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BostonRS14 · 07-25-2009, 11:16 PM

July 24, 2008

Around the Majors with Buster Olney

The first big move of the trade deadline went off today, as the Milwaukee Brewers moved free agent to-be C.C. Sabathia to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league center fielder Demond Jennings and catcher Nevin Ashley. This is a surprising move by both teams, as you normally don't see a player of Sabathia's caliber move from one small market to another at the deadline.

Taking a look at the prospects that Milwaukee gets, they clearly didn't get the return they were hoping for when they put C.C. on the market last month. After giving the Indians 1B Matt LaPorta, RF Michael Brantley, and CL Rob Bryson, the best the Brewers could do is two B-level prospects in this market.

You'd have to think that the Brewers kick the tires with the Yankees, Sox and Angels, and came up empty. It is surprising that someone of C.C.'s pedigree wasn't interesting to them, especially the Yankees who just lost Chein-Ming Wang for six weeks.

Despite their best efforts, the Brewers just couldn't get a deal done to their liking, but then why not wait the season out and take the draft picks as compensation?

As for the Rays, interesting move for a team that is 20.5 games back in the division and 15 back in the Wild Card. At 46-56, the Rays are shooting for their first winning season since their debut in 1998. They are just 6-13 this month, but adding Sabathia sould help stop that slide.

And, if they can keep C.C. off the market after this deal, it may be the steal of the season. A rotation of Sabathia, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and David Price would be tough to beat for the Sox and Yankees. Their bullpen already has the second best ERA in the American League and Trevor Miller (0.55 ERA) and Logan Kensing (0.82) are both pitching ridiculously well.

So, if the Brewers were willing to move Sabathia so cheaply, how did the big market teams strike out?

You can probably rule out the Mets and Cubs off the bat. Chicago has a 14.5 game lead over the Pirates despite missing Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly for most of the past month. With Rich Harden's 1.95 ERA, the Cubs appear poised to get in the playoffs with ease. The Mets, on the other hand, are in a battle for their lives with the Phillies (-1.5 GB), but just don't have the prospects after adding Johan Santana during the offseason. Word is both Fernando Martinez (AAA) and Jonathon Niese (A) are untouchable.
The Red Sox have a strong 1-5 in their rotation, but its tough to imagine that Theo Esptein and his staff couldn't get creative in fitting the big lefty into the staff some how. Clay Buchholz would have been the obvious candidate for demotion if he wasn't included in a deal, so you have to wonder if the Sox felt it better for their youngster to take his lumps this year with Beckett and Matsuzaka taking most of the attention at the top of the rotation, rather than send him to Pawtucket to sulk.
The Yankees just put Chien-Ming Wang on the 15-day disabled list with an inguinal hernia, not something that is going to heal easily. Their replacement: Sidney Ponson. In his second tour with the Yanks, Ponson pitched well in his only start with the club this season, a 8-6 victory over the Rays back in April. Clearly, Sabathia is a much better option, but Brian Cashman has to be watching his prospects, knowing this may not be the season with Jeter, Hughes, Wang and Damon all on the DL right now. The Yankees must be hoping Sabathia hits the open market, where they are obviously the front runners for his services.
The Braves already tied up significant payroll in Mark Teixeria. Can't see them being able to keep Sabathia past this season, an, despite being only 3.5 behind the Phillies for the WC, playing without Yunel Escobar, Chipper Jones, Jeff Francouer and John Smoltz will eventually catch up to them in the surprisingly deep NL playoff field.
Arizona and Minnesota have small leads in their divisions (+3.0 and +1.5, respectively) and their payrolls are both over their budgets (-$209k for Ari and -$4.85m for Min)

Clearly, the market for big money pitching isn't there, which is surprising. Figure teams like Chicago, Detroit, Anaheim, Los Angeles or Philadelphia would be interested. All have room in their rotations and none is out of the playoff race by any means.

Should be an interesting week leading up to the deadline.

07-25-2009, 11:16 PM	#114 (permalink)
BostonRS14 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Red Sox Nation/Baltimore Posts: 789 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 17 Thanked 14x in 4 posts	July 24, 2008 Around the Majors with Buster Olney The first big move of the trade deadline went off today, as the Milwaukee Brewers moved free agent to-be C.C. Sabathia to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league center fielder Demond Jennings and catcher Nevin Ashley. This is a surprising move by both teams, as you normally don't see a player of Sabathia's caliber move from one small market to another at the deadline. Taking a look at the prospects that Milwaukee gets, they clearly didn't get the return they were hoping for when they put C.C. on the market last month. After giving the Indians 1B Matt LaPorta, RF Michael Brantley, and CL Rob Bryson, the best the Brewers could do is two B-level prospects in this market. You'd have to think that the Brewers kick the tires with the Yankees, Sox and Angels, and came up empty. It is surprising that someone of C.C.'s pedigree wasn't interesting to them, especially the Yankees who just lost Chein-Ming Wang for six weeks. Despite their best efforts, the Brewers just couldn't get a deal done to their liking, but then why not wait the season out and take the draft picks as compensation? As for the Rays, interesting move for a team that is 20.5 games back in the division and 15 back in the Wild Card. At 46-56, the Rays are shooting for their first winning season since their debut in 1998. They are just 6-13 this month, but adding Sabathia sould help stop that slide. And, if they can keep C.C. off the market after this deal, it may be the steal of the season. A rotation of Sabathia, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and David Price would be tough to beat for the Sox and Yankees. Their bullpen already has the second best ERA in the American League and Trevor Miller (0.55 ERA) and Logan Kensing (0.82) are both pitching ridiculously well. So, if the Brewers were willing to move Sabathia so cheaply, how did the big market teams strike out? You can probably rule out the Mets and Cubs off the bat. Chicago has a 14.5 game lead over the Pirates despite missing Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly for most of the past month. With Rich Harden's 1.95 ERA, the Cubs appear poised to get in the playoffs with ease. The Mets, on the other hand, are in a battle for their lives with the Phillies (-1.5 GB), but just don't have the prospects after adding Johan Santana during the offseason. Word is both Fernando Martinez (AAA) and Jonathon Niese (A) are untouchable. The Red Sox have a strong 1-5 in their rotation, but its tough to imagine that Theo Esptein and his staff couldn't get creative in fitting the big lefty into the staff some how. Clay Buchholz would have been the obvious candidate for demotion if he wasn't included in a deal, so you have to wonder if the Sox felt it better for their youngster to take his lumps this year with Beckett and Matsuzaka taking most of the attention at the top of the rotation, rather than send him to Pawtucket to sulk. The Yankees just put Chien-Ming Wang on the 15-day disabled list with an inguinal hernia, not something that is going to heal easily. Their replacement: Sidney Ponson. In his second tour with the Yanks, Ponson pitched well in his only start with the club this season, a 8-6 victory over the Rays back in April. Clearly, Sabathia is a much better option, but Brian Cashman has to be watching his prospects, knowing this may not be the season with Jeter, Hughes, Wang and Damon all on the DL right now. The Yankees must be hoping Sabathia hits the open market, where they are obviously the front runners for his services. The Braves already tied up significant payroll in Mark Teixeria. Can't see them being able to keep Sabathia past this season, an, despite being only 3.5 behind the Phillies for the WC, playing without Yunel Escobar, Chipper Jones, Jeff Francouer and John Smoltz will eventually catch up to them in the surprisingly deep NL playoff field. Arizona and Minnesota have small leads in their divisions (+3.0 and +1.5, respectively) and their payrolls are both over their budgets (-$209k for Ari and -$4.85m for Min) Clearly, the market for big money pitching isn't there, which is surprising. Figure teams like Chicago, Detroit, Anaheim, Los Angeles or Philadelphia would be interested. All have room in their rotations and none is out of the playoff race by any means. Should be an interesting week leading up to the deadline. __________________ Dynasty: Building Dynasties in Boston: 2007: 2008: 102-60 (1st AL East, 1-3 Division Series) 2009: 111-51 (1st AL East, 1-3 DS) MLSB Washington Nationals: 2008-2011 (434-550, .441) \| AMBL Boston Red Sox: 2008-2011 (345-303, 2010 AL East Title)