CLEVELAND (AP) -CC Sabathia matured from a teenager who didn’t know the basics of pitching to an AL Cy Young Award winner with the Cleveland Indians.
The big lefty helped the Indians get within one game of the World Series last year, but a frustrating, injury-marred season prompted them to deal Sabathia to Milwaukee for prospects on Monday.
The Indians, who have gone from 96 wins in 2007 to last place in the AL Central, will start over without Sabathia. It’ll be a new experience – he was 17 when he signed with the team 10 years ago.
“I remember he didn’t know how to grip the baseball or stand on the rubber when we first got him,” Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said.
Sabathia departs as the first reigning Cy Young winner to be traded since Toronto sent Roger Clemens to the New York Yankees after he won the award in 1998.
“Having been part of watching him develop and grow from a teenager to a man, from an inexperienced minor leaguer to a dominant Cy Young Award winner, and being part of such a special season just last year – a very difficult decision emotionally,” Shapiro said.
In exchange, the Indians received four minor leaguers, including power-hitting outfielder/first baseman Matt LaPorta, who’s expected to help Cleveland’s anemic offense in the near future.
LaPorta, a first-round draft pick last year, hit .288 with 20 homers and 66 RBIs in 84 games for Double-A Huntsville. He will report to Double-A Akron.
“He’s had great success at Double-A thus far, but it’s important for him to come in here and get settled,” Shapiro said. “He’s going to take that expectation that comes with a No. 1 pick and put another amped-up expectation of being a major piece of a big trade.”
The 23-year-old LaPorta will play in the Futures Game for Team USA on Sunday and is under consideration for the U.S. Olympic team.
Cleveland also got 20-year-old Rob Bryson, a Class A right-hander with a strong arm, and left-hander Zach Jackson, who could help the Indians get through this season.
The Indians have until the end of the season to select the final piece of the deal – a player to be named who isn’t just a throw-in. The club has two Brewers minor leaguers to choose from, Shapiro said.
“The deal doesn’t get done without that player being involved,” Shapiro said.
The team that watched Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle leave in free agency decided it couldn’t do the same thing with Sabathia, the first Cleveland pitcher to win the Cy Young Award since Gaylord Perry in 1972.
Sabathia turned down the club’s offer for a $72 million, four-year extension during spring training.
Shapiro was realistic about the odds of the Indians signing him if he becomes a free agent after the season.
“I know he’ll be open to that, but once a guy gets out in free agency … you recognize the challenges that exist,” Shapiro said.
Sabathia, a first-round draft pick in 1998, shot through the Indians’ minor league system, joining the team’s rotation in 2001. He was the last link to the dominant teams that won six AL Central titles from 1995-2001.
Sabathia complied a 106-71 record over the last decade as the Indians restocked their rotation with prospects such as Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona.
Sabathia, who now wants his initials written without periods, had the chance to help Cleveland clinch the pennant at home last season, but he lost to the Boston Red Sox in Game 5 of the AL championship series.
Shapiro has been in this position before, beginning his tenure as general manager with the unpopular trade of Bartolo Colon to Montreal for Lee, Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips in 2002.
The Indians got great talent in return – Lee and Sizemore are All-Stars this season and Phillips is the Cincinnati Reds’ starting second baseman – but it took until last season for them to win the AL Central again.
Shapiro pointed to surprising rebound seasons by Minnesota and the Chicago White Sox, and the amount of talent left from last year on Cleveland’s roster, including the injured Carmona, Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner, as signs that the Indians won’t be down long.
“Good times are coming ahead and I really firmly feel this team has the chance to come right back out next year and contend for the division,” Shapiro said.
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