C.C. Sabathia traded to Brewers

[money matt]

That sound you heard was every National League manager uttering one big collective, @&%#!

By firing the first major shot of the 2008 Trade Deadline season and securing CC Sabathia, at least for the next few months, the Brewers underscored their resolve to make the postseason.

The Brewers acquired Sabathia from the Indians for a quartet of prospects that included Matt LaPorta, whom Milwaukee selected first in last year's draft. Left-hander Zach Johnson and Rob Bryson were also part of the deal along with a player to be named later. Speculation is leaning toward Taylor Green, the Brewers' 2007 Minor League player of the year.

It was a steep price, but buying the future is often not about looking for bargains.

"We felt we needed to go for it at this point," said Brewers general manager Doug Melvin. "We feel this is a year that gives us a chance."

Sabathia, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, is the reigning American League Cy Young winner and an intimidating force whose current 6-8 record is belied by the fact that he can dominate a baseball game.

And he's not alone.

Sabathia joins Ben Sheets to form a nucleus at the front end of the Brewers' rotation that will have little interest in fooling hitters or being crafty.

"They just got pretty good, didn't they? Two big guys, power arms," said Braves manager Bobby Cox. "They throw strikes, come right after you. I don't know too many teams that are going to want to face those guys."

Sheets is 10-2 with a 2.77 ERA in 17 starts this season and is healthy after spending time on the disabled list in each of the past three seasons. In his most recent full season, when he made 34 starts in 2004, Sheets recorded 264 strikeouts -- second in the NL to Randy Johnson's 290.

Sabathia leaves the AL with a league-leading 123 strikeouts and joins the Brewers with a 106-71 career record.

With Manny Parra, Dave Bush and Seth McClung to round out the rotation, the Brewers have the depth for a pennant drive, but it's the pair that holds down the first two slots that ultimately will determine the club's playoff fate.

C.C. Sabathia
Complete Sabathia trade coverage
• Brewers net Sabathia for four prospects
• Tribe deals Sabathia to Milwaukee
• Bauman: Brewers seize the day
• Molony: Trade will cause ripple effect
• Sabathia arrives in Milwaukee
• Deal excites Milwaukee fans
• Melvin, Brewers 'going for it'
• New ace ready to take the mound
• Dolan's letter to Indians fans
• CC leaves as one of Tribe's best
• Tribe fans run gamut of emotions
• Deal alters fantasy landscape
• Prospects analysis of trade
• Sabathia's career stats
• Stats: LaPorta | Jackson | Bryson

Sights and Sounds
Indians press conference
Reaction to Sabathia trade
Harold on Sabathia's mechanics
Fantasy repercussions
Sabathia player gallery
Sabathia retrospective gallery

"The indelible mark on me was he kept telling me how important the pitching aspect of the game was," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said of his first pitching coach Rube Walker, who was with Torre on the Mets. "It certainly is and it bears out all the time, especially when you get to postseason play."

Entering Tuesday's action, the Brewers trailed the Cubs by four games in the NL Central. A year ago, Milwaukee was unable to close a two-game gap and catch the Cubs.

Having Sabathia and Sheets getting the lion's share of starts is a distinct advantage in the playoffs.

"That is pretty intimidating, especially lefty/righty," Torre said.

Other potential playoff teams have solid starters at the top of their rotations. The Phillies can start Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick with Jamie Moyer third, while the Cubs have Carlos Zambrano to open with Ted Lilly and Ryan Dempster to follow. A team that would match the Brewers in head-to-head pitching duels is the Diamondbacks, who could start Brandon Webb and follow the next day with Dan Haren.

Webb is 12-4 with a 3.43 ERA, while Haren is 8-5 with an ERA of 2.83.

In the AL, the Red Sox boast Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, while the Rays have Jamie Shields and Scott Kazmir. The Angels may have the deepest rotation in baseball and would likely start John Lackey with left-hander Joe Saunders to follow.

Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira faced Sabathia when he was in the AL with the Rangers and wished the left-hander had stayed in the other league, but he knows the Brewers' rotation has improved.

"You have a guy out there that on any given night can go out there and throw a shutout for you," Teixeira said. "It helps your bullpen, and it helps your hitters because they know they don't have to score 10 runs to win a game."

Teixeira is currently teammates with Tim Hudson but faced the right-hander when he pitched alongside left-handers Barry Zito and Mark Mulder in Oakland. Multiple aces in the rotation tipped the scales in favor of the A's in those days.

"If you caught all three of those guys in a series, you probably weren't going to win one game," Teixeira said.

But postseason success wasn't guaranteed. The A's advanced to the playoffs in four straight seasons with those three pitchers as teammates but never got out of the first round.

The 2001 Diamondbacks with Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson are the most recent example of two pitchers carrying a ballclub. Schilling was 22-6 in the regular season and went 4-0 in the postseason. Johnson went 21-6 during the year and 5-1 in the playoffs that included a 3-0 mark in the World Series.

Another famous duo was Mickey Lolich and Denny McLain of the 1968 Tigers. McLain won 31 games during the regular season, the last pitcher to reach the 30-win plateau. Lolich won 17 games but was the postseason hero by winning three World Series games to defeat the Cardinals and Bob Gibson.

Torre remembers facing Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale as a player.

In 1963, Koufax won 25 and Drysdale added 17 victories. The pair then won three of four World Series games as the Dodgers swept the Yankees. The '65 season was another banner year with Koufax recording 26 victories and Drysdale notching 23.

In a seven-game World Series victory over the Twins, Koufax picked up two wins with Drysdale getting one. Their run was done the following year, though, when they were swept by the Orioles in the World Series.

"As a player, we used to pick up the paper and count the days that Koufax and Drysdale would pitch," Torre said. "Unfortunately, it was every four days instead of every five days so we saw them more often."

Baltimore is no stranger to ace-dominated staffs.

Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally each won 24 games in 1970 with Jim Palmer adding 20 wins, and the Orioles took the World Series in five games over the Reds. But the following year, despite Pat Dobson joining Cuellar, McNally and Palmer as 20-game winners, the Orioles lost in seven games to the Pirates.

The Indians in 1954 were prohibitive favorites with Early Wynn joining Bob Lemon as 23-game winners, but they were swept by the Giants in a series made famous by Willie Mays' dramatic catch in center field at the Polo Grounds on a drive by Vic Wertz.

A bit further back, the Giants in 1908 were paced by Christy Mathewson's 37 victories and another 23 wins by Hooks Wiltse. But the Cubs, which featured Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance, won the National League pennant by a game and won the World Series in five games over the Tigers.

It was the Cubs' last championship.

But managers will still take as many aces as they can get.

"You're not going to get pitchers to strike everybody out," Torre said. "You certainly need to make sure the defense is there behind them. Pitching, I think, is the part of the game that can intimidate people."












sheets/sabathia=nasty

[.JESUS.]

the indians suck

[CLEVELAND ON DECK]

fuck dat fat bitch

[gandooman]

Originally Posted by CLEVELAND ON DECK

fuck dat fat bitch

he's good though man... im mad because it's a double whammy for me as a cubs fan... they leave the AL central so the sox can run over the indians whenever they play for easy wins, not that the indians were gonna come from behind and win it all but atleast they could make em lose a few so the twins can gain some ground, but also he comes to the cubs' division and could fuck it all up...

i thought all that until about an hour ago... then jim hendry pulled the trigger and landed chad gaudin and more importantly rich harden...