Player to be named later is the jewel of Sabathia trade.

Five years ago this weekend the Cleveland Indians traded away C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for 4 prospects.  Pitchers Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, Michael Brantley who was the player to be named later, and the jewel of the Brewers farm system Matt LaPorta.  Many thought the Brewers gave up a lot for a half season rental player.  It is impossible to break down a trade involving prospects in the moment.  Time must pass in order to properly evaluate a trade.  Let’s break this swap down.

Zach Jackson made his debut for the Tribe in August 2008.  In 9 starts for the Indians that season Jackson went 2-3 with an ERA of 5.60.  The next season Jackson started one game and appeared in two others.  The next spring he was traded to Blue Jays.  Jackson was a big zero for the Tribe. He is currently in Double A for the Royals.

Rob Bryson, who I had no recollection, is amazingly still in the Indians organization 5 years later.  Bryson has spent the bulk of his career playing for the Indians’ Double A team in Akron.  He has spent a small amount of time in Triple A spent mostly getting the tar hit out of him.  His Triple A stats are an ERA over 6.00 and WHIP over 2.  That performance quickly got him sent back down.  Bryson is minor league roster filler for as long as the Indians continue to mail him checks.

Matt LaPorta, a power hitting outfielder who the Indians converted to a 1^st basemen was called up the next season in 2009.  He spent parts of the next four seasons bouncing back and forth from the bigs to Triple A while playing a solid first base but nothing special with the glove.  He struggled at the plate and his WAR was basically zero.  Meaning that LaPorta was playing about as good for the Tribe as the average triple A first basemen would.  Not a lot of production from the crown jewel of the Brewers organization.  In fact the Indians released LaPorta from the 40 man roster and not a single team claimed him.  In a league where teams give multiple chances on tons of players to try and fix them and unlock potential, not a single team felt LaPorta was worthy of claiming off of the scrap heap.  LaPorta went back to Triple A Columbus, where his production this season looks like that of a man, who has given up on getting back to the bigs with the Indians.  He is batting .235 with 5 homeruns in 22 games. 

The player to be named, usually considered a throw away, Michael Brantley has become the Indians everyday left fielder.  Brantley, the son of a major leaguer, is arguably the Indians most consistent hitter.  He rarely slumps and is an above average major leaguer.  He made his tribe debut in 2009 and has been durable, an above average hitter who doesn’t give at bats away, plays superb defense, and is quick on the base paths.  On the five year anniversary of the trade he hit two homeruns to tie his career high for a season, and lead the Indians to win over division rival the Detroit Tigers. 

C.C. Sabathia would help lead the Brewers to the Wild Card that season and a first round exit in the playoffs. It was the Brewers first playoff appearance in almost 30 years.  Sabathia would leave for the Yankees in the offseason as the Bronx Bombers brought in a Brinks truck for a hefty contract for the hefty lefty. 

It sounds like the Indians got the worse end of the trade, but I say the Indians won this trade in the long run.  The Brewers got 2 extra home games and Sabathia got shelled in his lone postseason start because the Brewers wore him down using him on short rest down the stretch run to even make the postseason.  Then he was gone.

Although the Indians did not receive an All-Star as of yet from the trade, they have a very good left fielder in Brantley who seems to have moved into the role of clubhouse leader.  Sabathia wasn’t coming back to Cleveland and the Indians weren’t going anywhere in 2008, so the Indians got a very good player instead of letting Sabathia walk away for nothing.  Should the Indians have gotten more for one of the best pitchers in baseball? Of course/ Did they get more out of the trade then the Brewers? Yes they did.  

 

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I'm a Blockhead for Loving These Teams

I was raised the right way. My father instilled in me what any good father should. I'm not talking about being honest, trustworthy, and respectful. I mean he taught me that a man loves his teams, he sticks with his teams for the rest of his life, and those teams better damn well be the teams for his town. I live in Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and sports heartache. In my 31 years of life the Cavs, Browns, and Indians have never won a championship. They have only made it to 3 championship series. Hell if the Indians don't win the World Series this year, it will be 50 years since any Cleveland sports team has won it all. No city with multiple sports teams has gone longer. Even cities with one sports team like Green Bay, Wisconsin and San Antonio, Texas have won multiple championships in that time frame.

 

I have seen a lifetime of fan pains in my short 31 years. In Cleveland we have a list of THE's. They all have names but they might as well be called THE Groin Punch. The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Decision..... All have hurt me deeply. Being a Cleveland sports fan is like being Charlie Brown trying to kick a football.  We tell ourselves that the team will change. They will stop pulling the football away and stop making draft picks like Gerard Warren and Vitaly Potapenko. We assume that for once when we trade a Cy Young winner we will actually kick the ball and get one actual All-Star. Our teams always seem to be in year one of a five year plan and we patiently wait as each new coach, general manager, and player will be the one to pull us out of this fifty year great depression.

 

This season the Cavaliers blew a 26 point lead against the lowly Suns. My 8 year old step-son had to go to bed before the end of the game. I tucked him in and we discussed how the Cavs were going to get a good win. The next morning I had to tell him that our team had blown the game. He seemed devastated to hear that the Cavs somehow managed to gag up such a big lead. I was not surprised. I had seen it countless times over countless seasons. The wound was still fresh for him. He then said something that made me realize that he was doomed to continue my fate, "There is no way they will ever do that again." The Cavs would go on to lose two more games this year after blowing leads of 20 plus points and had the worst winning percentage of any team in the NBA when leading after three quarters.  My Cleveland teams, OUR Cleveland teams had already turned an 8 year old into Charlie Brown! He was already telling himself that they would change and things would get better.  He was in a relationship where he gave love and received only pain. I have done to him what my father had done to me.  I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was raising him right. I now know that one day, many years from now, he will sit and think how much he loves these teams and how much he hates me for helping him fall in love with such terrible partners. “AAUGH!!!”

 

 

 

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150th Anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg

It seems like America has never been so divided as it today.  The country is split on so many issues and many topics in the public discourse quickly lead to shouting, name calling, and fear mongering.  As contentious as it may seem it is nothing compared to the situation 150 years ago today.  On this date in 1863 the battle that decided whether the land from sea to shining sea would be one country or two began in a small town in Eastern Pennsylvannia.

The Confederate Army had reached the North and the Union's Army of the Potomac was the only thing standing between the rebels and Washington D.C.

 

The battle lasted three days and over 46,000 men lost their lives.  That is roughly the amount of people to fit into Busch Stadium in Saint Louis for a Cardnails game.  The Union army had gone through several Generals due to them being more like the Washington Generals than men in charge of an army trying restore a country.  This battle changed all that.  Abraham Lincoln replaced General Meade afterwards for not persuing the Confederates in retreat to land a final decisive blow to the South.  General Ulysess S. Grant eventually took control of the Union army and finished off the rebellion. 

If you would be interested in reading a more in-depth look at this battle that is not too dry and boring please read Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. For those of you who don't want to read a book it was turned into the excellent 1993 movie titled Gettysburg.

Remember that despite all of the anger in politics today at least we are American united under one flag, that at one point was divisible.  Keep this day and the Civil War in mind when civil discord breaks down.  Americans have been torn apart before over a dispute in ways of life and values and solutions to problems must be found before any man grabs his gun.