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Brewers deal LaPorta
Stars' slugger part of trade for Tribe's lefty Sabathia
By JOHN FERRY
Huntsville Times Sports Staff, john.ferry@htimes.com

A centerpiece in weekend trade rumors, Huntsville Stars outfielder Matt LaPorta could sense something was up when he was held out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Birmingham Barons.

"They didn't want me to get hurt," said LaPorta, who confirmed after the Stars' 3-2 loss that he is being dealt by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher C.C. Sabathia.

Brewers general manager Gord Ash told The Times late Sunday that a news conference was planned for 11 a.m. today. He would not confirm the number of prospects involved in the deal for Sabathia, the 2007 American League Cy Young winner.

LaPorta, the seventh overall pick in the 2007 draft from the University of Florida, was batting .288 for Huntsville this season with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs in 84 games. He has been selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium.

As he got ready to pack, the 23-year-old LaPorta was unsure where the Indians would assign him and whether any other Huntsville players were included in the trade. Published reports said Cleveland was also interested in Stars shortstop Alcides Escobar.

"This is a business decision," LaPorta said. "I hope it works out for both teams. It is a great opportunity with another organization.

"The Brewers are a great organization. There is a lot of young talent. They gave me the opportunity to play pro ball and took me in the first round."

A first baseman in college, LaPorta shifted to the outfield in the minors with marginal success. His offensive production was stellar, however.

Last season he split 30 games between Rookie League club Helena and Single-A West Virginia, hitting .304 with 12 homers and 31 RBIs.

This summer he was a part of the Southern League's top offense, owning a .575 slugging percentage and a .307 average with runners in scoring position.

"It was a fun team to be a part of," he said. "Everyone here can really swing it."

Though Baseball America ranked LaPorta as the Brewers' top prospect, several scouts and some sources within the Milwaukee organization said he ranked no better than fourth - behind Escobar, third baseman Mat Gamel and catcher Angel Salome. LaPorta is viewed as dead-pull hitter with a penchant for strikeouts, as evidenced by his 63 this season.

But LaPorta also has drawn 45 walks and his first 40 games of Double-A were statistically superior to Ryan Braun's dazzling 2007 stint with Huntsville.

Sabathia, who was slated to start for Cleveland on Tuesday at Detroit, rejected a $72 million, four-year extension from the Indians during spring training and announced he wouldn't negotiate any deal until after the season.

The left-hander went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA to win the AL Cy Young last season and would give the Brewers another power pitcher to pair with Ben Sheets as Milwaukee tries to make the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

The big lefty is 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA for the Indians, but has also been plagued with a lack of run support. In 11 of his 18 starts, Cleveland has scored two runs or less.

Milwaukee, which hasn't been in the postseason since the days of Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, fell two games short of the division title last year. The Brewers are percentage points ahead of St. Louis for the second-best record in the NL, and both teams are chasing Chicago, 3 1/2 games ahead.

Correspondent Brad Shepard and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

MiLB.com's Jonathan Mayo looks at the Brewer kids moving on here.

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Matt LaPorta: Why the deal was done
By BRAD SHEPARD
For The Huntsville Times

With Ryan Braun and Corey Hart entrenched at the corner outfield spots in Milwaukee, the Brewers said Huntsville right fielder Matt LaPorta became expendable.

Braun is a starter for the National League All-Stars, and Hart has blossomed into a solid player, so LaPorta became the centerpiece prospect of a trade with Cleveland that sent CC Sabathia to Milwaukee.

The deal was finalized Monday, with the Brewers giving up pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson and a player to be named.

"This opportunity doesn't present itself very often. When it does, you'd better take advantage of it," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash told The Times. "You have to give up something to get something, and we have an abundance of outfielders."

Though LaPorta wasn't the only prospect dealt to the Indians for the 2007 American League Cy Young winner, he was the marquee name.

Ash said discussions with Cleveland heated up the past two or three days but were ongoing for a couple of weeks.

Huntsville shortstop Alcides Escobar and third baseman Mat Gamel were discussed, but Ash said the organization valued Escobar's defense and Gamel's left-handed bat too much to include them in a deal. He noted that LaPorta was the Indians' top target "from the get-go."

MLB.com reported Stars center fielder Michael Brantley and Single-A Brevard County third baseman Taylor Green are two of the names being evaluated to conclude the deal. Indians general manager Mark Shapiro told the Cleveland Plain Dealer the Indians have until the end of the season to pick the final player.

"I think it would be safe to say there have been flags put on key players," said Indians scout Doug Carpenter, who was at Joe Davis Stadium to watch the Stars play Monday night. "Now it's just a matter of our pro scouting staff scouting those players, identifying them and seeing what is the best fit for the organization."

Carpenter said "under no circumstances" could he identify the players who are being evaluated.

LaPorta will report to Cleveland's Double-A affiliate Akron on Tuesday, but team officials would not speculate on when he's projected to be called up. Carpenter said the Indians were pleased they got their man both talent-wise and from a personality standpoint.

"We've been on him since he was on the high-school level, so there's a lot of history in regard to evaluation," Carpenter said. "He can be an offensive force at the major-league level and a good fit for our lineup when he is ready."

As LaPorta packed his bags early Monday, the Brewers promoted 22-year-old outfield prospect Lorenzo Cain to Huntsville. Cain is lightning-fast and an exceptional defensive player with developing power. He was hitting .287 with seven homers, 41 RBIs and 19 steals in 23 tries at Brevard County.

Still, it's going to be difficult to replace LaPorta, especially with the simultaneous loss of first baseman Chris Errecart to a broken hand.

"We lose 33 home runs in two days, of course it's going to take a chunk out of the lineup," said Stars manager Don Money. "You replace it with speed. That's kind of tough.

"For LaPorta to be in uniform not quite a year, he'd achieved some big offensive goals. Defensively, he still needs work, he's raw and shows an average arm."

Cain will be a defensive upgrade for Huntsville, but LaPorta's departure will mean less protection for No. 3 hitter Gamel, who is batting .374 so far with either LaPorta or catcher Angel Salome behind him.

Gamel said he hadn't thought about getting fewer pitches to hit, but while LaPorta's offense will be a big loss, his clubhouse presence won't necessarily be, Gamel said. LaPorta wasn't one of the players who came up in the system together like some of the others. Cain is one of those guys.

"I don't really think he shared that friendship or camaraderie we have because we've been together two or three years," Gamel said. "But we tried to make him feel like he was part of the family."

Cleveland Indians acquire big bat in minor-league outfielder Matt LaPorta
Newly acquired prospect known mostly for hitting
Brad Shepard
Special to The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Huntsville, Ala. -- Matt LaPorta's fan mail flowed so freely into the Class AA Huntsville Stars clubhouse that the team got its top prospect his own mailbox.

From the buffet line to a bathroom stall, the mailbox kept popping up in the oddest of places. But no matter where it was, it was nearly always full.

The Indians may have gotten rid of one of their most popular players when they shipped pitcher CC Sabathia to Milwaukee, but the player they got in return had almost a cult following among Brewers fans. He is a strong character guy who is a devout Christian and won't likely cause any off-the-field problems, and did not appear to have any issues with teammates in Huntsville.

Sabathia's power arm is gone from the roster, but replacing it is one of the most promising young power hitters in minor-league baseball.

"They've got to find a position for him because he's an average defensive player," one longtime scout said recently. "But he'll go as far as his offense takes him."

Over his first 114 minor-league games after being taken seventh overall in last year's MLB draft, the former Florida Gator has 32 home runs and 97 RBI.

Baseball America breaks down the big Sabathia trade

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AKRON, Ohio -- Think Indians general manager Mark Shapiro has had a busy week? Step into Matt LaPorta's shoes.

LaPorta -- the highlight and centerpiece of the trade that sent CC Sabathia to the Brewers -- first heard his name swirling in the trade winds last week on a road trip in Tennessee with his former Double-A club, the Huntsville Stars.

As his name kept popping up in newspapers, and even on SportsCenter, LaPorta sat down on Saturday with Stars manager Don Money, who told LaPorta to tune it all out and just keep hitting the cover off the ball.

The next day, LaPorta, the Southern League's leading home run hitter and second-leading RBI man, was scratched from the lineup -- a telling sign that he was soon to be on the move. The horde of reporters and photographers surrounding LaPorta's locker after the game verified it. He was headed north.

That's when LaPorta's manic week kicked into overdrive.

LaPorta stayed up until 4 a.m. ET on Tuesday to pack all his stuff away in boxes only to wait at the airport for hours as the weather delayed his flight to Akron. To top it off, when LaPorta finally landed, one of his bags didn't make it -- the one with all his clothes.

Oh yeah, his cell phone has been broken for the past five days, too.

"It's been kind of crazy," said LaPorta, shrugging off the calamity with an ear-to-ear grin.

So perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that LaPorta's scheduled debut with the Akron Aeros was delayed a day after a late-afternoon thunderstorm forced the game to be moved to Wednesday as part of a twi-night doubleheader.

For the former Florida Gator who grew up shagging balls at Texas Rangers Spring Training, life as of late has certainly been hectic, but nothing to get too frazzled about.

"It's pretty cool," said LaPorta, sporting a brand new Aeros cap with a completely flat brim. "It's always neat to be a part of such a big thing going on in baseball."

It may not get any bigger than this.

While it is uncertain what will come of Rob Bryson, Zach Jackson and the mysterious player to be named later in the five-player deal, LaPorta is viewed as the guaranteed stud. He's the reason, in theory, why Shapiro was justified in parting with Sabathia, the reigning American League Cy Young Winner, three months before his contract ended.

And just to add more reason for LaPorta to feel like he will have the 6-foot-7, 300-pound left-hander riding his shoulders until he makes an impact at the big league level, Shapiro said he was "the single best player" offered to the Tribe in trade talks.

LaPorta, though, looks at it in a different way.

"It's a great honor to be traded for CC," LaPorta said. "He's an outstanding player and he's going to be great for the Milwaukee Brewers. I just don't really look at it that way. We're both ballplayers and we're both out here to do a job and I'm just thankful for this opportunity."

Added pressure is nothing new to LaPorta. After being selected in the 14th round of both the 2003 and 2006 First-Year Player Drafts, LaPorta came into professional baseball last year as the seventh overall pick.

"That's a challenge," Shapiro said. "It's one he's risen to both in college and now. It's one I don't expect will derail him, but that will be an additional challenge for him. He just needs to relax and focus on settling in and playing his game. If he does that, his talent alone will overcome that."

LaPorta has overcome the first round of pressure quite easily since his first action with the Rookie League Helena Brewers last June. Since then, the 23-year-old right-handed slugger has clubbed 32 home runs -- 20 coming this season with the Stars -- and driven in 92 runs while batting .294. He was a shoe-in for the Southern League All-Star Game, will participate in Sunday's XM All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium and is one of 60 players under consideration for the 24-man U.S. Olympic Team roster.

LaPorta, a self-proclaimed perfectionist who spends hours watching film of Albert Pujols and other favorite players, said he didn't expect to be doing this good this fast, but he really hasn't thought about it much.

"You just have to go out there and do your job," LaPorta said. "You can't worry about the expectations people put on you."

Neither Shapiro nor LaPorta will speculate on how soon he is expected to move up to the big leagues and neither will pinpoint an ideal position for the outfielder/first baseman -- LaPorta said he's equally comfortable at both.

"I try not to put goals like that on myself," LaPorta said. "Again, you can only go out there and work hard every day to get better.

For now, LaPorta has a little time to catch his breath -- and find some new clothes.

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Bryson brings power to Captains' 'pen
Pitcher acquired in Sabathia trade likely will be closer during time in Lake County
David S. Glasier, DGlasier@News-Herald.com

Trades are a fact of life in professional baseball.

Hard-throwing pitcher Rob Bryson understood that when the Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the 31st round of the June 2006 draft.
Bryson signed one year later as a draft-and-follow out of Seminole Community College in Florida.

He understood that when he started playing for pay last season in Montana with the rookie-league Helena Brewers.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound right-hander with the fastball topping out in the mid-90s and sharp-breaking slider understood that when he put up eye-opening numbers this season as a starter-turned-reliever with the full-season Class A West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League.

In 22 appearances with the Power covering 55 innings, Bryson was 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA and 73 strikeouts.

Then late last week, Bryson became aware of reports that his name was coming up in trade talks between the Brewers and Indians regarding CC Sabathia, the Tribe's All-Star southpaw.

On Sunday afternoon, the rumors became reality when West Virginia manager Jeff Isom called Bryson into his office after a game and told him he had, indeed, been sent to the Indians in the deal that brought the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner to the Brewers.

Also sent to Cleveland were slugging Class AA outfielder Matt LaPorta, journeyman Class AAA pitcher Zach Jackson and a player to be named later.

"It was definitely a shock to hear I'd been traded. I didn't really expect it to happen at this stage of my career, but this is a business," Bryson said Tuesday in the Lake County clubhouse at Classic Park before rain washed away the Captains' scheduled game against the Hickory Crawdads.

The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader of seven-inning games beginning at 5:05 tonight (4:05 Central).

The odd part of Sunday's sequence of events, Bryson said, was Isom had told him 45 minutes previously that he was headed to Florida thanks to a promotion to the advanced-Class A Brevard County Manatees.

"Once it sank in, I was excited and anxious to get started in the Cleveland organization," Bryson said. "It's definitely an honor to be traded for a Cy Young Award winner."

The bad news for Bryson on Sunday was he had say goodbye to a lot of guys on the Power's roster who had been his teammates for 1 1/2 seasons. The good news on Tuesday was he joined the Captains, who play in the SAL's Northern Division with the Power.

Bryson had started the second game of a May 21 doubleheader at Classic Park while with the Power, getting a no-decision after giving up two runs on four hits in five innings in a 3-2 Lake County victory. He was a newcomer in the locker room Tuesday, but at least he was in somewhat familiar surroundings.

"I'm adapting to a new group of guys and I'm sure things run differently here than in West Virginia, but everybody has been very welcoming so far," Bryson said.

Captains manager Aaron Holbert said Bryson will work at the back end of his bullpen.

"I like coming out of the bullpen more than starting. You're only going to face a limited number of guys, so you can throw your best stuff and really challenge batters," Bryson said.

With former Lake County closer and SAL All-Star Vinnie Pestano having been promoted to upper-Class A Kinston late last month, Bryson figures to get some work in the closer's role for as long as he's with the Captains.