Indians Confidential

The wait, the anticipation and the speculation is over, and the Milwaukee Brewers have won the C.C. Sabathia sweepstakes. As the Indians continued to slip out of contention in the American League Central, Mark Shapiro and Larry Dolan decided this was the time and the deal to make. On WKNR 850AM in an interview with Mark “Munch” Bishop, Larry Dolan stated that there were 7 teams vying for C.C.’s services and the Brewers offered up the best package.

So who was the deal maker in this trade? His name is Matt LaPorta, a power hitting outfielder and the top prospect in the Brewers’ organization. When drafted in 2007 with the 7th pick in the first round many speculated that he could be the next Ryan Braun. If the scouts are correct and LaPorta does become the next Ryan Braun, this will go down as one of the best trades that they Indians organization has ever made. His stats currently demonstrate that he has a lot of power combined with a good eye at the plate. We must take into consideration that he has been hitting Double A pitching, but the fact that he shows patience at the plate this early in his development is a very good sign.

While college statistics can be very misleading, it’s hard to misinterpret LaPorta’s line from his senior season. Playing against top-notch collegiate competition in the SEC, LaPorta hit .402/.582/.817 with 20 homers and an astounding 55/16 walk/strikeout ratio in 52 games. After a mere seven games in rookie ball, LaPorta was assigned to the Double-A Huntsville Stars. When the trade was made on Sunday LaPorta was hitting .288 with 20 homers and 66 RBIs in 84 games for Huntsville. When asked about the trade Matt LaPorta said, “It’s kind of flattering to have your name brought up for one of the best pitchers in the game,” LaPorta told the Huntsville Times.

Many will say that the Indians should have waited for a better deal, or that they rushed to make this deal. Others will say that there were other needs that needed to be addressed on this team with the trade of C.C.. I for one think a trade needed to be done sooner rather than later. Right now you have many more teams contending for a playoff spot that you may not have in a month from now. If 7 teams were interested in C.C. than we have to cross our fingers, hope and trust that the Indians got the best deal available amongst those 7.