I think its was worth it. As a GM you have to put your team in a position to win. Its better to make the playoffs and fail than to miss the playoffs altogether,

Besides, its not like the Brewers system is barren after trading for Sabathia. Not even close. They still have several top flight prospects who are nearly ready to contribute to the major league club. And lets not forget the compensation picks they’ll receive from CC, and Sheets. After you throw in a potential Prince Fielder and/or JJ Hardy trade, the Brewers are probably going to have the base farm system in the league.

And if I’m a betting man, I take the odds of CC helping us make the playoffs/push deep into the playoffs over the odds of LaPorta being a good to even great player. This isn;t to say that LaPorta is unlikely to make an impact in the major leagues, I just think the probability of CC making an impact in the playoff run is much higher, to the point of absolute certainty.

Maybe Sheehan mentions it elsewhere, but he is neglecting the compensation picks the Brewers are getting for CC. Judging by their current farm system, those picks could end up cancelling out what losing LaPorta and Brantley (obviously it won’t be a 1:1 ratio of comparison) meant to the franchise. Hell, they could actually IMPROVE over those guys. We won’t know for another 5-6 years … and even then it will be murky as hell to determine a “winner”.

Which is why I say this trade was a “win-win” for both organizations, either way you look at it. Both accomplished their goals before the trade was made.

I think based on skill set alone, Brantley will be sticking to the Outfield. I’m not much on the idea that certain numbers correlate to certain positions, but he’ll probably remain in Left. LaPorta will play where he can, it’s much more important to get his bat in the lineup first.

Laporta may also be able to play RF.

Does that mean you’re assuming LaPorta is going to play 1B if both LaPorta and Brantley become starters in Cleveland?

Yeah, that’s my assumption.

Quite possibly. Mills is in the 1b pipeline. I see LaPorta inheriting the DH job if we have to let Pronk go.

Oh, and “the team to watch is Kansas City”

I’ve decided that the concept of “window” is cliche and not relevant. A window with a specific set of players perhaps, but it just doesn’t work that way. If it did, the White Sox would not be playing right now

That’s a shame, I thought Reynolds was having a pretty good LDS prior to that. Buck Martinez wasn’t doing so bad either.

Hello Fios,

With all due respect to Reynolds, I think he misidentified the window.

That window sounds more like the team that got knocked out earlier today (White Sox) – most of their players are over 30, and their farm system has very little in it by most accounts.

As mentioned below, the Indians have some good, young talent at both the ML level and in the Minor League pipeline. While losing Sabathia from the rotation doesn’t help, it’s not a loss that can’t be overcome, especially if Lee can continue pitching at a high level (a reasonable chance of doing that, though perhaps not quite as good as 2008, but still well above-average) and if Carmona can stay healthy and find his 2007 form (a reasonable possibility, based on his youth and having a year to recover from the long 2007 season). Combine that with a surprise or two from a guy like Lewis, Huff, Sowers, Jackson, or Reyes, along with a rebound and some reinforcements (Sipp, Stevens, Meloan, Wagner, etc.) in the bullpen, and the Indians can be right there in 2009, so to me, the window is far from closing.

In fact, the window might be opening a bit more for the Indians going into 2009, while I think it IS closing on the White Sox, little by little at least with each passing season. As I said above, I think Reynolds misidentified the window. :-)

Just my 2 cents.

It would be nice to have two starters named Kelly going into next season

Why, so you can go around singing Woody’s “Kelly” love song all of next season?

what do you think it would take to pry him away from the Braves.

All I could find about Johnson’s D in terms of plus/minus was this line:

Although Oakland second baseman Mark Ellis and Atlanta shortstop Yunel Escobar grade extremely well in Dewan’s system, their double-play partners, Bobby Crosby and Kelly Johnson, do not.

Well there has to be some concern with Johnson’s decline this year from last season, in fact his .340 baBIP this year masked a 5% drop in his walk rate (8) with only a corresponding 2 in strikeouts (20%). He’s 26, is certainly a solid major leaguer, is probably a better defender than a guy like Dan Uggla, but not that great overall, particularly when a guy like Mark Ellis is potentially out there as a free agent. Point being I would be interested, but I wouldn’t want to overpay for him, and the Braves seem like an organization that “wins” most of the trades they make or at the very least aren’t fleeced.

YES! YES!! Finally, a question that I can respond to using my “I live in ATL” credentials.

First off, Kelly was brought up as an OF and moved to 2B when Marcus Giles stopped taking… er… using… er… suddenly became dramatically less effective. While he’s ok at 2B, I think he’s still learning the position. Currently, I’d say he’s average with a ceiling of slightly-above-average.

As for his bat, I’m kinda mixed on it. His minor league record is good-not-great and he’s had one solid season (832), one mediocre one (795), and one crappy one (731). For whatever reason, he forgot how to take a walk this season. I don’t know if he’s been hanging out with Francoeur or is “trying to go the other way” or whatever, but he seems to be regressing, if anything. Not good for a 26 year old in the NL.

If I had to guess what he’s look like in Cleveland, I’d say average defense without a many ugly errors, and a below average bat, say, .265/.345/.400.

The Braves have a HUGE need in OF and a pretty major need in their rotation; however, I doubt that Ben Fransico would be enough to get it done. I think Fransico/B-grade pitcher would be the minimum.