Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Sports

TBO > Sports

Brewers Pull Off Deal For Sabathia

The Associated Press

Published: July 8, 2008

MILWAUKEE - MILWAUKEE - With one XXL-sized move, the Milwaukee Brewers hope to transform themselves from scrappy underdogs to a big, bad pitching powerhouse intent on chasing down the Chicago Cubs and making the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

The Brewers obtained AL Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia in a trade with the Cleveland Indians on Monday, giving up four prospects in a gamble that favors the present over the future.

"I'd say we're going for it," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "That's the way I look at it."

The deal stacks the Brewers' deck with a pair of aces, Sabathia and Ben Sheets - but only for a few months.

Barring blockbuster contract offers from a small-market team that already is stretching this year's payroll into the $90 million range, both players will become free agents after the season.

But Sabathia said that's a concern for the offseason. Right now, he's just trying to blend in and get back to having fun on the mound - something he didn't do in the postseason last year.

"If anybody's ever seen me pitch, I'm out there laughing and having fun," said Sabathia, who went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA last season but lost two games to Boston in the ALCS. "That's just me, and that's something that I didn't do last year. When we get to the playoffs, I'll definitely be doing that."

"Let's face it: This is still a calculated risk," Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said. "The other teams in our division aren't going to sit back and look at this and say, 'Oh, now the Brewers have got CC Sabathia. Let's just roll over.'"

Milwaukee sent Cleveland outfielder Matt LaPorta, a former Gator, pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson and a player to be named.

JUST CALL HIM CC: Sabathia no longer wants periods after the initials he uses for his first name.

From here on out, Carsten Charles Sabathia is just "CC" Sabathia - not "C.C."

After a news conference Monday, a member of the Brewers public relations staff advised media members Sabathia prefers to have his initials written without periods.

"Oh, really?" GM Doug Melvin said.

It was not immediately known why Sabathia wanted it that way. He was to talk to reporters later in the day.

Share this: