ONE INDIANS FAN'S OPINION ON THIS WHOLE SABATHIA THING

by WCT, The Ship of Fools

I still remember the day I heard that Jim Thome was leaving. I was pissed. Like, really pissed. I felt like I really knew the guy. He wasn't my favorite Indian as a kid (that was Sandy Alomar) but when he broke into the bigs, I was still in junior high, and now he was a veteran and I was out of college. Not to sound sappy, but I sort of grew up with him in that way. So when he took more money to go to the Phillies, After saying that money would not be his deciding factor, I felt betrayed, and I still cheer against him to this day.

I was not as pissed when Manny Ramirez left. Manny was one of the first guys that I remember hearing about when he was drafted, and I remember hearing stories of him tearing up the minor leagues. I still remember the anticipation of his arrival to the big club, and his debut. I still remember how pissed I was when he lost out on the rookie of the year to Bob Hamelin. But by the end of his Indian's tenure, his act (what "red sox nation" now stupidly calls "Manny being Manny!") was starting to wear thin.

This time around, with CC Sabathia not re-signing, and as it turns out, being traded. I almost don't even care. We all knew it was an ominous sign when he cut off negotiations for an extension during spring training. In April, we knew that if the Indians got off to a slow start this year, this was going to be an issue. In June, when the Indians were somewhere between "we're off to a slow start so far" and "we have a piece-of-shit team this year," the reality of his trade became apparent.

It probably seems weird to say that the reigning AL Cy Young winner had an erratic tenure as an Indian, but I think that is the best way to describe it. In the beginning, he was overweight, would get flustered easily, and had no idea where the ball was going after he released it. But over the years he developed into an effective pitcher, and eventually an ace. He even lost some weight! In fact, this year is a perfect microcosm for his Indians career. After his first four starts he had given up 5, 4, 9, and 9 earned runs respectively, and was 0-3 with an ERA approaching 14. But since then he has lowered that ERA to 3.83 and has thrown 2 complete game shutouts. But even in the midst of his current hot streak, he was roughed up a bit (4 ER, 2 HR) in his latest outing. And as great as he was last year, he had to feel a bit sheepish accepting his Cy Young after his disastrous postseason. Yes, he had matured into a team leader last year as the Tribe made its October run in '07, but the fact remains that they handed him the ball, at home, up 3-1 in the ALCS, and he crapped all over himself in the biggest game of his life.

So I can't really say that I am as pissed as I was when Thome left, and I can't really even say I am as disappointed as I was when Man-Ram left. I am resigned to the fact that these things happen. At the same time, You never really knew what you were going to get when Sabathia took the mound, so part of me won't miss his inconsistency. Most of the time, he was great, and a small percentage of the time, he was flat-out awesome. But in a big game (like the 2007 playoffs), or if something is on his mind (like early this year) who knows. I will not bore most of you with my opinion on what this trade means for the big-picture for the Cleveland Indians, but suffice it to say that last year's 96 win season is starting to look very fluky. So when he starts tonight for the Brewers (and for the first time as "CC" rather than "C.C.") I can't say that I will be cheering for or against him. I'm just hoping that Matt LaPorta turns out to be as good as people say he is, so that he can become a stud (and inevitably leave).