Now that the Brewers have traded 4 prospects for C.C. Sabathia, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, it should start a domino effect around the majors in terms of player movements. It should be interesting to see how the Cubs and Cardinals, both teams ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central, react once Sabathia pitches for the Brewers. Orioles 2nd Baseman Brian Roberts is still available for trade bait and would seem like a perfect fit for the leadoff spot and 2b duties for both teams. But would the Cubs and/or Cards be willing to trade their top notch prospects to land an All-Star like Roberts? I wouldn't count on it.
Landing Sabathia gives the Brewers a good chance of finally making the playoffs at the very least as a Wild Card contender. The National League is awful this year so it's not like it takes a lot of maneuvering to make yourself an instant contender. The Brewers are basically trading hot hitting prospect Matt LaPorta who was essentially blocked by young All-Star's Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun from having a starting spot on the Brewers squad in the foreseable future. The Brewers now have the combo of Ben Sheets (if he survives a full season, an iffy possibility) and Sabathia which could put them on par with what the Diamondbacks rode to World Series glory with Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in terms of front end rotation. We know the Brewers have the hitting with Braun, Fielder, Corey Hart, and J.J. Hardy just to name a few all capable of carrying the offense.
But do the Brewers have the bullpen? Nope. So look for the Brew Crew to make another trade for a reliever, possibly Huston Street or George Sherrill, to shore up the bullpen to make a serious run at ending their 26 year playoff drought.
The Cardinals and Cubs are now both on the clock to counter the Brewers move. It should get interesting...
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