c’mon man. you’re better than that.

when Sabathia and Santana are no longer in the AL Central. They’ve smacked us down, when the Sox should’ve been winning the division, for far too long. I don’t care who the Indians got in return, I’m f*ckin’ happy.

The Brewers’ trade for ace pitcher C.C. Sabathia is official. As a reminder, the Indians will receive Matt LaPorta, Rob Bryson, Zach Jackson, and maybe Taylor Green. Paul Hoynes says Michael Brantley could end up the player to be named later instead of Green. Ken Rosenthal suggests Lorenzo Cain may also still be possible. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo analyzes the prospects received by the Indians.
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Yahoo’s Jeff Passan calls the package of players an “OK haul.”
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ESPN’s Keith Law agrees, suggesting that Mark Shapiro should’ve held out for a higher probability return. He
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Rosenthal has details of other teams’ attempts to acquire Sabathia. He says the Dodgers wanted the Indians to package Sabathia with Casey Blake. Surprisingly, the Yankees were “very heavily involved.” They did not want to give up Phil Hughes, however.

The Cleveland Indians, essentially out of the playoff hunt, have decided to become sellers at the deadline, agreeing in principle to send the defending AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for a package that is rumored to include 1b/LF Matt LaPorta, LHP Zach Jackson, RHP Rob Bryson, and a PTBNL who is rumored to be IF Taylor Green. The Brewers will be getting a rental player in Sabathia for the playoff push, giving them a one-two punch at the top of the rotation that competes with the heavy hitters in the NL such as San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum / Matt Cain and Arizona’s Dan Haren / Brandon Webb.

In addition to the immediate value, the Brewers will gain two first-round picks should they offer C.C. Sabathia arbitration and fail to re-sign him, which they can use to draft high-value pitchers to help restock an already-promising farm system that is loaded with position players. If RHP Ben Sheets follows suit, the Brewers will have four extra first-round picks to select from 2009’s crop of players. Giving that many draft picks to a smart front office (led by scouting director Jack Zduriencik – a common candidate for GM positions) could lead to a great blend of high-impact and major-league ready talent, keeping the Brewers competitive well into the future. ...

... Matt LaPorta | OF/1b | Age – 23

LaPorta was drafted with the 7th pick of the 2007 draft out of the University of Florida.

By the Numbers

Statistically speaking, LaPorta is about as good as you could ask. He hits for power, he gets on base, and he hits line drives and fly balls.

He doesn’t hit for all that good an average, but that may be a result of the number of fly balls he hits since ground balls are more likely to become hits. However, batting average isn’t all that important when your ISO-power is .288 and you’re getting on base 40% of the time.

Strikeouts can be a concern for LaPorta but he has lowered his K% from 21.4 to 17 this year. As far as power hitters are concerned, that number is perfectly fine.

The Swing

Matt Laporta’s swing mechanicsMatt LaPorta’s swing

*Hat tip to BREWERBIGFLY and SLProspects

LaPorta has a classic power hitter’s swing. He does a great job of carrying his weight forward forward. Notice how the bat stays connected to the body as he loads his hands by moving his elbow almost behind his back similar to the way a pitcher loads their arm horizontally.

The hips and hands turn together and he uses his firm front leg as a base in which to turn on. His turn through the ball is especially forceful. LaPorta also lets the ball travel relatively deep in his hitting zone though he could stand to let it travel a little deeper. ...

... That, to me, is the biggest problem with this deal for the Indians. Mark Shapiro got a top-50 prospect in LaPorta, one who fills an organizational need and who could be in the team’s lineup starting now. That’s a good thing. The deal, though, is roughly Sabathia-for-LaPorta, and that doesn’t seem like enough. It certainly doesn’t seem like enough to pull the trigger on July 7. There are three-plus weeks to the deadline. There are at least 17 teams fighting for eight postseason slots, some of which have trigger-happy GMs and loaded farm systems. On July 31, I might argue that two months of CC Sabathia for six years of Matt LaPorta and some throw-ins is what the market priced him at. The same deal on July 7 means that not enough options were explored. This wasn’t a Godfather offer, and it’s one that absolutely would have been there three weeks from now. Mark Shapiro simply dealt Sabathia too soon, without letting the desperation of his fellow GMs drive up the price and get him a better deal.

isn’t that somewhat false, if shapiro had waited till 7/31 wouldn’t CC’s value be less?

would they have gotten something better than laporta? isn’t ‘something worse’ more possible?