FanNation - The Republic of Sport

By Chuck Johnson In 1981, publisher Miles Wolff began a new endeavor out of his home office in Canada called ???All-American Baseball News.??? As subscription rates grew, Wolff moved to a US based location in Durham, North Carolina, making print and distribution easier and lowering costs. Along the way, Wolff changed the magazine???s name to ???Baseball America.??? The first ever issue featured University of Arkansas outfielder Kevin McReynolds on its cover, which I actually have a copy of, autographed and with the address label intact, hanging in my office at home. The Sporting News, for generations known as the ???Bible of Baseball???, went from private to corporate ownership and changed into an all sports magazine, leaving BA as the heir apparent to baseball only news. Now considered the ultimate source for print and online baseball content, I have almost always agreed with their picks for major and minor league award winners, top prospects, etc. Except now. For in their ultimate wisdom, or in this case lack thereof, the respected and renowned staff of writers and insiders picked C.C. Sabathia as its 2008 Major League Player of the Year. There is no question this season has been different in the sense that some of the best individual seasons belong to players whose teams spent most of, or all of, the season NOT in playoff contention. From Chipper Jones and Adrian Gonzalez to Justin Morneau and Josh Hamilton. From Brandon Webb and Tim Lincecum to Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, this year will be remembered as the year players won the MVP and Cy Young Awards because there were no real qualified candidates. On July 7th, Sabathia and his 6-8, 3.83 record were traded from the Cleveland Indians to the National League???s Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers at the time were 49-40 and in third place in the NL Central Division, four games behind the front-running Chicago Cubs. Another division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals, held the wild card lead over the Brew Crew by a scant half game. Sabathia would turn around his season in the NL, compiling an 11-2 mark with Milwaukee with a 1.90 ERA. He ended the season a combined 17-10 with a 2.70 ERA. In his 17 starts, the Brewers went 14-3, eventually claiming the wild card spot on the second to last day of the season behind a Sabathia complete game win in Chicago. The Brewers finished the season 92-70, edging the New York Mets for the Wild Card spot by one game. Over the second half, the Brewers were actually seven games WORSE after acquiring Sabathia, turning in a 29-27 record in games he didn???t start. Unlike the Los Angeles Dodgers, who picked up Manny Ramirez solely to reach the postseason, the Brewers essentially picked up a game and a half after the Sabathia pick-up. The Dodgers on July 31, the day of the Ramirez deal, had a 54-54 record and trailed the first place Arizona Diamondbacks by two games in the National League West. The Dodgers also trailed the St. Louis Cardinals by five and a half games in the wild card race, with three other teams in between. The Dodgers with Manny played six games over .500 ball, and, most importantly, made up four games in the standings, in three fewer weeks. The Ramirez pickup defines what trades should do: either to make the postseason or, in the Los Angeles Angels case, the World Series. With a 12.5 game lead on July 31st, the Angels picked up Mark Teixeira with one point in mind, to become World Champions. The Angels finished the season with a whopping 21 game lead over second place Texas, then promptly got smoked in the Division Series by the Boston Red Sox. A tale of two trades: one a success (Ramirez) one a failure (Teixeira). I consider the Sabathia trade to be a failure as well. Milwaukee gave up its top minor league prospect in outfielder Matt LaPorta, who has already been penciled in Cleveland???s opening day lineup for 2009. Sabathia is almost certain to start on opening day as well; unfortunately for the Brewers, he???ll be in another uniform. All Milwaukee will have to show for three months of Sabathia is a game and a half in the standings and two first round draft picks, maybe. While there is pretty much no doubt the Brewers would have missed the postseason without him, the fact remains they barely got in at all. If the Brewers had somehow overtaken the Cubs and won 100 games, then I would agree the Sabathia acquisition was all it???s being cracked up to be. The whole National League would have been affected, instead of anyone barely noticing, except on the days he pitched. Maybe Tim Lincecum and the others mentioned are penalized because they played for teams not in contention, but at least they spent the entire season in the National League, and were consistent for the entire season. Sabathia???s award clearly discounts his first half struggles in Cleveland, which is a disservice to everyone else. Baseball America definitely booted the ball on this one.