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Brewers' trade dilemma has familiar ring

Dennis Punzel  —  7/06/2008 11:31 am

MILWAUKEE -- The debate was raging in the Milwaukee Brewers' offices. How much of the future were they willing to mortgage for a chance to win now? The argument went back and forth; voices were raised. Push nearly came to shove.

No, Doug Melvin and Gord Ash weren't having a throwdown over whether to give up the career of Matt LaPorta for three months of C.C. Sabathia. At least, not that we know of.

The heated argument took place in December 1980, a full four years before LaPorta was even born. And its resolution prompted in the biggest trade in Brewers history.

On Dec. 12, 1980, Milwaukee general manager Harry Dalton acquired catcher Ted Simmons, starting pitcher Pete Vuckovich and reliever Rollie Fingers from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for outfielder Sixto Lezcano, pitchers Lary Sorensen and Dave LaPoint, and minor-league outfielder David Green.

It was the deal that helped send the Brewers to the playoffs for the first time in 1981 and to the World Series for the only time in 1982. And it almost didn't happen because of David Green.

At the time, Green was considered to be the best prospect in baseball. Ray Poitevint -- the man who discovered Green in Managua, Nicaragua, and signed him to a Brewers contract -- was vehemently opposed to the idea of trading his protege. Ray Scarborough, another Brewers front office official, felt just as strongly about making the trade. And neither was shy about expressing his true feelings to Dalton.

Tom Skibosh, then the Brewers' public relations director, recalled the debate.

"It got so heated that Ray Poitevint and Ray Scarborough almost came to fisticuffs in a meeting," said Skibosh, now a sports reporter for community newspapers in Brookfield and Wauwatosa. "Poitevint was saying, 'David Green is the future of this organization,' and Scarborough was saying, 'Forget the future. We have a chance to get these guys; we want to win now.' They almost went at it. They had to separate them."

In the end, of course, Green turned out to not be worth fighting over. He played six seasons in the major leagues, batting .268 with a total of 31 homers and 180 runs batted in.

"The point is, you never know," said Skibosh, who spent 19 years with the Brewers. "In hindsight, David Green was a good player, but he ran into some problems off the field. But he was going to be the next Willie Mays. When you're talking prospects, you have no idea what they're going to do. There are no guarantees in life.

"What I remember is this guy who had never played in the big leagues was holding up this huge trade. Nobody was worried about Sorensen or Lezcano or LaPoint, who all were pretty good players. It was all about David Green."

As Skibosh recalls, the deal actually started out as a simple one-for-one swap. Cardinals general manager Whitey Herzog had traded for Fingers and signed Bruce Sutter as a free agent, creating a glut of future Hall of Fame closers. The original proposal was a straight-up deal of Fingers for Sorensen. St. Louis then acquired catcher Darrell Porter with the intent of moving Simmons to first base. Simmons balked at that notion, leading Herzog to offer him to Dalton.

"Harry just about fell over," recalls Skibosh. "The deal kept expanding, and St. Louis insisted on Green. Harry wanted to go back to the one-for-one deal, but Herzog said, 'No, it's all or nothing.' There was a tremendous amount of pressure on Dalton to come home with a closer, because that was the Brewers' big weakness. He was really stressed out.

"It was an amazing trade. You get a Cy Young Award winner (Vuckovich), the best switch-hitting catcher in history and an all-time closer. That's an amazing deal. But it almost didn't happen because of David Green."

Which is not to say that Skibosh blindly advocates giving up LaPorta for Sabathia. The difference is in the contracts. While Simmons, Vuckovich and Fingers all went on to play in Milwaukee for years, Sabathia would almost certainly be a three-month rental.

"As a fan, I hate to see them mortgage the future for a guy who's going to be here three months," said Skibosh. "These are the decisions Doug has to make. He has to be careful he isn't bidding against himself because you never know what other teams are offering."

Latest talk

Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he is waiting to hear from Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro on whether the Indians will accept the Brewers' offer for Sabathia. Haudricourt reports that the current offer could well include LaPorta, who is playing at Class AA Huntsville, and third baseman Taylor Green and outfielder Lorenzo Cain, both at Class A Brevard County.

Food for thought

How good is LaPorta? Time will tell, but through his first 411 at-bats in pro ball, he is batting .294 with 32 home runs and 97 RBIs.

By comparison, at a similar point in his career, Ryan Braun's numbers were: 419 at-bats, .310 batting average, 17 homers and 82 RBIs. And he hadn't played above Class A to that point.

Dennis Punzel  —  7/06/2008 11:31 am