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Shapiro must be right in targeting LaPorta for Sabathia
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Monday, Jul 07, 2008
Matt LaPorta better hit.
And Mark Shapiro best be right.
That's about all you can say in light of the fact that the Indians apparently have traded the reigning Cy Young winner to the Brewers for three prospects. (No, the trade was not official as of Sunday night, but everyone and their uncle was reporting it had been agreed upon.)
Not that it's a bad idea to trade C.C. Sabathia, assuming the deal becomes official.
The guy who loved Cleveland and the Indians so much just couldn't bring himself to sign a four-year contract extension that would have averaged out to $18 million a year.
Exactly how much love is that?
Imagine giving your husband or wife a new Porsche and a lifetime Club Med membership and he or she says, ''Nice, but no thanks. That's not enough 'common ground.' ''
Common ground.
Hrrmph.
If Sabathia was not interested in anything but the highest dollar figure he could get, he'd have understood baseball economics, seen how far the Indians went to sign him and stayed in a place he said he loved.
If $18 million a year is not enough to stay in a place he calls home and a city he loves — well — let him go work with the ice-road truckers.
The Indians did not need to see another talented player leave and get nothing in return.
Yes, they would have been given two draft picks had he signed as a free agent from the Indians, but that's not immediate help.
Perhaps LaPorta will be.
And if Sabathia really loves it in Cleveland, maybe he'll re-sign — though that seems a long shot.
The key to this trade, to dealing the reigning Cy Young winner, is whether Shapiro found real players. Not just prospects, but real players — just like he did when he got Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee for Bartolo Colon.
Sizemore and Lee are American League All-Stars. Phillips . . . well . . . the Indians made a mistake letting him go, though they had their reasons for doing so.
LaPorta clearly is the key — a bat for a lineup that needs one. He's 23, plays at Class-AA Huntsville and is hitting .288 and has 20 home runs and 66 RBI in 82 games.
On July 3, he was named to the Baseball America midseason Minor League All-Star team. In February, the publication called him the 23rd-best prospect in baseball and called his arrival date 2009. Which would be next year.
''LaPorta may not be smooth in the outfield, but he more than makes up for it with his bat,'' Baseball America wrote in its midseason assessment. ''He leads all Double-A batters in home runs, and ranks fifth in slugging, fourth in RBI and second in extra-base hits (44).''
SI.com ranked him 31st and wrote: ''THE best college hitter in last year's draft, the Brewers are taking a risk by trying to teach him how to play left field, but all he needs to do is become adequate there, because at the plate, he's a monster.''
It would be good to add a monster to the Indians' lineup. They need one.
Especially if he can hit and drive in runs.
The Indians were not in an enviable position with Sabathia. Shapiro kept him before the season because he truly thought his team could again compete for the playoffs.
That's a long-faded dream, so now is the time to try to get something for Sabathia.
Yes, they could have waited until the deadline to see what other offers might have come. But if LaPorta is as good as everyone seems to think and the Indians like the other two players, there's no reason not to make the trade now.
It hurts to lose a Cy Young winner. Especially a guy who grew up in the Indians' organization. It hurts to trade him.
But it would hurt a lot worse to see Sabathia walk out the door for the highest offer and leave the way Albert Belle, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez did in past years.
How many times do we have to be stiffed before we realize it's better to get something in return?
Sabathia is determined to test the free-agent market.
The Indians seem to have acquired a legitimate power-hitting prospect and two other players for him.
Now LaPorta just has to hit.
A lot.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/.
Matt LaPorta better hit.
Get the full article here.
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