Phillies!
The Phillies placed Cy Young winner CC Sabathia atop their trade-deadline wish
list but fell short simply because they couldn't beat the package the Milwaukee
Brewers put together for him. The Brewers offered top prospect Matt LaPorta to
Cleveland, while the Phillies had nobody comparable in their system to persuade
the Indians to change their minds.
Yankees!
General manager Brian Cashman confirmed that the Yankees were interested in
trading for lefthander CC Sabathia but said the asking price ultimately was too
high. "We engaged the Indians on it but felt the price tag wasn't one we were
willing to pay for someone we couldn't guarantee would be with us for more than
three months," Cashman said yesterday.
Dodgers!
The Dodgers passed on Sabathia, opting once again to put their faith in a coreOftentimes you hear disingenuous things coming out of the mouths of GMs in these situations, but all of this sounds pretty much accurate. The Phillies didn't have what it took to get him, and it was refreshing to hear Gillick say so rather than blow smoke up his fans' rears. The Yankees probably weren't pushing all that hard and likely figured Cleveland's asking price was too high. The Dodgers aren't in any position to be trading the young core on which they are clearly relying, even if the local press often enjoys criticizing them for relying on them.
of young players nurtured for four years now. The Dodgers are in an awkward
spot, waiting for the kids to succeed, antsy for the kids to succeed. They
wouldn't trade Matt Kemp for Sabathia, the right call, and Kemp alone would not
have gotten the deal done . . . Ned Colletti, the Dodgers' general manager,
would not discuss specific players but said he could not have completed a deal
without disrupting the major league roster."We'd be filling one hole and
creating two others," Colletti said. "That's not something we're interested in
doing."
I went back and forth on the Sabathia trade rumors a couple of times, originally thinking Milwaukee was the best bet, then thinking that maybe the Rays were. But after it was all said and done, there really wasn't a better fit out there.
3 comments:
I disagree about the Yankees' assertion. Cashman could absolutely guarantee that Sabathia would be with them for more than 3 months. He could throw enough cash at CC that he wouldn't care about entering free agency. Of course, Cashman may not want to throw that much money at him, and saying so may hurt his negotiating position, but I have no doubt the Yankees will be in the bidding war for Sabathia in the upcoming offseason and could guarantee him a contract right now that would lock him up for awhile.
It's just spin, Daniel. Cashman's actual reality is "We're going to sign him at the end of the season anyway, so we'd just be giving up a bunch of prospects for a 3 month rental. Not worth it." You can probably understand why he wouldn't make this statement publicly.
These Dodgers reports are driving me crazy. Why on earth would they pursue CC when they have the 5th or 6th best team ERA in baseball that's only going to improve as Kuroda, Billingsly, and Kershaw get better, still anchored by Brad Penny and waiting for Schmidt to have his arm surgically reattached? Pitching is not what the Dodgers need right now and to throw away half the farm for three months of Captain Cheeseburger is absolutely ridiculous. Of course, maybe Ned Colletti really is that dumb. Look what he paid for Pierre and Andruw.
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