Landing Sabathia will be tough for Cubs
ST. LOUIS - The Milwaukee Brewers reportedly have intensified their efforts to land Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia.
Baseball insiders caution not to count out the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Sabathia sweepstakes.
As for the Cubs, they appear to be long shots to acquire Sabathia, but not because they don't have the volume or the quality to offer Cleveland, but because the trading matchups might not be right.
That's the assessment of several baseball people queried since the middle of last week.
They point out:
The Indians likely won't be able to sign Sabathia, a potential free agent this fall, to a contract extension. If they trade the ace lefty, they will want prospects who can step in and play every day as early as 2009.
Cleveland needs specific help at the infield and even the outfield corners, where the Cubs are set at the big-league level for several years with no real need to rush prospects at these positions.
Although the Cubs have tradable pitching prospects at the higher levels of the minor leagues, the Indians don't appear to be targeting pitchers. The Cubs' top third-base prospect, Josh Vitters, is playing at Class A Boise of the Northwest League and is at least 2-3 years away.
The Brewers have several top offensive prospects at the advanced A-ball levels and higher. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Saturday the Brewers seem willing to trade top prospect Matt LaPorta, an outfielder-first baseman and possibly minor-league prospect Taylor Green, a third baseman. It's conceivable the Indians may want to move Jhonny Peralta from shortstop to third base, in which case, they could covet Alcides Escobar out of the Milwaukee system.
There's risk for Milwaukee, too. They may not be able to sign Sabathia, and they'd be out several prospects. However, the Brewers haven't been to the postseason since 1982, and they may deem the gamble worth it.
The Dodgers could offer Cleveland third baseman Andy LaRoche, a player the Cubs looked at when they traded Greg Maddux to the Dodgers in July 2006. Another third-base type, Blake DeWitt, also has been mentioned out of the Dodgers' camp. Both LaRoche and DeWitt seem to fit Cleveland's needs.
Sources say Cubs general manager Jim Hendry has been in touch with Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro. Those same people say the Cubs' system is valued around baseball, but that if a matching of specific needs can't be made and another club can fit that bill, there will be little Hendry can do. In other words, if the Indians were looking to build long term, they might be willing to go for a Vitters-type player instead of someone who can play next year or even now in the big leagues.
So where does this leave the Cubs? Toronto's A.J. Burnett has been mentioned, but the Cubs' interest seems lukewarm. The Cubs were watching Friday, when Burnett pitched 7 innings and gave up 12 hits and 8 runs (6 earned) in an 8-2 loss to the Angels.
A more feasible candidate seems to be Oakland's Rich Harden. There are some possible health concerns with Harden, and on top of it, Athletics GM Billy Beane has not had to declare whether he'll be a buyer or a seller at the trading deadline. Hendry and Beane have a good relationship and have made deals in the past.
Maybe the Cubs should be rooting for the White Sox to beat the A's this weekend and knock Oakland down a peg.
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