Hope is a Dangerous Thing

Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.

Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding
“The Shawshank Redemption”

C.C. Sabathia is no longer a Cleveland Indian. It was a sad day in the city by the lake called Erie on Sunday, when Sabathia was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for four minor league prospects. This was like the Bartolo Colón trade to the Montreal Expos in exactly two ways. One, the Tribe moved their number one starter. And two, both players are of the heavyset, power pitcher variety. Comparisons end there.

When Colón was dealt back in 2002, it was the start of the rebuilding era in Cleveland. After six consecutive division titles and two trips to the World Series, we saw star after star move on when free agency hit them. Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome. Bartolo was next and we knew it. Thankfully, Montreal was beginning a fire sale of their top prospects in hopes to win some games as one last-ditch effort to save the team from moving to Washington, D.C.

In return, the Indians received Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, and Grady Sizemore. Pretty solid move when you consider Colón would eventually eat his way out of his role as a number one starter, and Lee and Sizemore would turn out to be All-Stars (also, Sizemore is hot -- Mrs. Sizemore's editorial comment). Even Phillips, who never found a role in Cleveland, was shipped down I-71 to the Reds and became a solid player.

This time around, we weren’t so lucky in our potential suitors. The teams that would have normally been considered buyers, the Red Sox and Yankees, appeared to be waiting for the off-season to make a move on Sabathia, as he has already stated that he won’t sign a long term deal during the 2008 season. That left teams that were only looking to rent Captain Cheeseburger for the stretch run.

A likely home would have been Chicago, to the Cubbies, where they could use the second ace along with Zambrano to push the perennial losers over the top as the favorite to win a title for the first time in 100 years. They also have the resources to attempt to re-sign Sabathia. Not only that, but it’s the National League. C.C. could hit (he’s a career .300 hitter in interleague play and playoffs) and the Tribe wouldn’t have to face him on a regular basis. Unfortunately for both teams, the Cubs had no prospects to give us, so that was likely dead before it started.

As it turns out, it was the small market Brewers that pulled the trigger. They offered up two class A prospects (that likely won’t see the show for a long time, if ever), one player to be named, and the centerpiece of the deal, Matt LaPorta. Now, this cat is a moderately sought-after prize, as he’s just one season removed from the draft and is tooling his craft as a corner outfielder in AA. He’ll also be involved in the futures game during the All-Star break. All things considered, this could be a decent move, because it was likely Sabathia would go elsewhere as a free agent and the scouts are saying that LaPorta could be ready as soon as next season. He’s only hitting .288 in AA though, so we’ll see.

The Brew Crew already made it clear they don’t have any intention on ponying up the dough to keep Sabathia. Hell, their GM hasn't even bothered to learn how to pronounce his name. He must have called him Sa-BAY-thia a dozen times.

Then, on Tuesday morning, I was listening to Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio as they interviewed Mark Shapiro. The General Manager in Cleveland talked about how their number one priority is to get Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Fausto Carmona, and Jake Westbrook healthy. Second to that? You guessed it. Well, you probably didn't actually. Either way, Shapiro claimed he wants to re-sign C.C. Sabathia this off-season.

I was stunned. I figured if you pulled a move like this, you were cashing in your chips and starting a new era. Maybe not.

Sure, it’s very unlikely that Cleveland will have the resources to make the move. Not unless they get deposits for enough season tickets to guarantee sell-outs like we did back in the 1990s. In all honestly, it’s going to take a deal in the six-year, $120 million range to get him to come back. He already turned down a four-year, $72 million offer last off-season. So where are the Indians going to come up with the extra $2 million per season and the extra two years? Who knows?

My guess is that Shapiro was just posturing for the fans in an attempt to save his neck after he moved the face of the organization. But wouldn’t that be nice? Four prospects and we get the Captain of Cheeseburgers and Baconpants back? This type of move is not unprecedented; my St. Louis Blues have made deals at the end of two recent seasons where they sent Keith Tkachuk away and ended up re-signing him the following off-season.

I find I'm so distraught I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the pain only a sports fan can feel, a sports fan in the middle of a long season whose conclusion is already certain. I hope a Cleveland team can win a title some day. I hope to see our ace back in an Indians uniform, and cheer for him when he’s in Chicago playing against the White Sox. I hope the Tribe is as good in 2009 as they were in my dreams. I hope.