Cleveland received talented players for Sabathia

Saturday, July 12, 2008

On paper, it may not look like the Cleveland Indians got much in return, but understand it from my perspective as someone who worked in the Milwaukee farm system last season.

I spent last summer with the Helena (Mont.) Brewers, a rookie-level team in the Pioneer League. I got to see two of the four Brewer minor leaguers involved in the deal in Matt LaPorta and Robert Bryson, and they will bring a load of talent to the Cleveland minor league crop.

LaPorta is, obviously, the centerpiece of the deal for the Indians, being the seventh overall pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Although LaPorta played just seven games in Helena before advancing to A-ball with the West Virginia Power, I saw him homer in his first professional at-bat. LaPorta stepped to the plate and watched as the first pitch he saw went straight down the pipe for a called strike, obviously timing the pitcher, who happened to be LaPorta’s former teammate at the University of Florida. The next pitch, LaPorta took his first professional cut and sent the ball flying over the left field wall and into the alley, a no-doubt home run.

This kid is the real deal, and if you don’t believe my first-hand account, take a look at the stats.

A week later, he was in Charleston (W.Va.) where he hit .318 and finished his first pro season with 12 home runs. This season, in 84 games prior to the trade, LaPorta hit 20 home runs and had 66 RBIs at Double-A Huntsville (Ala.). Now with Cleveland’s Akron Aeros, he has five hits in 11 at-bats.

In roughly 425 professional at-bats, LaPorta has tallied 32 home runs, a homer nearly every 13 times to the plate.

Before the year began, he was even invited to Milwaukee’s pro spring training camp, and just a few weeks ago, LaPorta was recognized for his efforts by being tabbed to play in the 2008 All-Star Futures Game as part of the U.S. team.

Another key part of the deal was Bryson, who pitched the entire season at Helena last summer and made quite a reputation for himself as a control pitcher.

Bryson, selected in the 31st round of the 2006 draft, showed the stuff of a first-rounder in Helena. Mostly used as a reliever, Bryson struck out 70 batters and walked just 12 in 54 innings of work. He also compiled a 3-0 record with a 2.67 earned run average and finished tied for third in the league with eight saves.

In 2008, he continued to show poise and command on the mound by striking out 73 batters and walking just 20.

In addition to LaPorta and Bryson, the Indians also got left-handed pitcher Zach Jackson. Jackson, the 32nd overall pick in the 2004 draft by Toronto, and one-time University of Louisville product (2002-03), went 11-10 last season for Triple-A Nashville. While Jackson spent 2007 and 2008 in Triple-A, he proved effective in his lone stint in the majors. In 2006, Jackson went 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA in eight games for Milwaukee before being sent down.

To recap, Cleveland got three promising minor league players and one to be named later for sending their top pitcher to Milwaukee for a half-season.

Everyone knows Sabathia will test the free-agent market at season’s end. With Sabathia’s departure, the Indians would have received a couple of supplemental draft picks at the end of the first round in the 2009 draft. The picks would be high, but unproven at the professional level.

By trading C.C. now, the Indians got LaPorta, who dominated minor league pitching thus far, and has a bright future. Not to offend any local Indians’ followers, but the Cleveland outfield boasts nothing more than Grady Sizemore. LaPorta could be up with the big club as a corner outfielder for Cleveland within a year or two, years ahead of someone picked in the 2009 draft, proving more valuable for the Indians.

The Indians also got Bryson, who has shown wonderful control, one of a pitcher’s deadliest weapons, and Jackson, who could be in the Cleveland rotation or bullpen by year’s end as the team continues to juggle its pitchers.

So what did Cleveland lose? Eight more wins and the face of its franchise that would have been gone in the off-season anyway?

While Milwaukee gained a huge piece to push for its first playoff berth since 1982, the Brewers will lose Sabathia in the off-season, and Cleveland will benefit the most in the long run.

Nick Brockman is a sports reporter for The Messenger. If you are a local Brewers fan too e-mail him at nbrockman@the-messenger and let him know what you think of the trade.