Is Sabathia The Best Midseason Pickup Ever?

That's the question USA Today is asking, um, today:

Sabathia joins Doyle Alexander of the 1987 Detroit Tigers as the only pitcher in the past 90 years to win their first nine decisions after a midseason trade. Their runs are only rivaled by Rick Sutcliffe (16-1 for the 1984 Cubs) and Randy Johnson (10-1 for the 1998 Houston Astros) . . .

. . . "He's got to be the best midseason acquisition in the history of baseball," Braun says. The last midseason acquisition to approach Sabathia's production was Johnson in 1998 when he went 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA for the Astros after being traded from the Seattle Mariners. The Astros lost in the Division Series. "That was the best two months I've ever pitched," says Johnson, a five-time Cy Young winner, "and now CC is doing the same thing. He may take his game to another level. That's what happened to me. He may just take off."

By the numbers, Sabathia and Johnson are pretty darn close, though the edge goes to Johnson. Through 11 post-trade starts Unit had a 1.28 ERA to CC's 1.43, and Johnson had 30 more strikeouts in four fewer innings. The proof of which pickup was better, obviously, will be how far into the postseason pudding the Brewers go. The Astros lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Padres. If the season ended today, the Brewers would face the Mets (at least I think they would -- someone tell me if I'm wrong on how that works).

As of now, I like Milwaukee's chances.