Sport Chit Chat

Disclaimer: I suck at MLB playoff predictions. I just don’t have a good handle for whatever reason. So you may do better betting against my picks.

Milwaukee Brewers (+155) vs Philadelphia Phillies (-175)
Pick: Milwaukee Brewers in 5
Why: Pitching counts. Let’s compare rotations. Milwaukee has Gollardo, Sabathia, Suppan, Bush and Sheets who can pitch if the latter two suck. I don’t see a major upgrade between the Phillies, sure they have Utley, Rollins and Howard but the Brew crew have their fair share of talent on the field in Fielder, Braun, Hardy etc. Their role players are just better imo. I say the Phillies are the slightly better team but they don’t impress me and I’ll take the odds at +155.

Los Angeles Dodgers (+170) vs Chicago Cubs (-200)
Pick: Chicago Cubs in 4
I think the stuff about LA’s pitching staff being better is a pile of crap. Zambrano, Lilly, Harden and Dempster is pretty formidable. The Dodger’s staff is backed by the pitcher park friendly so stats wise they benefit. I just think it’s the Cubs year and people just will root as hard as they can for the Cubs. 100 years…
The Dodgers do have momentum on their side but they played in a mediocre division.

Boston Red Sox (+125) vs LAAoA (-145)
Pick: Toss up. Angels in 5?
This one is too close to call, the Sox have more post season experience having just won but they are a lot of injury question marks. I personally don’t like the Angels all that much but I think they could get it done. The Sox have good value here as a slight underdog.

Tampa Bay Rays (-170) vs Chicago White Sox (+150)
Pick: Rays in 3 or 4.
The White Sox tired out their pitchers trying to win the central division and offensively they can’t bring it to the Rays solid corps. I’m not too high on the Sox pitching either. Shields, Kazmir, Garza are as good as a top 3 as you are going to get.

In a bad kept secret with the trade yet to be officially announced, the Cleveland Indians have traded Cy Young winner CC Sabathia to the Milwauke Brewers for prospects Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson and potentiallyTaylor Green (source but everyone is reporting it).

Let’s take a look at what the Indians get:
Matt Laporta: Laporta is widely known as the Brewers best prospect. He was ranked #31 coming into this year by Baseball Prospectus. He was drafted as a 1st baseman out of Florida, 7th overall in the 2007 draft. A surprise pick because he apparently sucked with the glove and Prince Fielder occupied 1st base and they were in the wrong league. I remember saying on MinorLeagueBall somewhere “Could this to be a pick that the Brewers plan to trade?” granted that was just in the dark guess but it was a Best Player Available pick regardless of positioning. LaPorta had ab advanced bat and is showing that off by putting up impressive numbers with the stick in AA just one year removed from college. It’s clear he will hit but after being moved to LF by the Brewers it is still unclear whether or not he will remain there. Getting a guy like LaPorta is excellent on the Indians part.

Zach Jackson I don’t really believe in. He was part of the Toronto system after being shipped off in the Overbay deal. After receiving his shot in the majors and not sticking he has a lofty 7.93 ERA this season. He’ll have another shot with the Indians and it’ll be another chance to make the majors. He could always head to the bullpen and try his hand at being a loogy.

Rob Bryson is a 20-year pitcher in A-ball. With very good peripherals, good K rate, low BB rate and doesn’t get hit too much. I know very little about his stuff but he’s called their #9 prospect here. Baseball America projected him to be their closer in 2011. He’s just a reliever so it may say quite a lot with his stuff. The problem with relievers in the minors is they are such wildcards. Not a bad idea for Cleveland to take him though.

Taylor Green is apparently listed as a PTBNL. He’s a 21-year old Canadian in High-A. He was listed as their 6th best prospect by John Sickels. He’s a guy with a great eye and hits for average and has a bit of pop. He may be an average 3rd baseman. I was hearing some rumors the Indians want to see if he can play 2nd (if he could with those numbers…he’ll be an excellent major leaguer).

I’d say an excellent haul for a guy not returning to your team.

For the Brewers:
They get the best player that would be available at the trade deadline. They got him at a “small price”. LaPorta is replaceable by Mat Gamel and the only holes they had was pitching depth with Gollardo out for the season with a knee injury. With Sheets likely to leave at the end of the season as well, the Brewers needed to make a move this season as they likely aren’t going to match this season for the next few years. They still have a great pool of prospects and can get some great picks when CC leaves anyway.

There is no doubt CC is a rental player as there is no way the Brew Crew can sign Sabathia (look for 6 years, 120 mil) . LaPorta may turn out to be a great player but we at least will understand where the Brewers were coming from when we look into the past on the deal.

Other blogs weighing in:
Brewers Bar - Says this trade all but guarantees the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. (I’m not willing to go that far, you never know)
Right Field Bleachers - doesn’t have anything to say…yet (I thought I’d be nice to include a link)