At Home Plate - The Indians: C.C. says good-bye...

At Home Plate

Written by Jim Amato (Contact & Archive) on July 09, 2008

Well Indians fans must pretty much accept the fact that the 2008 season is officially over. What a shame. So much was expected but by all rights and purposes, the season is a wash. It will be hard to say good bye to ace pitcher C.C. Sabathia but under the circumstances the Tribe brain trust made the best move at the present. Only time will tell if this deal will work out. If it is any consolation to discouraged Tribe fans the last time management was in this situation they traded away Bartolo Colon. In return they received Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips. Not bad...Sizemore and Lee made the All Star team. The Indians made a mistake by giving up on Phillips too soon but overall it was still a sweet deal.

It was very doubtful that the Indians would have been able to re-sign C.C. so why not get something in return ? From Milwaukee we received two fine minor league prospects. Outfielder Matt La Porta has serious power and potential closer prospect Rob Bryson has a great strike out to innings pitched ratio. La Porta who is 23 was at the AA level. He may still be a season or two away from the big show. Bryson is 20 and in A ball but the Tribe is in dire need of a top flight closer. It still may be a while before he sees Major League action. It will be interesting to see how he develops. The Indians also picked up starter Zach Jackson in the trade. Jackson is 25 and he's been in pro ball since 2004. He had two brief stints with the Brewers in 2006 and 2008 but was currently at the AAA level. He may be of some help to fill the void left by Sabathia's departure.

The Indians management is still feeling the sting of the apparent Andy Marte bust. Hopefully this deal will fall in the Tribes favor. As for C.C., well no doubt he will be missed. From 2001 to the present Sabathia won 106 games for the Indians. Best of luck to you C.C. Maybe you'll get yourself a World Series ring.

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