C.C.ing Aces

By: Big Rygg

It is officially being reported that the Cleveland Indians GM Mark Shapiro and our own Doug Melvin (I.M.W.T.) have agreed in principle to trade the reigning American League Cy Young Award Winner C.C. Sabathia (wow that's a long title...) to the Milwaukee Brewers!!!

What's heading in the other direction? Well, that remains a bit of a mystery. It's widely agreed upon by anyone that's been talking about it that the centerpiece of this deal on the Brewers' end is 2007 first-round draft pick 1B/OF Matt LaPorta. It was reported that the Indians were pushing for another top prospect (supposedly Huntsville SS Alcides Escobar) but that the Brewers balked at that asking price. Instead, it is believed that the Brewers are sending two other lower-level minor league prospects along with LaPorta in the deal.

The first names reported by some sites were 3B Taylor Green (single A player and also the organization's Minor League Player of the Year in 2007) and OF Lorenzo Cain. It might be Green going, but it won't be Cain as Cain has reportedly been told to meet up with the Huntsville team, ostensibly to replace LaPorta on that roster. It's being reported, also, that an official announcement will be made on Monday morning, so we'll obviously learn the names then if we don't find them out sooner than that.

But regardless of who is heading to Harry Doyle's favorite team, one thing remains easy to figure out...C.C. Sabathia is coming to the Cream City! What a deal this has a chance to be! The Brewers will be pairing Sabathia with staff ace Ben Sheets to create the most formidable 1-2 punch in the National League, bar none in my opinion. What are your other options?

• Brandon Webb & Dan Haren
• Jake Peavy & Chris Young
• Tim Lincecum & Matt Cain
• Aaron Cook & Jeff Francis
• Brad Penny & Derek Lowe
• Carlos Zambrano & Ryan Dempster
• Aaron Harang & Edinson Volquez
• Johan Santana & John Maine...I guess...

Some teams don't even have a legitimate 2nd (or first...Pittsburgh, I'm looking at you) to make the list. The closest anyone else comes is the Diamondbacks with Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, but the Brewers' new duo top them head-to-head.

Speaking of head-to-head, here are how Sheets and Sabathia's numbers in 2008 compare to each other so far:

Sheets: 10-2, 2.77 ERA, 117.0 IP, 104 H, 37 R, 36 ER, 12 HR, 26 BB, 97 K, 1.11 WHIP

Sabathia: 6-8, 3.83 ERA, 122.1 IP, 117 H, 54 R, 52 ER, 13 HR, 34 BB, 123 K, 1.23 WHIP

As you can see, Sheets tops Sabathia in most categories with the exception of total strikeouts. But if you're looking for some evidence of just how good Sabathia really is, here are his number since April 22nd which was the beginning of his turnaround after a horrendous start...

14 starts, 6-5, 2.16 ERA, 104.1 IP, 85 H, 27 R, 25 ER, 8 HR, 19 BB, 109 K, 0.99 WHIP

Keeping in mind that he was playing for the lackluster Indians, you can understand why he suffered 5 losses in these 14 starts including two starts in which he gave up 1 and 2 earned runs respectively.

This truly upgrades Milwaukee's rotation a lot, and all we gave up for him were "maybes". If you don't like that Milwaukee is willing to go for it, I don't know what to tell you.
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UPDATE: As reported on MLB.com, Indians GM Mark Shapiro was reached for comment on the rumored deal. He confirmed that they are in negotiations with a specific club, but wouldn't say which club that was nor would he say that anybody was out of the running for Sabathia yet. Now, this could all just be lip service because of tampering rules or whatever, but that's the officially official word so far from Shapiro.
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UPDATE 2: ESPN's Amy Nelson received a text message in reply to one she sent C.C. Sabathia in which Sabathia said "I'm good, excited. It'll be weird to leave these guys" (obviously referring to his teammates in Cleveland). It certainly sounds like Sabathia was informed that he'd be heading somewhere.

As if we didn't already know that.

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MORNING UPDATE: It is currently being reported that the deal for Sabathia is a four-for-one deal that will send Matt LaPorta, LHP Zach Jackson, single-A pitcher Rob Bryson and the infamous "player-to-be-named-later". A lot of people believe that that player will end up being 3B Taylor Green, but the Indians reportedly want to have at least another look at him because they apparently want to move him to 2B.

There will be a press conference at 11:00am today. Tune into 1250AM WSSP on the radio for live coverage of the press conference.