Morning Update: Sabathia takes out ad in Plain Dealer

What a kick in the gut.

Look..

I’m grateful for C.C. Sabathia and I expected nothing less from him.

Take a look at the $12,870 ad he placed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“Thank You for 10 Great Years…
You’ve touched our lives
with your kindness, love and generosity.
We are forever grateful!
It’s been a privilege and an honor!”

-CC & Amber Sabathia & Family

It just hit me like a ton of bricks….. This is it.. The final moment wasn’t when he was traded and introduced as a Milwaukee Brewer… It was the moment I read this ad. I’m sort of in shock. CC is gone and there is nothing more to it. I’m actually kind of sad. Him putting it in right now says he won’t be back, which is another story in itself.

I just.. I don’t know what to say about this.

“It was something that was in the works almost from the moment he was traded,” said Kathy Jacobson, the pitcher’s spokeswoman in San Francisco. (Plain Dealer)

I want to move on.. I didn’t expect this when I woke up this morning.. it’s just wow…. I’m a little mad about the timing of this.. But I’m still shocked by it.. Not only what he did, but just the fact that this is the exact moment that I’ve realized he isn’t coming back and he’s totally gone.

Just… More Sad News.. Travis Hafner went home to North Dakota for a family emergency. It turns out his father Terry has passed away. Just.. The news is matching weather so far.. Really Really Cruddy.

Terry Hafner used the games against the Twins to come down and see his son play in Minnesota. Condolences to the Pronk Family in this time. I feel for him. Terry was battling cancer.

Kelly Shoppach makes no bones about the way he swings the bat.

“It doesn’t do me any good to try to beat out an infield single,” he said. “I might as well get the ball in the air and see what happens. My swing’s structured with some elevation to it, anyway.” (Plain Dealer)

Shoppach will be splitting time with Victor Martinez when Martinez returns. Vic can’t do the everyday thing and you know he’ll be playing an awful lot first base. The thing isn’t simply catching though.. He had stuff done on his elbow, so it effects his swinging more than anything. He’ll get days off from the start, he prob won’t play two days in a row for awhile.

Since getting shelled in an extra-inning game against the Padres last month, Edwin Mujica has been prepared for battle.

“After that game, I put it in my mind to be ready for anything, any situation,” he said. (Plain Dealer)

With that said, Eric Wedge is going to mix and match and play every game one night at a time when it comes to his bullpen. He doesn’t have any defined roles, which makes it tougher on the guys in the pen in prepartion. But, no one wants to seem to step up so..

“We’re going to keep mixing and matching with it,” said Wedge. “Depending on where I feel we are and where I feel the guys down there are. There may be three or four guys I use to close down there. The same thing with setting up.” (Plain Dealer)

Terry Pluto was scribbling in his notebook.. I liked this from him.. It’s something I would do.

Asdrubal Cabrera is working his tail off, which has gotten Wedge’s eye.

“I tell you, this kid’s working hard,” manager Eric Wedge said of Cabrera. “He’s out there early, he’s spent a lot of time with [hitting coach] Derek [Shelton]. He’s working hard to make that positive repetition.” (Indians.com)

That’s great to see Cabs working hard.. He is a young guy and maybe now that work-ethic thing is coming around.