Are the Brewers the "Captain Ahab" of the NL, having landed the "Big Whale" that is CC Sabathia?

Talking Balls and Strikes, Again

Milwaukee Lands a Whale

The Milwaukee Brewers felt as though the team were Ahab landing a whale when they traded for C.C. Sabathia, or as he wants to now be called “CC Sabathia.” My opinion is two-fold. First, Sabathia is just big enough to be considered a whale on the mound… Two, on a game-by-games situation, they have landed the proverbial whale. Sabathia has the ability to absolutely dominate hitters but can just as well tank and surrender a ton of runs. Like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get from him. 

And what is with the name change? It is utterly ridiculous. Obviously he feels upstaged by Alex Rodriguez’s alleged affair with Madonna, and in the process of being traded, and felt that he should go with the single name to try and draw attention from the New York scene to the middle of nowhere in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Sabathia delivered a six-inning, five-strikeout performance, registering a win in his first appearance in a Brewer’s uniform.

Cubs Gain Another Injury-Prospect

The Chicago Cubs, realizing they needed something to combat the C.C. Sabathia trade, pulled the trigger for the hard throwing and oft injured, Rich Harden. I realize that the Cubs need to stay competitive, however, going with a player that has the injury record of Harden seems a little bit of a backslide than a step forward. Is this not the same team that endured multiple seasons of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior diving in and out of the disabled list? 

There is some risk, but at a price tag of $9M for a season and a half, I suppose they simply have to hope that he can deliver, and the team can keep rolling towards their desire for a World Series Championship. If this does not pan out, the Cubs do have an option to opt out of Harden’s contract, come this winter. 

Like Sabathia, Harden did not disappoint. He had a 10-strikeout performance, although he did not manage to get out of the fifth inning.

Sean Gallagher Moves to Oakland

It seems that the Oakland Athletics were excited to have Sean Gallagher join their rotation. In his first outing since leaving Chicago, Gallagher pitched seven strong innings, striking out seven batters and enjoying the benefit of more offense than he knew what to do with. The Athletics made early work of Angel’s starting pitcher Jon Garland, lighting him up for seven runs in less than three innings. Gallagher surrendered two earned runs and cruised to his first victory as an Athletic. It looks like Billy Beane has done it again!

Volstad Earns Second Win with First Start

I am very excited to see young pitcher Chris Volstad get his call up and earn two quick victories as I made an early season acquisition in my NL Only fantasy league, trading Mark Mulder for Bronson Arroyo and Volstad. Although I later traded Arroyo and an aging Randy Johnson for closer Brandon Lyon, I held on to Volstad as minor leaguer and am starting to see some dividends. 

Volstad earned his first win in a relief appearance against the Colorado Rockies. The irony is that his first win came at the expense of the early departure of Mark Hendrickson (4 INN), who Volstad eventually replaced in the starting rotation. 

He then gave the Marlins’ a taste of their future as he powered through eight and two thirds innings, surrendered only one earned run, and struck out six Dodgers’ on the way to a 3-1 victory. 

With 100 pitches, an ovation from his own dugout, there is no doubt that the Marlins’ are just as excited as I am!

Halladay the Best in the Game?

There are very few pitchers that you associate the term “complete game” with, but Roy “Doc” Halladay is one. After a two-hit, complete game shutout of the reeling Yankees, Derek Jeter was quoted as saying “He is the best starter in baseball”. That is some big kudos from a player that has most of his peers’ respect.

There is no doubt that along the way to striking out eight batters, that Halladay was in complete control of every pitch. To watch such stars in the game as Bobby Abreau, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter buckle their knees in amazement as two-seam fastballs and cutters veered in and out of their “hitting palate”, only to catch the corner at the tail end of the pitch, was simply amazing. Catcher Rod Barajas stated after the game, “That’s as good as anyone’s ever been that I’ve caught”, later commenting “It was remarkable. Everything was perfect.”

 believe that Terry Francona has one tough game to manage this coming week, The All-Star Game. To determine whom, when, and where to put each positional player and pitcher when you have a line-up like that, must be torture. Thankfully, the majority of his own players who made the All-Star Game were selected as starters, making it easier to plug his players in the line-up and get them some playing time.

Favra-ra-vra-rvara…

I have to give my own thoughts on what is a topic that has gained more leagues than Shiva has arms…. Brett Favre’s inability to commit.

Personally, I was excited to see that Favre went out on a high note. All during his pre-“I’m going to retire” moment, several co-workers and I discussed the problems with people who are professional athletes and their inability to know when “it’s time.”

Unlike Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, and (for fun), Mike Tyson, we all agreed that Favre was choosing the right moment to turn away from the game and turn his attention to his family and friends. But Brett being Brett (sorry Manny) just could not do it! He had to go and become as wishy-washy…yeah, I said “wishy-washy”, and had to go and poke his nose back into the Packers’ organization. 

When he did not get instant acceptance, he did what any egomaniac would do… he got offended and requested his outright release.

“Brett, are you insane? Do you REALLY think that you are THAT important? I realize that you have Hall of Fame numbers and many teams would accept you immediately, but if a co-worker of mine retired, we threw a party, bought gifts, and cleared their desk out. Then we went and filled the organization to go on without them, do you really think everyone would just jump up and welcome him or her back a year later?

Personally, I think that one the best things the Packers could do is to trade him away for some promising talent and some low level draft picks. I cannot believe that the organization seriously has a ton of faith in Aaron Rodgers to get the job done, with or without increased talent on the team. 

Here are some scenarios for you to consider:

The Packers get Favre to commit to two years of playing, take a pay-cut, say from $12M to $8M (It’s not about the money, right?) and they go ahead and trade away Rodgers for a fifth/sixth round pick and start to groom Brian Brohm under the tutelage of Favre.

The Packers trade Favre to the Buffalo Bills for J.P. Losman, some defensive mid-tier talent, and a late round pick, somewhere between a sixth and seventh pick.

The Packers trade Favre to the Miami Dolphins for Jason Taylor and a late-round pick for 2009 and 2010.

The Packers trade Favre to the New York Jets for a second round pick and either an aging veteran (Alan Faneca?) or some defensive depth (Justin Miller, Clemson, CB-KR).

The Packers give Favre a list of teams that he cannot work out a deal with a team, and then the Packers step in and seek restitution.

Or…

The Packers tell Favre that they are going to release him without any compensation, save face with the fans, and “take one for the ‘gipper’”.

All in all, I think this is a miserable situation and feel that Brett Favre is making a poor career choice. Maybe he should call his buddy in New York, Michael Strahan… he too retired and guaranteed 100% that he will never play again.

Favre helped Strahan gain the single season sack record with that ridiculous “fall”; maybe Strahan can help Favre avoid career-suicide.

Even if the story is retread, the opinions are mine… that is my story and I am sticking to it!

Kevin Burgoyne, aka Statistocrat