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Dodgers trade Chin-Lung Hu to Mets

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Chin-Lung Hu, Dodgers hot prospect no more.

Actually, the light-hitting shortstop had almost disappeared off their prospect list the last year or two, but he is officially out after they traded him Monday to the Mets for a nondescript minor league left-hander.

Hu was out of options and unlikely to make the team this season, so getting Michael Antonini for him was better than nothing.

Hu never demonstrated any ability to hit major league pitching, batting .191 in parts of four seasons with the Dodgers, including .130 (three for 23) last season.

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Hu will turn 27 in February, so his time as a Dodger was clearly running out.

Antonini is hardly some hot prospect, either. The left-hander was an 18th-round draft pick in 2007, and is 25-26 with a 4.04 earned-run average in four minor league seasons.

Last year, he split time between double-A Binghamton (6-9, 4.23) and triple-A Buffalo (2-3, 5.11).
So this is hardly some Earth-shattering trade, though it may mean good news for shortstop Ivan DeJesus Jr., who wasn’t called up last September.

The Dodgers already have starter Rafael Furcal and Jamey Carroll at shortstop, plus second baseman Juan Uribe who can slide over.

But it at least bumps DeJesus up on the depth chart, so the Dodgers must have been satisfied with his play during the Arizona Fall League.

And it offers a fresh start for Hu, who will be reunited with Mets Manager Terry Collins, formerly the Dodgers’ farm director.

-- Steve Dilbeck

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