Saturday night, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt asked Brewers GM Doug Melvin about C.C. Sabathia. Refreshingly (and surprisingly) enough, Melvin wasn't shy about answering ...
I just spoke with general manager Doug Melvin who told me he's waiting to see if the Cleveland Indians will accept his trade proposal for left-hander C.C. Sabathia.
"Mark said he'd be in touch with me," said Melvin, referring to Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro. "I'm sure they've got to think through everything."
Melvin wasn't sure who his competition was for the services of Sabathia, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner who was placed on the trade market when the Indians fell into last place in the AL Central with no success in signing their ace to a multi-year contract extension.
Several names have been included in trade rumors involving the Brewers but their offer is thought to center on outfielder Matt LaPorta, their top minor-league prospect. LaPorta, currently playing at Class AA Huntsville, was the Brewers' first-round draft pick in 2007.
I know for a fact the Indians also have shown interest in Class A Brevard County third baseman Taylor Green, the Brewers' minor league player of the year in '07. A third prospect could be included in the offer as well, possibly Brevard outfielder Lorenzo Cain.
--snip--
Teams supposedly in the hunt for Sabathia include the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Melvin expects to hear soon whether he's the winner in the Sabathia sweepstakes.
"They're probably going through all the offers from every club," said Melvin. "Their owner probably has to get involved, too. Only Cleveland has the answers."
I got the feeling that Melvin expects to hear back by Sunday or Monday, at the latest. It'll be interesting to see if another club came up with an offer better than the Brewers, who have put a lot on the table.
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The consensus has been that the Indians can't do as well trading Sabathia as they did when trading
Bartolo Colon six years ago. Perhaps. But when they got
Brandon Phillips,
Grady Sizemore, and
Cliff Lee in
that deal, 1) they also had to take on
Lee Stevens and his $4 million salary, and 2) at the time, Phillips was the only Grade A prospect in the group, with Sizemore and Lee far from sure sure bets to become good major leaguers. What's more, Colon wasn't in his walk year; his contract included a reasonably priced team option for the next year (which the Expos exercised before trading Colon to the White Sox).
In retrospect, of course, the Indians have done
exceptionally well with that deal. At the time, though, it didn't look so great to the Indians'
players or their fans.
No, they probably won't do as well this time. But in terms of present-day value it seems that the Indians might do as well as they
seemed to have done six years ago. At 23, LaPorta's a bit old for Double-A. But he's tearing
up the Southern League, and projects as a solid major league hitter as soon as 2009. The other guys, Greene and Cain, are still in Class A but both were listed among the Brewers' top 15 or 20 prospects entering this season, and neither has done much to hurt his stock since.
Really, though, the key is LaPorta. When you trade a great player you lose unless you get a great player in return, and LaPorta has a real shot at becoming a great player. He's not a good outfielder, but he's good enough to play one of the corner slots and the Indians are exceptionally weak in both slots right now. And if
Ryan Garko doesn't find himself within the next year or so, LaPorta could slide to first base and hold that position for the next five or six years.
And of course the Brewers are completely set in the outfield corners (
Ryan Braun and
Corey Hart) and at first base (
Prince Fielder). So this deal makes sense for everybody. The key for the Brewers is to get this done quickly. As a commenter
elsewhere notes, "If they are going to get this done, it needs to be done ASAP from the Brewers perspective. No dragging it out for weeks while CC makes meaningless starts in Cleveland."
Rob Neyer
