The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal’s Tom Haudricourt. is reporting the Indians and Brewers have completed a trade sending P C.C. Sabathia to Milwaukee in exchange for OF Matt LaPorta. There are a pair of additional prospects heading to Cleveland, but they’ve yet to be identified, according to Haudricourt.
Though I’m not thrilled to see Sabathia arrive in the NL, even for what might only be a 3 month rental, from a Mets perspective, I’m glad he won’t be part of a 1-2 tandem in Philly with Cole Hamels. Conversely, I’m no longer liking the chances of the NL Wild Card emerging from the East.
Perhaps this was not the greatest afternoon for the Amazins’ to begin selling the above jersey.
according to baseball prospectus one of the other prospects is taylor green. there’s supposed to be one more but “No word on who the third prospect is but sources indicate it will not be Huntsville shortstop Alcides Escobar or Brevard County outfielder Lorenzo Cain.”
i have no idea who any of the other guys outside of laporta…who was the doughy guy who played for florida one year when they made it to the cws…is he that friggin good?
LaPorta might never hit 30 HRs in a big league season, but given how Mr. Crooked Hat already turned down a $72 million extension that Cleveland got 3 warm bodies for him, never mind the no. 7 overall pick from the ’07 draft, isn’t bad.
With Sheets quite possibly on the way out and Sabathia being a summer rental, Milwaukee is clearly going for broke right-fooking-now. Considering the way the Cards played over their heads in the first half, I can’t blame ’em. Milwaukee has a serious shot at winning the NL Central.
Sabathia is not a big game pitcher. They might challenge St. Louis for the #2 spot, but if they do it won’t be because of C.C. The Dancing Machine. And his post-season stats are…not so good.
I’m all in favor of the wholesale export of most AL Central pitching to the NL, I just want the big man to do better than Santana has.
Prediction: with CC on the prowl in Miller Park, watch for one of the giant sausages to disappear under mysterious circumstances.
CC will definitely improve Milwaukee, as a workhorse and solid arm. Rog is right (!) that he’s not a big game pitcher, he’s not an ace. I think he’s there to bolster the other starters as someone who can ease up the pressure on the bullpen and fill a solid rotation spot for LOTS of innings. Guys like him make the whole staff’s job easier. The Cubs outplayed the Brewers earlier this year, but it wasn’t a wipe-out by any means. If anything, I hope it motivates Hendry and Piniella to bring in someone who can do the same for the Cubs. Is there a list anywhere of whose available by the deadline?
I think Ken Rosenthal made a list but most of those guys are completely full of shit. Shocked as hell that Gammons got this one right. I heard the cubs were hot on the trail of Rich Harden.
The Cubs have a hardon for Harden but Ben do they have the young talent to bring him in? When healthy (4-6 weeks per year) he’s a completely overpowering ace whom I’d imagine Billy will not part with easily.
Rog and Andrew — I am shocked to find out how closely both of you and Cubs mailbag editor Carrie Muskat are thinking. She says pretty much the same today.
Says Ms. Muskat: “Knowing Hendry, losing out in the Sabathia derby won’t stop him from looking elsewhere. Sean Marshall’s latest outing was encouraging, and the Cubs were able to survive when Carlos Zambrano was on the disabled list. Oakland’s Rich Harden may be available, but the Athletics have to decide if they are buyers or sellers.”
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=chc
Naturally, you can expect a mailbag here at CSTB shortly.
Ben
The A’s are almost always sellers, always looking to the future instead of the present. Harden is not their only good pitcher and getting something for him before his arm falls off is probably on Beane’s to-do list. I’d rather have Blanton on my team but Harden would be great if he was not your #1 guy (because he will be DL’d at some point).
If I read this right, for Cubs farm prospects, the A’s aren’t far enough out of it to consider letting Harden go.
A quick whiparound of hopeless AL campaigns produces the names Bedard, Davies, Greinke…
Clear ’em out, hand ’em a copy of The Nine Hole For Dummies and put ’em on the train to buntville. I’m all for it.