Tribe Shows C.C. 'La Porta'

The confirmation today of the news that C.C. Sabathia had been traded by the Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers brought recollections of the deal in 2002 that sent Bartolo Colon to the Montreal Expos. A flame-throwing, top-of-the-rotation pitcher who promised to be difficult to re-sign, sent packing in exchange for some solid prospects.

In Colon's case, the Tribe stole some bonafide major leaguers right out from under the Expos' (now Nationals) noses. In addition to journeyman Lee Stevens, Cleveland nabbed then-minor leaguers Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips. The company line has always been that Eric Wedge and the Indians had their reasons for parting with Phillips in 2006, but the guy would sure look good in a Cleveland uniform right about now. In his third year in Cincinnati, he's been a .285 hitter during that span. Meanwhile, Lee and Sizemore will represent the Indians in this year's All-Star Game.

In today's deal, the Indians received four minor leaguers in return for Sabathia. The centerpiece of the deal for Cleveland is Matt LaPorta (left), an outfielder/first baseman considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball. LaPorta, thought to be on the fast track to the big leagues, was batting .288 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs in 84 games for Huntsville, Milwaukee's AA minor league affiliate. (Note to Ryan Garko: No need to check out the picture to see Mr. LaPorta. Just look over your shoulder.)

The other prospects shipped to Cleveland in the deal -- pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson, plus a player to be named later -- will be discussed by others, elsewhere, ad nauseum. The bottom line is, Sabathia's gone. And there was little that Tribe G.M. Mark Shapiro could do about it. The big lefty seems set on testing the free agent market (remember, he turned down an extension during spring training that would have paid him $18 million a year), so the Indians had to get something in return rather than letting Sabathia leave the way Albert Belle, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez did over the years.

This is the reality of small-market baseball. A few years ago Shapiro was pointing to 2005 as the year he expected the Indians to blossom into a contender. Sure enough, by 2007 they were again the A.L. Central Champs, and came within a whisker of another trip to the World Series. But this year it all came tumbling down, and the rebuilding begins all over again.

C.C. was solid, if not always spectacular, for the Indians over the years. His departure, coupled with injuries to Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook, leaves the once-vaunted Indians pitching rotation depleted and scrambling for cover. Such is the life of a team caught once again in the "rebuilding" cycle.

A friend of mine is a lifelong Pirates fan, and he concedes that there's no reason for the team's ownership to field a winning team. They're a small market, and fans support the team as it is -- so why go out of the way to bring in big-name talent at big-name prices? The Indians' situation is similar. If LaPorta or one (or more) of the other prospects develops, great. If not, the team (and their affiliate network, SportsTime Ohio), make money regardless. What more could an owner want?

Grady Being Grady, and Tiger Being. . .Well, You Know

One of the mysteries of the first two months of the baseball season was the inability of Grady Sizemore to get things rolling. The Indians' centerfielder is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the majors, and, with a batting average hovering around .250, he was performing at a level far below expectations.

That's changed of late, and, with it, so have the Tribe's offensive fortunes. He's not alone in picking things up, of course. Ryan Garko, Jamey Carroll and Casey Blake have shown important signs of life as well, to go along with the solid hitting of Ben Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo.

But as Grady goes, so goes the Tribe, and his hot streak continues of late, just as -- no coincidence here -- the Indians have won two consecutive series. His batting average has gradually climbed to .266, and his 17 home runs (five in his last five games) rank second in the American League.

Baby steps, to be sure, but Sizemore must continue to sizzle if the Indians are to climb back into contention in the A.L. Central.

Playoff classic

When we last wrote about the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods had just climbed back into contention after a remarkable finish to Saturday's third round. It's no surprise that he sank a putt to tie Rocco Mediate and force an 18-hole playoff, and no surprise that he won that playoff to claim his 14th major victory.

But what a great story. Mediate was Everyman for a day, if not for a weekend, and twice almost pulled out the victory -- once on Sunday, and again on Monday. His engaging demeanor and the way he handled the spotlight with such optimism and grace made the golf world fall in love with him, and, truth be told, root for him to win the first major of his career. Mediate has 15 PGA Tour victories, so he's no slouch, but he's also 45, and only the Nicklauses of the world won majors that late in their career. Well, maybe until Tiger is that age.

Mediate battled Woods tooth-and-nail throughout the day and actually led the playoff by one stroke heading to the 18th hole. But he drove his tee shot into a bunker and opened the door for Woods to tie it up, which, of course, he did. No one handles the pressure of the big stage better than Tiger Woods. One extra hole was all that was needed for him to wrap up his 65th career win, which, oh by the way, moved him past Ben Hogan for third place on the all time list, eight behind Jack Nicklaus and 17 behind Sam Snead.

An honor for C.C.

Amidst all the contract talk -- will the Indians trade him or keep him? -- C.C. Sabathia was honored as the A.L.'s Player of the Week Monday, after winning a 1-0 complete game victory over Minnesota last Wednesday and outdeuling Greg Maddux and the San Diego Padres on Sunday. He issued only one walk in 17 innings in the two games, while fanning 15 to pass Charles Nagy on the team's all-time strikeout list. Sabathia leads the A.L. with 97 strikeouts in 99-1/3 innings pitched (also a league best).

Hole-y Bats, Batman!

Somebody at CBS Sportsline has been having some fun with the Indians.

In the site's article about last night's 4-1 loss to Chicago, they named Grady Sizemore as Cleveland's "Player of the Game." Sizemore went 0-for-4, but apparently earned the designation by driving in the Tribe's only run. Pretty meager stats, but what's an editor to do these days? The Indians' bats are as silent as a Charlie Chaplin film.

And so it goes in this strange odyssey that is the 2008 season.

Last night it was four hits, one run, and yet another wasted outing by a Cleveland starter. Once again it was C.C. Sabathia, who surrendered only two runs -- both on solo home runs -- in seven innings while striking out eight. The score looked worse because Jensen Lewis blew up in two innings of relief.

The problem with writing a column like this, during seasons like this, is that there's little to say that readers don't already know. Pitching's great. Defense is OK. Hitting stinks. Next?

However, some ominous signs are developing. Jhonny Peralta's on-again, off-again career is apparently in an off-again season. He went .292 with 24 home runs and 78 RBIs in 2005, dropped .257-13-68 in '06, rebounded to .270-21-72 last year, and so far is stumbling along at .225-8-15.

But hey, he should be really good next year.

Travis Hafner has been struggling for so long that it might be time to face facts. Either something's wrong, or he just can't hit like he used to. That's rather hard to fathom after the numbers he put up from 2004 to 2006, when he averaged 34 homers and 111 RBIs while batting over .300 each season. Given that track record, Eric Wedge has to wait for him to try to work out of it -- but how long can Wedge afford to wait?

Peralta and Hafner are symbolic of what ails the entire lineup. There may be no quick fixes, other than to bring Shin-Soo Choo up from Buffalo when he's ready and see if he can team with Ben Francisco to pump some life into the offense. Barring that, GM Mark Shapiro will have to consider a trade or two to overhaul what has become a shockingly anemic attack.

"I know coming up soon we're going to explode," said Sabathia after the game. Well, that was nice of him. Of course, he might also want to add that if "we" don't, "we" can all expect to see him in another uniform next season. It can't be satisfying to lose as many games as Sabathia has over the years because of no run support.

The hitters have to get it done. That's what they're paid to do -- millions of dollars a year, at that. Wedge and the coaching staff can only do so much. It's up to the guys in uniform.