It seems the Brewers may be the front runners for C.C. Sabathia. Buster Olney seems to think they will be giving up Tirk's man crush Matt Laporta. Not a bad deal. It would certainly greatly improve their chances this season with all the pitching injuries. Also, there's no real place for Laporta to play. The outfield is pretty young and talented now. I say good move if it goes down.
good move IF you resign the horse. I believe firmly in dumping the system when you're getting a position player, because in a division chase, he can play and improve your chances everyday. But with a starter, he will only play in 15 or so games. That's a steep price to pay if you never see him again. But hey, if they can resign him, I'm all for it.
Brewers, Indians agree on Sabathia By Tom Haudricourt Sunday, Jul 6 2008, 05:46 PM I just was told by a reliable club source that the Brewers have a deal in place with Cleveland for left-hander C.C. Sabathia, contingent on the paperwork being done and medical records exchanged. But believe me, folks, that's a deal. All that other stuff is formality. All I know so far is that top prospect Matt LaPorta is in the deal. I was told two lower-level minor leaguers also are included. The Brewers refused to include another top prospect such as Alcides Escobar or Mat Gamel. Look for Sabathia to make his debut for the Brewers Tuesday night at Miller Park against Colorado. I'll post more details as I get them. http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2008/07/06/brewers-indians-agree-on-sabathia.aspx
you a big baseball guy. what do you think, Tirk? I think it's dumb. Next year, they will regret having no prospects when they have no Sabathia and no Sheets.
well there comes a time when you play to win now. they have a great farm system and laporta is not their best prospect in their eyes (Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel will stay with Milwaukee somehow so they see it as a win). plus, he had no position. I think that was key in their decision outside of the fact they havent been to the postseason since molitor and yount-1982 i think they said. braun cannot play 3b and theres nowhere left to hide laporta. plus, ben sheets is not going to be there next year. Nor is it likely he stays healthy the rest of this year. his history speaks against it. so, they take the plunge and hope they can re-sign sabbathia first and see what happens. if and when ben goes on the shelf they still have a legit #1. they just better hope laporta isnt the next pujols at the dish. though he will never be him in the field regardless.
IF they do get in the playoffs, Sheets and Sabathia is way better than any 1-2 punch any other NL team can deliver. They just better be sure they can win now. b/c they don't have much of a choice now.
or Haren and Webb, because Webb has been throwing big and not-so heavy sinkers lately that have been leaving the yard. BTW, how in God's name is Varitek an all-star with his near below mendoza line average? I understand his value to the Sox handling the pitchers, etc... but there isn't much use for that in an all-star game when every inning there is a new pitcher and they are only throwing fastballs.
webb is still webb. picking out a random sample of games means little in the grand-scheme of things. hes proven in both the regular and postseasons. not many are. they should remove the manager's say-so in selection of the all-star game. its a huge burden and conflict of interest. what if varitek has a 100K clause in his contract if he makes the AS game. you think francona will replace him with longoria or lowell or anyone more deserving? Or better yet if you need a catcher, try a.j. pierzynski. I heard this being discussed today and think its a great idea. the home field advantage thing is minimal in baseball at best for the WS and its just for show by the commish after he fouled it up when it was in milwaukee. plus if CC walks, the brewers get 2 top picks because of it. they will have 5 of the first 35 picks next year I believe.
who is the next piece to drop? Randy Wolf will be moved before the deadline. Do the Braves maybe sell Teixiera? They won't, because it would make Cox more entitled to retire and/or move on, but they probably should. Do the Reds move Griffey or Dunn? Who on the Mariners will move? Will a team in need of slugging sell their soul to Jose Guillen? Will a team like the O's who are still contenders, but everyone knows they will become pretenders soon, buy or sell?
