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Indians will have plenty of suitors, hefty price tag if they decide to deal Cy Young Award winner
By Ken Davidoff
Newsday
Published on Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008
NEW YORK: It appears that baseball's trade-deadline enthusiasts might get their wish. But don't expect the New York Yankees to emerge as the winners of the C.C. Sabathia sweepstakes.
''Although we don't comment on individual players, it's prudent for us to do due diligence to be buyers or sellers,'' Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro told Newsday on Monday, ''so that if an opportunity presents itself, we can execute an intelligent trade.''
In other words, the Indians have begun scouting organizations that have expressed an interest in Sabathia, or that have the necessary supply of young players, or both. The Yankees are one of those teams, as ESPN's Peter Gammons reported Sunday. So are the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Barring a surprising rebound by the Indians, who have been riddled by injuries and ineffectiveness, they will, at the very least, shop the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner.
The Sabathia deal figures to happen. It just figures to happen somewhere else, regardless of the bad news about Chien-Ming Wang's right foot.
The price of an ace
The bar to leap, as it is in all trades of impending free agents, is a package of players that exceeds, in quality, the two 2009 amateur draft picks the Indians would gain if they retain Sabathia for the duration of the season and let him sign elsewhere next winter.
If you're talking about the Yankees, think of someone such as Ian Kennedy as a starting point.
You've got to figure there will be a team anxious enough to acquire Sabathia; after all, Theo Epstein surrendered three decent prospects to the Texas Rangers last July just so the Red Sox could acquire a projected setup man in Eric Gagne.
But just as likely, you've got to bet against that anxious team being the Yankees.
''I'd be very surprised if that happened,'' said one official from a major-league team who follows the Yankees closely. ''Cash has been very conservative the past few years.''
General Manager Brian Cashman has dramatically changed the Yankees' culture. No longer do they trade multiple prospects for 21/2 months of Denny Neagle, or commit four years to Carl Pavano.
In honor of Pavano, the Yankees won't go near a long-term deal for Sabathia, who will be thinking of the six-year, $137.5-million deal Johan Santana received from the New York Mets. In honor of Neagle, Cashman won't give up a lot for a little, even if it's a little of a very good pitcher.
If not Yankees, who?
The Cubs lack the Yankees' organizational depth, yet they have tremendous incentive to go for it all this year. Maybe they'll pony up the rich package to get Sabathia. Or maybe it'll be the Milwaukee Brewers, who do have a strong farm system and, though not in the Cubs' class of historic ineptitude, desperately want their fans to see postseason baseball.
Perhaps the Red Sox will surprise us and go for the jugular, putting Sabathia alongside Josh Beckett. Or could Joe Torre convince the Dodgers to finally give away some of their talented youngsters?
Cashman hasn't misled the Indians. They know he's lukewarm about the Sabathia trade idea.
But Cashman will be in the loop on the Sabathia trade discussions; he always wants as much information as possible, and since he has the trade chips, he merits Shapiro's attention.
About 20 teams have expressed interest in Sabathia; the Yankees definitely have, and you can bet the Mets are on that list, as well. Eventually, Shapiro will winnow his list down to four or five teams and kick off serious negotiations.
The timeline on the winnowing is uncertain. The Indians trail the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox by six games in the loss column, but their disabled list currently includes starting pitchers Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook, designated hitter Travis Hafner and catcher Victor Martinez. Their bullpen has largely been terrible.
The Sabathia deal figures to happen. It just figures to happen somewhere else, regardless of Wang's bad news.
NEW YORK: It appears that baseball's trade-deadline enthusiasts might get their wish. But don't expect the New York Yankees to emerge as the winners of the C.C. Sabathia sweepstakes.
Get the full article here.
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