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Brewers manager: 'One of the biggest trades I've been involved in'

Dennis Punzel  —  7/08/2008 8:16 am

MILWAUKEE -- Doug Melvin wasn't exactly sure how to pronounce Sabathia. He had no idea what CC stands for, nor did he know that there are no periods after the Cs.

But what Melvin, the Milwaukee Brewers' veteran general manager, fully understood is that CC Sabathia figures to be a vital force in the team's effort to end a 26-year playoff drought.

The Brewers officially announced the acquisition Monday of Sabathia, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Milwaukee's top prospect, outfielder-first baseman Matt LaPorta, left-handed pitcher Zach Jackson and right-hander Rob Bryson, plus a minor league player to be named later. Some reports indicate that Taylor Green, the franchise's 2007 Minor League Player of the Year, is the final piece of the deal.

"It's probably one of the biggest trades I've been involved in over 13 years, as far as an impact trade around the trading deadline," said Melvin. "It probably hasn't sunk in with me yet, at this point. Hearing the fan excitement on the talk shows coming in today, it's pretty big. The club has played real well lately and that encouraged me and gave me the confidence to make this deal."

The message from Melvin and owner Mark Attanasio was simple: It takes a village to make a blockbuster. Or words to that effect.

Among the factors that fell into place to allow such a deal:

-- The Brewers had to look competitive enough that the addition of one topflight player could help push them over the top and into the playoffs for the first time since 1982. The team accomplished that by going on a hot streak that lifted its record to 49-39 (the exact same as at this point last year) and has brought them to within 3 games of the first place Chicago Cubs.

-- The loss of young pitching phenom Yovani Gallardo created a vacancy for a top of the rotation type pitcher.

-- Huge crowds at Miller Park will help support the team's growing payroll. Milwaukee is 12th in the majors in attendance with an average of 35,301 fans -- which projects to a season total of 2.86 million -- despite playing in the smallest media market.

-- Attanasio had to sign off on the additional expense, even if it pushed the team from the black to the red financially.

-- A productive farm system allowed the Brewers to give up their No. 1 pick from a year ago without totally mortgaging their future.

"It was the confidence in our (developmental) staff that allowed us to do this," Melvin said. "If we had only a couple prospects waiting in the wings, that would have been a tough deal to make."

-- And a string of injuries to many of Cleveland's top players, including catcher Victor Martinez, designated hitter Travis Hafner and pitchers Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook, helped transfrom the Indians from contenders to also-rans open to the idea of selling off their free-agency bound ace.

"A lot of things had to happen to allow us to make this move," said Melvin.

Melvin and Attanasio addressed a wide range of topics surrounding the trade during a press conference at Miller Park.

Melvin, on sacrificing LaPorta, who had 20 home runs already this season at Class AA Huntsville and had been projected to work his way into the Brewers' lineup as early as next year and widely thought to be the team's insurance against the loss of first baseman Prince Fielder to free agency in a few years: "It's always tough giving up a young player. I talked to him this morning and he was very professional. He says he wants us to win the World Series. You can see what young players do for an organization, with the players we have on the field now. We have more players coming. Having the confidence in Jack (Zduriencik, scouting director), his staff and their ability to find players, that allowed us to do this. If we had just a couple of prospects in the wings, it would've been a tough deal to make."

Melvin, on the team's long absence from post-season play: "I think we all want it to end. I think that this says 'we're going for it.' That's the way I look at it. It is a huge boost to the fans who have had a long drought here. And maybe they never thought that this kind of thing could happen. We just felt like we had to go for it, that this is a year that gives us a chance."

Attanasio, on the team becoming a buyer rather than a seller as the trade deadline approaches: "When I was a rookie owner, I came in thinking of us as buyers, even though I realized initially that we weren't. Even when we were trading Carlos (Lee), I was trying to adopt a buyer's mind-set."

Attanasio, on his reaction when Melvin first brought up the possibility of a deal for Sabathia: "I was a little taken aback. It wasn't what I was thinking about. When I got into it with Doug and realized we'd have a shot, it was very exciting."

Attanasio, on the team's payroll, which now is over $90 million: "When I first got to the city everybody was asking if we'd get to $40 million. I don't really like to set targets, because once you lock in on that target you don't want to go beyond that. This is going to push the payroll this year up to around $90 million. I'm confident in saying that four years ago I never had that number in mind. We'll probably generate some measurable loss this year, but we'd never have anywhere near that kind of money to spend unless we have the fans coming out to support the team."

Attanasio, on the perception that Sabathia will just be a short-term rental for the rest of the season: "I just looked at this as trying to do what is right and best for the team at this point, and not get all caught up in whether we're just renting a player. We looked at it like we were working on a project that we thought would be very significant as far as our team's performance this year, and for which there would be a sacrifice in the future."

Melvin, on Sabathia's future beyond this season: "I told CC to come over here, have fun, enjoy Milwaukee, enjoy being in a Brewers' uniform, pitch his best and worry about that at the end of the year. That's the way I feel about the entire free agent process. Most trades in July are going to be rentals. Our focus is on the rest of the season."

Should Sabathia leave via free agency, the Brewers would receive two first-round compensatory draft picks in 2009.

"Let's face it: This is still a calculated risk," said Attanasio, who has built his personal fortune through a career in money management. "Other teams in the division aren't going to look at it and say, 'The Brewers got C.C., let's roll over, and let them start printing playoff tickets.'"

Melvin, on the process of the trade talks over the past couple weeks: "We knew from day one it was going to cost us a premium player. That's how I approached it. I wasn't going to try to shortchange Mark (Shapiro) and the Indians on a deal and go back and forth and try to wriggle out a Cy Young pitcher, a guy that can impact our ballclub, with lesser players. I was aggressive from day one on it. Expanding the deal, I had to do that not knowing what his other proposals were. He's holding the cards, obviously. So I ended up having to expand the deal, but it always was going to be a player of Matt LaPorta's caliber. We have untouchable players in our organization and Matt was an untouchable a few weeks ago."

Melvin, on the possibility of more deals or whether he's happy with his team now: "I'm always looking and I'm always happy. The biggest thing we have to be careful about from here to the end of the year is injuries and always be prepared that if somebody got hurt, do we have someone to take over."

Melvin, on the prospect of Sabathia and Ben Sheets providing a 1-2 punch in the starting rotation: "It's nice to know that you can go into a three game series with he and Ben Sheets at the top of the rotation. That's a good feeling. It isn't automatic that they're going to run out there and throw a shutout every night. But it is comforting to have two pitchers like that."

Melvin, on the notion that Sheets and Sabathia will perform at a peak as a contract drive going into free agency: "You hear that a lot of times, that a player will go out and perform well. I've also seen it where a player doesn't perform well in his contract year. Ben and CC are both professionals, they've both made a lot of money in this game, and they're both going to make a lot of money in the future."

Melvin, on the risks each team is taking in the trade: "There's always risk involved in any trade. There's also real risk involved in CC Sabathia not being in our rotation. I think there's more risk in our trying to win without him. We know that Matt LaPorta is going to be a good big league player. And I hope he is. I don't have any doubt that he will be. There's a good chance that all of the players we traded will end up in the big leagues."

Rick Schlesinger, executive vice president-business operations, on the fan reaction to the trade and the marketing prospects for Sabathia: "We are going to have CC T-shirts available tonight. We've had a small working group planning for this, but we couldn't really talk about it. We're expecting a CC surge. The phones have been ringing off the hook this morning already. With CC expected to pitch tomorrow night, we're expecting a good crowd."

Sabathia is expected to arrive in town later Monday and speak to reporters at 6 p.m. He is reportedly under consideration to start for the Brewers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Colorado at Miller Park.

"C.C. is one of the top pitchers in the game today," Melvin said. "His addition to the starting rotation will be a major key in helping the team reach its ultimate goal of going to the postseason and beyond."

Sabathia went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA last season while leading the Indians to within a victory of the World Series and would give the Brewers another power pitcher to pair with Ben Sheets atop the rotation.

Sabathia had a slow start but is 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA. Cleveland scored two runs or fewer in 11 of his 18 starts.

"I'm good, excited," Sabathia wrote in a text message posted on ESPN.com. "It's weird leaving these guys."

Visit www.captimes.com throughout the day for updates about the trade.

Dennis Punzel  —  7/08/2008 8:16 am