Wakeup Wahoo: Garko Dusts Himself Off; Byrd Dusting the Competition

How often do you see the headline… “Byrd Goes Distance, Outduels Halladay.”

Seriously.. That was the headline today on Indians.com. Paul Byrd really pitched well and the Tribe managed to get enough off Halladay for him to succeed. Amazing when you think about it. His value is at an all time high with the way he’s pitched the past 30 some days. He’s cleared waivers, yet no team is interested? The Indians are gonna have to pay his salary if they don’t trade him, so they should really just eat anything for a deal.

“I knew I had to do something different,” Byrd said. “I had to change. I feel good with where I’m at right now. I’m very confident. Better late than never.” (Indians.com)

Some of his success can be attributed to the rework of his curveball with the help of Twins broadcaster and should-be hall of famer Bert Blyleven.

Good news if Brendan Donnelly regains form and becomes a reliable bullpen arm for the Tribe down the stretch.

“So far, everything is leading to a relationship in the future.” (Plain Dealer)

So far, no action for the tan-man(check out his bio picture at Indians.com), but I hope he pans out. It’d be nice if he helps out the team that gave him a chance to regain himself.

Interesting thing from Hey Hoynsie.

Hey, Hoynsie: It was reported on XM-MLB radio that the Indians targeted Matt LaPorta in the CC Sabathia trade because Travis Hafner’s injury is far worse than thought and he may end up needing surgery that may put him out for 18 months and maybe end his career. — Casey Morgan, Olmsted Falls

Hey, Casey: I don’t know what’s going on in Hafner’s shoulder. He’s back swinging the bat, the Indians keep saying he’ll play before the end of the season and that he won’t need surgery. This season has taught me not to take their word where the health of their players is concerned.

But I doubt they traded for LaPorta to make him a DH. He’ll get a shot at left field. If that fails, he’ll be tested at first. You don’t trade a Cy Young winner for a 23-year-old DH. If you do, there have to be consequences.

Are you kiddin me Tuna?

I doubt it.. The Indians acquired Matt LaPorta because… HES MATT LAPORTA! DUH!

While we are on the CC Trade… Eric Wedge actually spent some time to watch his former Ace pitch.

“Not too many days do I wait around and watch the end of another baseball game after we’re done playing,” said Wedge. “CC is a special guy.” (Plain Dealer)

Some may wonder if the Brewers are abusing their new toy. Whatever you want to call it, they are getting their moneys worth for him.

Ryan Garko is really taking to the pick yourself up and dust yourself off thing.

“I made a mistake, I owned [up to] it, and I was pretty hard on myself these last couple days,” he said. “But everybody makes mistakes and gets knocked down sometimes. It’s about what you do when you get back up.” (Indians.com)

I’ve been waiting for Garko to do this. He’s been met with plenty of opportunities this year and hasn’t taken advantage. If there was ever a time to repsond, it would be now.

It’s becoming painfully obvious that Anthony Reyes just needed a change, and the Indians provided him with that.

Here’s a little bit of Karma for ya after letting Brandon Phillips flourish with another team.

“When I’d get sent down in St. Louis, no one ever told me what I was supposed to work on,” said Reyes. “It wasn’t like it was anything mean, but I was going crazy trying to figure out if I did something wrong. Did I step on someone’s toes?” (Plain Dealer)

Morning Update: Shapiro Turns Situation into a Positive One

Paul Byrd was not moved before the Non-Waiver Trade Deadline passed yesterday at 4:00 PM. That doesn’t mean he won’t get moved. He’ll have to put together a few more starts to convince a team to take a chance on him now.

Eric Wedge was short but sweet on the bullpen.

“It’s quite the enigma,” Wedge said. (Indians.com)

It’s all messed up. There’s guys pitching in the 6th one night and then in the 8th the other. Eric probably has no clue what he is doing either. Just.. Nuts.

Kelly Shoppach admits he got a little excited after this home run off Todd Jones.

“I got carried away,” said Shoppach, “If he took offense to anything, all I can say is that it was unintentional … I have been known on occasion to flip a bat.

“I checked with [Tigers catcher] Brandon Inge and he said ‘don’t worry about it.’” (Plain Dealer)

Kinda neat to see him do that though. He’s a good kid and why not get excited. He wasn’t trying to show up anyone.

Also from the same place.. Paul Hoynes says Michael Brantley and Taylor Green are two of the four players that Milwaukee has made available to the Tribe. They have till the end of the mimnor league season to choose.

Bud Grant has 15 days to sign 2nd Round pick Curtis Haley, 5th Round pick Zach Putnam and 7th round pick Tim Fedroff. I saw Fedroff play a bit in the College World Series. He has a good bat. He is only a sophomore and could go back to school to improve his stock, he’d be a steal at the 7th round.

Shapiro talked to the media about the situation they’ve been put in and how they turned it from a negative into a positive.

“We’ve taken a situation that we’re disappointed to be in and turned that into an opportunity to build depth, to add depth and ceiling to our farm system,” Shapiro said Thursday. “We didn’t compromise any players for next year, and we significantly bolstered our farm system.”(Indians.com)

Morning Update: Nothing But Post-C.C. Trade News

Yeah I really got nothing for you but a bunch of C.C. Stuff.. And NO I will continue to use the Dots..

C.C.! C.C.! C… . . . . . . . . . C. . .. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

………C………………C………….

CDOTCDOT

CCDOT DOT

Eat that..

I’ve gotta go let a dog out so here are the links.

Time Was Right To Deal C.C.

C.C. Mailbag from CastroTurf

Bill Livingston blames the top for this season.. Whatever

Terry Pluto is somewhat more positive, thank you.. The need for power fueled this deal.

Then he gets all gloomy…

Always count on Paul Hoynes to wrap it up in a bow.

Have fun, see you later.

The Official C.C. Sabathia Trade Entry

It will be long and it will be painful. But, here is the official C.C. Sabathia trade entry.

Why don’t we start with the official deal. Before we get to all the outside opinions.

Milwaukee Gets: C.C. Sabathia and the two draft picks he will net a team after he signs with a team not named Milwaukee.

Cleveland Gets: Outfielder Matt LaPorta, LHP Zach Jackson, RHP Rob Bryson, PTBNL

The Player To Be Named Later is a very important part of this deal according to Mark Shapiro. His press conference was very informative and he let us know more than I thought he would.

He said that the PTBNL was the key to this deal happening. LaPorta was obviously the center-piece, but without the PTBNL that WILL be a supposedly Major League Prospect, then Shapiro wouldn’t have signed off.

The PTBNL is assumed to be a list that Doug Melvin said there are two dates for the Indians. He didn’t let the media in on those dates of course, but Shapiro supposedly has a list of players that can become an impact at the Major League level that include Third Baseman Taylor Green and Outfielders Michael Brantley and Lorenzo Cain.

The sticking point of the PTBNL is whether Green can make the move to second. I will tip my hat to Shapiro in this part. The fact that he can be flexible to this part of the deal is huge. I’m hoping Green is the player, but if Michael Brantley is the player when all is said and done. I won’t have any problem with it.

The next player is Rob Bryson. Bryson is a right handed relief pitcher who Baseball-America said could be the Brewers closer by 2011.

Brewers Nation has a great profile on him here.

Zach Jackson is probably considered a throw in. Mark Shapiro didn’t have many great things to say about him. He looked at him as a “depth option this year” and who knows what. So, I think he is a project. They need to see if a change of scenary will do him some good, but looking at his stats, I’m not expecting much.

This isn’t the “near-major league ready” pitcher I was thinking about for this deal.

Now.. The centerpiece.. Matt LaPorta.

LaPorta is a Florida Gator, he was recruited as a catcher. Played third and first for them and was moved to the outfield after getting drafted by Milwaukee.

Milwaukee had him in the outfield for one reason and one reason alone. They have Prince Fielder at first.

LaPorta is a defensive liability, so I get the impression after listening to Shapiro that he will be moved to first base when all is said and done.

If you want to learn about Matt LaPorta, you can read the Cleveland Fan’s report on him.

LaPorta is all about the power in my eyes. He probably won’t hit for that high of an average, around or under .300. This is all about the power and his potential to hit 40 home runs. No defense, no speed, this is a one tool, hit it deep guy.

Most experts agree.. The Indians did not get enough for C.C. Sabathia.. or at least could have gotten more.

Keith Law and Jeff Passan both said so.

Dennis Nosco of the Cleveland Fan basically puts it how I feel. I think the Indians rushed this. I heard what Shapiro said about these offers not being on the table at later times, but you know what.

I doubt it… You know why? This is C.C. Sabathia, the reigning American League Ace.. When that deadline starts ticking, someone was going to give you a great package. I’m going to beat this Eric Gagne deal to death. That guy yielded two near major league or already major league ready prospects plus more.

C.C. should have brought a kings randsom.. I do not feel as if that was what they got at all.

Tony Lastoria gives us the goods on some of the players.

In other news, The Dodgers did make an offer that included Casey Blake in the deal.

Here is Paul Dolan’s letter to the fans. Blah Blah. Yeah I understand.

Overall.. I won’t judge now.. I think Shapiro pulled off a GOOD trade.. But I think he could have had the potential to pull of a GREAT trade. He did not pull of a GREAT trade and I think he missed out on getting more for the franchise cornerstone.

We’ll find out more within the next few days. LaPorta WILL go to Akron for now, that is what Shapiro said. Lastoria thinks Bryson goes to Lake County and Zach Jackson will probably go to Buffalo when Jeff Weaver gets called up to start TOMORROW. Oh My God….