CC You Later | JZuck's Blog

After reading the Inside Baseball section of Sports Illustrated, I was surprised to read that CC Sabathia has a big chance of being moved. In my opinion, Cleveland should part ways with their hefty lefty and reap the rewards. Mark Shapiro has shown his ability to gauge talent and acquire solid players. There's the Bartolo Colon trade and the trade the Indians made with Seattle giving up Eduardo Perez for Asdrubal Cabrera. Talk about a steal. If there is one thing Shapiro knows, it is young talent. Of course you can look at when he traded Roberto Alomar and got next to nothing. With that trade, he tried to get young talent while still trying to contend, which was a very bad idea. That brings me to now. Sabathia, while struggling to begin the year, has returned to form. And I can think of no better time to trade him. Right now the Indians have six solid starters, but Fausto Carmona is on the DL, so it's currently five. But what happens when Carmona returns? Who's the odd man out? Most likely it would be Aaron Laffey and his 1.59 ERA. Trading Sabathia cannot make the team any worse than they are right now. He's not doing anything to help their major league worst team batting average. Plus, in the off-season, CC is a free agent and will most likely command a ton of money. Should the Indians sign him, they are investing their future in a 27-year-old 290 lb. pitcher who has most likely already peaked after winning the Cy Young Award. I'm not going to criticize his play in the ALCS because so many other players struggled. Of course, if the Indians don't sign him, they let their ace get away while receiving nothing in return. This situation is so reminiscent of 2002, when the Indians dealt Colon. You had an ace with a weight problem who was most likely not going to be re-signed, but was traded and the Indians got Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, and Brandon Phillips out of the deal. The Indians could use Sabathia to get a third baseman. Casey Blake has been more than solid, but at $6 million, he is way overpaid and is only getting older. Andy Marte is a joke and the closest third baseman in the system is at AA, at least one to two years away. For a team that has the pieces to win now, they should try. As an Indians fan, it would be hard to watch CC leave. He's been their best pitcher for years and always has such a great attitude. No matter how much Sabathia says he wants to stay in Cleveland, money talks. Who would have thought that Jim Thome would leave? In the end, it's been fun to watch CC in an Indians uniform, but the best move for the Tribe is to say goodbye, preferably by July 31st.