Considering CC

The trade for CC Sabathia is official, and he will be making his Brewers debut tonight. How good can we expect Sabathia to be? For the Indians, in the tougher American League, CC put up a 3.83 ERA, 3.27 FIP, and a 9.05 K/9. His K/BB is a ridiculously high 3.62, and he has held sluggers to a 0.96 HR/9. Weaknesses? CC isn't a extreme ground ball pitcher, which means it's possible to elevate the ball on him. He also pitched a career-high 241.0 innings last year, which means he threw a lot of pitches being a strikeout pitcher - 3581, to be exact. For comparison, he's projected to pitch 217 innings this year. The bottom line: he's pretty darn good and will probably continue his success in the NL Central.

Perhaps the haul Cleveland got from Milwaukee will be indicative as to what the asking prices are going to be this hot stove season. First, read this article from the Hardball Times to read up on how the trade is basically a win-win. The Brewers traded Matt LaPorta, their top prospect, Rob Bryson, Taylor Green, and Zack Jackson - all guys ranked in their top 20 prospects - for their ace rental. What would a similar haul look like from the Cardinals? Colby Rasmus would be the most similar prospect we have to LaPorta, although Colby's ceiling as an all-around player is higher, and he plays a more premium position in center field. Rob Bryson, who's detailed here, is a fast-track relief pitcher who's struck out 73 batters in 55 innings in A-ball. Francisco Samuel, our own fast-track reliever who's whiffing hitters at a healthy rate, seems to be the most comparable in our system, both in results and readiness. Taylor Green is a 21-year-old third baseman with some power. The Cardinals answer for him? Allen Craig is a bit old to be a great comp, but he has power and is a lot more advanced than Tony Cruz. The Cardinals are giving up more with Rasmus, so the difference here is moot. Zack Jackson is basically the Brewers answer for Anthony Reyes or Mike Parisi. Anthony Reyes has been injured and still has a higher ceiling than Jackson, so I think Parisi would be our comp here. That's it. Colby Rasmus, Francisco Samuel, Allen Craig, and Mike Parisi for CC Sabathia. Honestly, at first glance, that seems like too much for a rental pitcher considering the state of our organization right now. If we had more MLB-ready hitting prospects and a better chance of signing Sabathia, I'd consider it. But now? No thanks.

This could be important because big-name guys like Matt Holliday and Rich Harden won't be much cheaper than Sabathia was. Holliday is retained for another season, and Harden has a 2009 club option for only $7 million. If you replace Colby Rasmus with Bryan Anderson or Jaime Garcia, the trade is a little more bearable, but not by much. For now, I stick by the sentiment that we can't sell the farm for a one-shot run at the post-season. The Cards are still leading the wild card, and the only moves we should be making should be minor tweaks - mainly for a lefthanded reliever and possibly a middle infielder. Let the Cubs overpay for their boy Harden. I'll be happy with less.