prospect Rob Rasmussen.  

Oh, woe is me.  John Ely was quite the rage in 2010, and now he is gone.  

I shall always remember you, John Ely.  You were a shining light during a time of great tumult.  We all hated the situation the Dodgers where in, and immediately grasped at anything that could divert our attention- even for just a little bit.  For a short time, it was you.  You seemingly came out of nowhere to throw strikes and win some game, and I am forever thankful to have been a witness to it all.  

Good luck, my kind sir.  You deserve a shot at a starting pitching role, and I can't think of a better place to get your feet settled than in Houston.  They need the help, and I think you'll establish yourself there.


I thought it would be fun to reminisce a bit about those good-old-days, so I dug around a bit and found this great fantasy SI cover made by a twitter user named PA_Dodger (Now renamed @FLA_Dodger).  I never cease to get a laugh out of this one.

(pic link)

Of course, who could forget about the Ely jokes.  See some below.

• John Ely is so good, he struck out Chuck Norris. Twice. (@kjasalter)
• John Ely struck out Chuck Norris... with 2 pitches. (@Russaldo13)
• John Ely CAN tailgate at Dodger Stadium. (@IEEric)
•  John Ely can't walk and chew gum at the same time, because he doesn't walk anybody. (@ToddKaplan)  
• The only reason Andre Ethier's pinkie hasn't healed yet is because John Ely hasn't touched it. (@truebluela)

Via an email from the Dodgers:

Rasmussen, 23, is a native of Arcadia and played collegiately at UCLA after starring at Polytechnic High School in Pasadena. In 2007, the Dodgers selected him in the 27^th round of the amateur draft, but he decided to attend UCLA instead.

Rasmussen was selected by the Marlins in the second round of the 2010 amateur draft and then traded to the Houston organization on July 4, 2012 as part of the deal that sent Carlos Lee to Miami.

In three minor league seasons, Rasmussen is 20-21 with a 3.88 ERA in 60 games (53 starts), including 4-4 with a 4.80 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) at Double-A Corpus Christi in 2012.

Ely, 26, was acquired in a December 2009 trade with the White Sox and went 4-13 with a 5.70 ERA in 25 games (19 starts) over three seasons in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers now have 39 players on their 40-man roster. 

 Below are the career minor league stats for Rasmussen.

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