Jayson Stark confirms that Hardy and Weeks are available:

Clubs that have checked in with the Brewers say they’re being so aggressive in their hunt for a big-time starting pitcher, they might even be willing to include J.J. Hardy or Rickie Weeks “in the right deal.”

The Brewers have onrushing 21-year-old shortstop Alcides Escobar tearing it up in Double-A. So their middle infield would be covered long-term, and some combination of Craig Counsell, Bill Hall (if he’s not dealt) and Joe Dillon potentially could handle it short-term. Let’s say this again: The Brewers are a team you should not take your eyes off in the pre-deadline hysteria.

“They’d listen on just about anybody for the right pitcher,” said an official of one club that spoke with them. “And they’re still very deep in their system. We’ve got nine prospects on our list from their Double-A club alone.”

Haudricourt says the Indians are looking at him specifically:

The Indians reportedly had scouts looking at Class A Brevard County third baseman Taylor Green, the Brewers’ minor league player of the year in 2007. Cleveland is believed to be taking a close look at the Brewers’ prospect-laden Class AA Huntsville club, also.

If the Brewers are willing to deal Green in a trade for Sabathia, it is unlikely they also would part with Mat Gamel, who is having a sensational offensive year (.382, 31 doubles, 15 homers, 75 RBI in 83 games) at Huntsville.

The Brewers wouldn’t want to part with top prospect Matt LaPorta, either, but have several other highly regarded outfielders in their system, such as Brevard County’s Lorenzo Cain and Darren Ford, and Huntsville’s Cole Gillespie and Michael Brantley.

What are the chances they’d try to sign him next year? Wouldn’t they have to at least try in order to get comp picks?

Stark said on an ESPN podcast today that the Indians are asking for three top level prospects for Sabathia. No throw in or fringe prospects but rather 3 “building block” players. Just Green or just Gamel or just Escobar wouldn’t do it (again, based on Stark’s) comments.

I am a proponent of trading “prospects” for proven talent in many cases, but the two month rent a player approach generally does not work out well.

Statisically, 10 starts of Sabathia vs. 10 starts of say, McClung is not enough of a difference to give up the futures of say, Escobar, Gamel, and whomever.

If they are going to trade prospects, I really hope they can get someone who will at least be coming back next year.

Having gotten in to work at 9:00 AM my time, just in time to see the 9th inning today, would we be better off trading for some bullpen help???

Three frontline prospects would be enough to land Linecum or Grienke. For 10 starts of Sabathia I would think Green + Hardy would get it done.

JJ is an upgrade on most teams that don’t need a shortstop. What good is A.J. Burnett? Good God, the team would be better off starting DiFelice and keeping him.

Here is what he has to say late on a Thursday night.

The Milwaukee Brewers are serious about trading for Indians left-hander C.C. Sabathia — more serious, perhaps, than any other club. The Brewers’ offer for Sabathia includes Class AA left fielder Matt LaPorta, according to sources with two other clubs that are interested in acquiring the pitcher. Class AA shortstop Alcides Escobar also may be in the Brewers’ proposed deal, one of the sources says.
The Brewers likely would prefer to substitute a lesser player for Escobar, or perhaps would insist upon additional talent if the Indians demanded his inclusion. But if the Brewers indeed were willing to give up both LaPorta and Escobar, the Sabathia sweepstakes might be over before they started

Here’s the entire

this from the news-herald: “Dick Groch, the top assistant to Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin, was in Chicago to watch Sabathia pitch Wednesday, and it is known the Indians’ scouts have begun to hone in on the top Brewers’ minor-league prospects, most of whom are on their Class AA Huntsville (Ala.) club.”

http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19829682&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21848&rfi=6

I’m so pissed at the thought of this.

I can get behind the idea of trading LaGamel or L’Escobar for someone like Greinke, who would be under our control for a few more years. But I was under the impression (and maybe this isn’t true, maybe I’ve overhyped him) that LaPorta’s impact offensively would be huge - not Ryan Braun huge, but greater than, say, JJ Hardy. I can’t imagine that he or Gamel would be part of any three-month rental.

Especially for CC Sabathia. I mean, he’s a good pitcher, and his career and season ERA are on the right side of 4, albeit just barely. But 15-20 starts of Sabathia? That’s all Gamel/Escobar/LaPorta are worth?

Actually, it’s funny, or appropriate: 3.83, CC’s ERA, is about in line with what I was expecting out of Gallardo.

I see the wisdom in pursuing a deal. The way Suppan, Parra, and Son of Clung are pitching, you can’t help but look for the other shoe to drop for each of them. Throw in the inconsistency of Dave Bush (did you know that Bush’s ERA at home is a sparkling 3.18?) and dubious help in the minors, and sure, landing another starter would be wise. Mortgaging our best prospects for someone who won’t be here months from now…well, that seems less wise.

Assuming it’s L’Escobar, I wonder how far the Brewers would have to succeed to make this a worthwhile deal. If they miss the playoffs, for example, then it’s all kinds of horrible. (And given that we’ve had pretty decent starting pitching and are still in third place, I think it’s reasonable to consider that as, if not likely, than a very real possibility.)
Would making the playoffs automatically make this a good deal?

On the plus side, can you imagine the reaction on the other BCB if we traded for Sabathia? They would insist on a trade for Jake Peavy.

Mark Attanasio did give the O.K. to open up his wallet and spend the money on a big time pitcher. It could be possible that the Brewers actually try to resign C.C., or are given a little signing window, like the Mets received with Santana.

we have stuff like this to read and write about to get our mind off of yesterday’s game?

since battlekow brought up a few more names there, but I suppose it fits better here:

I doubt Cleveland will go for it, but in case Taylor Green is actually their primary trade target (stranger things have happened, I guess), I sure wouldn’t mind packaging him with both Cole Gillespie and Brad Nelson. Heck, throw in somebody like Hammond or Narron, too.

LaPorta + Green would probably be fine with me, too, though…I’d still hate to lose LaPorta, but after pondering it some more, I suppose the team might well be better off with Gamel in the long run. Still be great to be able to keep both, of course…

from the Jayson Stark article also linked by battlekow:

... Sabathia is being portrayed by his friends as a guy who isn’t (A) anxious to leave, or (B) driven by money.

“I don’t see him chasing the last dollar,” said one friend. “He realizes he’s already made a lot of money, and whether he signs for $15 million or $17 million or $20 million, it’s still a lot of money.

... when another friend of Sabathia was asked where he’d most like to play in a perfect world, his answer was: Cleveland. And the Indians are clearly aware enough of his preference that, if they can’t get him signed this month (and that’s unlikely), they’ll almost certainly tell him they’d like to talk again this winter after he hits the market.

That would be a rather wacky scenario if they were to trade him away at the deadline and re-sign him a few months later. In case they feel there’s a good chance of that happening, I wonder if that would drive up the price for trading for CC (because it would be the Indians’ own second-round pick that would go for compensation)? Or is that getting way too complicated?

I really think I’d rather lose Laporta than Excobar.

I put this in the game thread as well. Olney says talks are cooling and the Crew may be targeting other “B” level pitchers

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3474824

In keeping Sabathia if he came? Would having him on the team mean it would be easier to make an offer , especially if it was coming off the back of a play-off appearance.
Is he likely to get a bigger deal than Sheets?
Assuming we don’t have Mota and Gange next year – pretty safe to assume that I hope, then that money would surely cover most of the increase that Fielder etc will get in arbritation. This still leaves Sheets current salary – $12 million left for free agents. Would Sabathia or Sheets go for a 4-5 Year deal at $14-15 million a year or will it take closer to $18-20 million?

Courtesy of Cute Sports, my new favorite Wisconsin sports blog. Nicole cites brewerfan.net and mlbtraderumors.com for the info. Take it away, Nicole…

From a poster at Brewerfan.net:

Jayson Stark was just on with Andy Gresh on ESPN radio and he said the Brewers attempt to broker a deal quickly seems to have backfired just a little bit. Saying that the Chicago Cubs have offered 3 prospects that include some guy named Gallager and the Dodgers who have offered a nice package. Expect to see the Angels, Yankees, and Phillies to make a possible push for Sabathia before the end of the weekend. But the Brewers are still the heavy favorite. It is thought that if the Brewers and Indians don’t make a deal before Sabathia’s next start that the package the Brewers are offering will decrease SIGNIFICANTLY and the Brewers would then turn their attention to the next best pitchers on the market. It was only recently that Matt LaPorta was offered by the Brewers and was done so with some hesitation and the feeling is that the window may close pretty quick for any deal including LaPorta. The Brewers have also told MLB teams that Escobar is flat out untouchable. Mat Gamel is flying up prospect boards because of his ability with a Left Handed Bat to hit both lefties and righties at a significant clip. This is the reason LaPorta is offered over Gamel, with LaPorta being a Righty. Stark also said that the Brewers while signing Sheets and Sabathia would be difficult they would definatly be major players in the offseason trade discussions to acquire a compliment to Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra.

From MLBTradeRumors.com:

My understanding is (I live in Cleveland and work for the Indians – although in merchandising not the front office) that the Indians and Brewers have agreed on a Sabathia, Gutierrez (how would play center for the Brewers next year) and Rafael Betancourt for LaPorta, Green, Villanueva and third prospect. The Brewers were willing to deal a higher rated prospect (the Indians love Jeffress and Salome) if Shoppach was include or we trade Rafael Perez instead of Betancourt. Blake has also been talked about. Anyways my point is that this Cleveland will send other players to the Brewers in any deal not just CC.

The consensus seems to be that Betancourt will be as good, if not better than Villanueva, so we shouldn’t worry about losing him in the Bullpen. In addition, we’ll be sending Dave Bush or Seth McClung to the pen to make room for CC in the starting rotation, so we won’t be losing bullpen strength.

A few things struck me about these two reports.

1. It really seems that Gamel has passed LaPorta on the prospect list. If that’s the case, I’m a little more on board with the thought of trading LaPorta. Even moreso if there are other players coming back.
2. My guess is McClung, and not Bush, would be bumped if we pick up a starter. Less grit. I wonder who gets kicked off the team or sent to AAA. Stetter to AAA? Mota to Elmer Dessensville? (Probably not.)
3. Parra has really established a name for himself as part of The Future™. Signing an ace for 2009 would probably drop Suppan to a #4 starter, which is where a lot of us wanted him all along.
4. Damn Cubs! Who invited them?
5. Without knowing any of the details…I don’t see this hypothetical Brewer gambit as having backfired, per se. It sounds like we tried to get a deal done before other teams got involved, and couldn’t. I don’t think it actually prompted other teams to join the bidding.
6. If we do land our 2009 centerfielder in the Sabathia deal, not only does it make it easier to let LaPorta go (with Hart staying put in right field), but it also adds a little more fuel to the TG Jr./Maddux fire.

says:

FYI, nothing new on the C.C. Sabathia front but I get the impression the Brewers are expecting an answer today, one way or the other. If the deal isn’t done today, it would be almost impossible to get two starts out of Sabathia before the all-star break, which is what the Brewers have in mind.