Indians Confidential

The following letter was posted on the Indians website about the deal to move C.C. Sabathia:

Dear fans,

Thank you for your many years of loyalty to and support of the Cleveland Indians. Because you are vitally important to the success of the Indians, I want to communicate the thinking behind our recent player personnel decisions, including our decision to trade C.C. Sabathia, directly to you.

After keeping the strong nucleus from our 2007 playoff team intact, we all had high expectations entering the ‘08 season. Unfortunately, the team did not play up to our expectations and we sustained injuries to key players within our starting lineup and rotation. Due to our team’s performance, as well as the significant opportunity to add talent that can impact the short-term and long-term success of the organization, we decided to trade C.C.

We did not take our decision to trade C.C. lightly. He has been an integral member of the Indians organization and the Cleveland community for the past eight years. We all shared the pleasure of watching C.C. develop from a young Draft pick into a mature team leader — and one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. After re-signing C.C. in 2005 to a contract that extended into what would have been his first two free agent years, we were able to share in and enjoy his ‘07 Cy Young Award winning season as a Cleveland Indian, a performance that propelled our club to the AL Central Division Championship.

We made extensive attempts to secure C.C.’s future in Cleveland by signing him to a contract extension. In fact, we offered C.C. a top of the market contract that included the highest annual salary in the history of the Indians’ organization. Unfortunately, due to C.C.’s desire to test the free agent market, we determined that trading C.C. provided the best outcome for the long-term success of the organization. By trading C.C., we capitalized on an opportunity to infuse upper level talent into our organization that can contribute to our on-field success for many years, rather than risk losing C.C. for only two Draft picks with a distant and uncertain future.

We remain enthusiastic about the steps we have taken towards fulfilling our organizational mission to build and sustain a championship-caliber team. Our Minor League system served as the catalyst for our 2007 playoff run and continues to develop exciting, young players. We look forward to the opportunity of watching many more young players blossom into Major League stars as Cleveland Indians.

We have confidence that the tremendously difficult decision to trade C.C. will enhance our ability to put a winning club on the field to make our loyal fans and the entire Cleveland community proud. On behalf of my family and the entire Cleveland Indians organization, I appreciate your continued support and look forward to seeing you at a game in the near future. Go Tribe!

Sincerely,

Paul Dolan

The move that has been rumored about for the past few days is finally ready to go down, as reports have Tribe ace C.C. Sabathia about to change cities, moving from Cleveland to Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as well as Yahoo! Sports is reporting the deal, and that it came down Sunday afternoon.

The deal is Sabathia to Milwaukee for for four minor leaguers, including top prospect Matt LaPorta and third baseman Taylor Green. LaPorta is the ace of the deal for the Indians, as he has 20 home runs and 66 RBIs for Class AA Huntsville. He is a right-handed slugger who is below-average defensively. He was the Brewers’ first-round pick in 2007, and played first base at the University of Florida, but the Brewers converted him to left field.

“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. “There would be no hard feelings one way or another. This is a business, and I understand that.” Green is a third baseman, and was being scouted by the Indians at Class A Brevard County back on July 3rd. This season he was batting .297 with 10 homers and 50 RBI. Last season at A ball he hit .327 with 14 homers and 86 RBI.

What could have been for Sabathia really died out when he declined a $72 million, four-year extension from the Indains back in spring training, and said that he would not talk to the team till after the season. With the Indians having the second to worst record in the Majors, time was now to trade their ace.

As the Indians attempts to turnover their bullpen continues, their losing streak Saturday night at the HHH Metrodome continued. After taking a 5-2 lead after the second inning, and getting five ho-hum innings from Aaron Laffey, the bullpen imploded again, allowing five runs in three innings in the teams 7th straight loss, 9-6 to the Twins.

The bullpens culprits on this Saturday night included Tom Mastny, who allowed four runs on two hits in just 0.1, and Rafael Perez, who gave up one run on one hit in 1.1. The Twins moved to 5-4 after five innings, and then put the game away with a five run 6th to move to 49-38 on the season.

The Indians fall to 37-50, 13 games under .500 and 13 games back of the White Sox in the AL Central. The offense was highlighted by Grady Sizemore, who went 2-for-5 with his 22nd homer and RBI. Andy Marte showed signs of life at the plate, going 2-for-4 with his first RBI of the year, he’s batting .150.

The loss means that the Tribe, who were one game away from being the AL reps in the World Series just 8 months ago, now have the second worst record in baseball. “You can’t think about that now, ‘cause we’re here,” Grady Sizemore said. “You can’t be frustrated with the way things started because of the success last year. You have to move forward and find a way to make this year positive.”

It’s not getting easier to watch this team, and with C.C. Sabathia and probably at least 1-2 other players, like Casey Blake heading out the door to other teams in the next three weeks, it’s probably not going to get much better.

Steve Henson from Yahoo Sports has put out his mid-term grades for MLB teams, and the Tribe has earned a D+.  Here is the report from Henson about the Indians thus far.

Cleveland Indians: The biggest disappointment in the AL save that rainy outpost in the Pacific Northwest has trading deadline decisions like no other. It’s got to be gut wrenching to all but quit by dealing starters C.C. Sabathia, Paul Byrd and perhaps a position player. Especially so soon after finishing one game short of the World Series. But the time is drawing near.

Let the the fishing tournament begin As the trade deadline nears C.C. Sabathia is and continues to be the biggest fish available in the trading market this summer. Also, it must be noted that C.C. has been pitching like it. In the month of June, Sabathia has accrued 44 strikeouts and a measly 1.89 ERA in 38 innings. In each of his last three starts he has struck out 10 or more batters.

All three of those starts were against National League foes, which bodes well for an American League team with World Series hopes like the Red Sox, or the Yankees, or an NL team trying to win its division out right, like the Cubs, or the Phillies. If the Indians are listening to offers and taking them serious, they now have C.C.’s current stats to add to his value and potential. If they choose to trade him, then they should get max value. With so many teams in contention now seems like as good of a time, as any. We have the prized fish, now let’s see who’s going to land him.

We all know that if there is one player on the Tribe that will get a ton of looks it’s C.C. Sabathia, but now rumors are popping up that the next player that could be on the move from Cleveland could be third basemen Casey Blake.  Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports says that three teams - the Dodgers, Mets and A’s could all have their eyes on Blake because of his ability to play both first and third.  Here is the link to the column, which of course also talks about Sabathia and where he may end up.

Indians ace C.C. Sabathia talks to the media after his lastest outing, a 5-0 shutout win over the Reds. C.C. talks about on-going trade rumors, his early struggles, and getting things under control and just throwing his fastball and doing his job.  Click below to hear C.C.’s postgame comments.

 

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