Brewers get Sabathia; will other teams respond with trades?
Doug Melvin stated the obvious Monday. Now, it's up to rival baseball general managers to respond.
"I'd say we're going for it," the Milwaukee Brewers general manager said after acquiring pitcher CC Sabathia, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, from the Cleveland Indians for three minor leaguers and a player to be named.
The deal, the first for a reigning Cy Young winner since Toronto sent Roger Clemens to the New York Yankees in 1998, is an early start to the trade season that annually heats up closer to the July 31 deadline. It puts pressure on both the teams chasing Milwaukee in the National League wild card race and the Chicago Cubs, who lead the Brewers by 3½ games in the NL Central. That deficit has shrunk five games in three weeks.
Cleveland is one of only four major league teams more than nine games out of a playoff spot and thus was ready to trade a player who will be a free agent after the season. They received four prospects, including slugging outfielder Matt LaPorta.
Plenty more impending free agents could be available if teams on the precipice of contention decide they're no longer in the race and become sellers. Among them are pitchers A.J. Burnett of Toronto, Rich Harden and Joe Blanton of Oakland, Randy Wolf of San Diego and Brian Fuentes of Colorado.
Top hitters in that category include Atlanta first baseman Mark Teixeira, Cincinnati outfielder Adam Dunn and even his Reds teammate Ken Griffey Jr., though Griffey has the contractual right to decline any trade.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, whose team has the best record in the league, told reporters last week that he would be aggressive in the trade market and his manager, Lou Piniella, has said at various times this season he would like to see the team improved, if possible.
ABOUT THE TRADE
•The trade: The Cleveland Indians traded left-hander CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for four minor leaguers — first baseman/left fielder Matt LaPorta, pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson and a player to be named.
•Impact on Brewers: While Sabathia's addition turns an already-strong team into a dangerous postseason threat, it also escalates Milwaukee's payroll past $90 million, casting doubt on whether the organization will reap profits this year, according to principal owner Mark Attanasio.
After Attanasio and the Brewers opened their wallets for a 2008 playoff run, they now have two viable aces — Sabathia and Ben Sheets— but looming over the future of the club is that both pitchers will become free agents at the end of the season.
•Impact on Indians: Cleveland is in last place in the AL Central, and since Sabathia will become a free agent after the season, there was not much to lose. The question is how much they gained after mining the Brewers farm system.
LaPorta was the seventh overall pick in 2007. He is a fastball hitter with endless power and was originally a first baseman, but Fielder's major-league presence led the Brewers to move LaPorta to the outfield.
As for the hurlers, left-handed Jackson is closer to contributing, but the better pitching prospect is Bryson. Bryson, 20, is a right-handed strikeout pitcher who projects as a late-inning reliever and has struck out 73 in 55 innings at Class A (Charleston) West Virginia.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment