MLB Milwaukee

It's hard to imagine a better way to kick off the mad dash to baseball's trade deadline than with the Brewers and Cubs pulling trades for big-name pitchers within two days of each other. Of course, those moves raise a pretty big question: who's the favorite to win the division now? Let's break it down.

Definitely not favorites: Pirates, Astros, and Reds. The Reds are young and exciting but at least a year away, the Pirates seem to be meandering down the right road but they're still way down the path in the wrong direction, and the Astros are a disaster area.

The Cardinals: This team perplexes me. By all accounts they shouldn't be very good, and yet they've still got the second best record in the NL and are ahead of the Brewers in the Wild Card standings. They probably won't join in the arms race with the Cubs and Brewers, but they get Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter back from the DL in pretty short fashion. Still, they're short on offense besides Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick, it's hard to know what to expect out of Carpenter after missing most of a season and a half, and Kyle Lohse is a prime candidate to turn into a pumpkin.

It's been a wild week in the world of baseball, as Milwaukee has fired the first warning shot by trading their top prospect and others for CC Sabathia. The Cubs swiftly responded by prying away Rich Harden from the Oakland Athletics.

Some of you may be confused, some of you may be hurt, but for most of you, your heads are spinning. That's okay. Because the MLB 'Haus is here to help make sense of it all. AOL Baseball Editor Andrew Johnson and I are here to chat about not only Sabathia and Harden, but anything you want about the world of baseball ... whether it be the Mets putting up a touchdown on Tim Lincecum, the Braves signing Julian Tavarez, Barry Bonds ... anything you want. Won't you join us at 1PM ET?

The Indians traded CC Sabathia to the Brewers in part because they're convinced that he's determined to add an extra comma digit to his contract this winter (he turned down a $72 million extension in January in hopes of finding something in excess of $100 million). Before being officially introduced to Milwaukee's media on Monday, though, there was a different bit of punctuation on Sabathia's mind:

From here on out, Carsten Charles Sabathia is just "CC" Sabathia - not "C.C."

After holding a news conference Monday to announce they'd made a trade to acquire the reigning AL Cy Young award winner from Cleveland, a member of the Brewers public relations staff advised media members that Sabathia prefers to have his initials written without periods.

And you thought the perks of being a big leaguer stopped at fancy cars and groupies. No sir, once you make it to The Show, the rules of grammar literally no longer apply. I suppose this explains why so many athletes like to speak in the third person ...

Just in case you're curious (and if you're still reading, I'm sure it was in the back of your mind), the team did make sure to clarify that J.J. Hardy would be holding onto his periods for the time being. It's nice to know you can rely on something in these crazy times.

As anyone that closely followed the Erik Bedard saga last winter knows, it can be a long way from "We've agreed on a deal in principle" to players actually switching teams. Things aren't going to take that long with this Brewers/Indians trade, though, because the Brewers have announced a press conference for noon (11 AM Central) and if they don't announce a C.C. Sabathia trade, then .... actually, don't worry about it. They're announcing the trade.

The other key today is that the trade has expanded from "Matt LaPorta and someone" to "Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, and someone that may or may not be Taylor Green." Jackson's not much, but Bryson's an extremely young reliever with some good numbers in the low minors and Green's a good-hitting, young third base prospect.

If Green is the fourth piece of the puzzle for the Indians, they managed to pull about as good of a haul from the Brewers system that they could ask for without getting Alcides Escobar or Mat Gamel. The Brewers, meanwhile, managed to pick up the best available starting pitcher by only giving up one blue chip prospect. It's pretty rare that a trade like this ends up as a win for both teams, but at least it's got a chance to shake out well for both the Brewers and Indians.

What happens when you take a team that's 20-11 since June 1st, currently sitting with the second best winning percentage in the National League, and add one Carsten Charles Sabathia to the mix? Ladies and gentleman, we've got a new favorite for the National League pennant. Maybe that's hideously reactionary, since we're talking about a team that's still 3.5 games behind the Cubs and tied with the Cardinals for the NL Wild Card at the moment, but I don't think so.

OK, time for a breather. It's only July 6th. It's too soon to be talking about favorites. What's clear, though, is that the Brewers think that they can make a run at more than just a playoff spot this year. With Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder starting to come around at the plate and Manny Parra finally finding his footing in the rotation, they were going to be real contenders without Sabathia. Now they've added the reigning AL Cy Young winner to their mix without taking anything away from their Major League club. They've got to be liking their chances at Miller Park right now.

The question now? What does the rest of the National League do? The Cubs, lest we forget, are already a really good baseball team, with six regulars posting above average OPSs this year, four starting pitchers with above average ERAs, and a good bullpen, so maybe calling the Brewers the favorites is a wee bit premature. The Phillies are quite good, but their rotation is painfully thin. The entire National League West should probably start with a prayer. Remember all those NL Central jokes everyone made last year? Put 'em on the shelves, because right now it looks like it's going to take an upset for someone from another division to get to the World Series.

The trade deadline is always a dangerous time for a team like the Brewers. When a player like C.C. Sabathia is on the move, there are a million different things that can happen. And still, the Brewers seem so close to landing C.C. right now that they're almost counting on him coming to Milwaukee sooner rather than later. You can hear it in Doug Melvin's quote in today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

"Mark said he'd be in touch with me," Melvin said, referring to Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro. "I'm sure they've got to think through everything."

The sticking point right now appears to be who gets included in the trade after Matt LaPorta. The Indians want another top prospect, but the Brewers think that's too much to trade for a guy that's not a slam dunk to be in a Brewers uniform in 2009.

How much is too much for the Brewers to give up for Sabathia? There's no doubting that they miss Yovani Gallardo and a second ace makes them a force in the National League, but they're currently just a game out of a playoff spot and playing very well with the team configured as is. LaPorta is a guy without a position that they can probably afford to give up, but giving up another top prospect seems like it's just too much for a rental player.

Consider Joe Borowski, he of the higher ERA than save total for the season (7.56 to six), the first shoe. Borowski has been designated for assignment by the highly disappointing Cleveland Indians, who have gone from A.L. Central Champions to the team most likely to dump their ace.

Borowski always had a high ERA ... it was over five last season. But when you add in 45 saves for a winning team, a high ERA from your closer is a little easier to take. But on this Cleveland team, there's almost no reason to have a guy like Borowski, especially if they want to look at younger guys (like Jensen Lewis and Brian Slocum, who were called up from Buffalo). Now the question is this: Is C.C. Sabathia the other shoe? And if so, where is he going?

Milwaukee seems to be a good bet.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Brewers are offering top prospect Matt LaPorta and shortstop Alcides Escobar for C.C. Sabathia.

Rosenthal has a lot of sources and quotes some of them anonymously as saying that LaPorta, a first-round draft pick last year now playing the outfield at Huntsville, and teammate Escobar are being offered for the big left-hander.

Considering how the Brewers blew a 5-0 lead against the Diamondbacks yesterday, the Brewers may want to look at Borowski too.

You know what today is, right? July 1st. That can only mean one thing ... the summer rumor season is about to begin. The biggest name on the market is probably going to be C.C. Sabathia, given the Indians current home in the basement of the AL Central. The leaders in the C.C. Derby? Buster Olney says it's the Brewers. Still, Doug Melvin isn't exactly ready to get Sabathia a locker at Miller Park. From the Journal Sentinel's Brewers Blog:

"Just the same old rumors," said Melvin.

[...]

"I'm motivated to listen and do our due diligence," said Melvin. "Now that July is rolling around, we've got to be on top of things.

"At the same time, we're not going to do anything stupid. I don't think any one guy can make a difference. The team still has to play well. But the addition of one player can make a team better.

I love general manager doublespeak. One guy can't make a difference, but he can make a team better. The Brewers missed the playoffs by two games last year in a season where Ben Sheets missed nine or ten starts. They're likely going to be linked in another tough playoff battle this year with the Cardinals for the Wild Card or the Cubs and Cards for the NL Central. It's a good thing that Melvin's "motivated to listen."

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

New York Yankees (43-37) at New York Mets (39-40) - 3:55 PM ET

Now that the dual stadium doubleheader is done, the Yankees and Mets can go back to the normal over-hype that the Subway Series entails, and not have to worry about the added pressure of police escorts between stadiums and such. But here's some worry: Johan Santana, who matches up with Andy Pettitte today, is 7-6 with a batting average against of .249, and a WHIP of 1.22. Not bad. But consider that Santana has never had a half a season, whether it be before the all-star break or after it, where his BAA and WHIP have been nearly that high. So even by Santana's first half standards, it's been an off half-year for Johan. Stuck near .500 after 79 games, the Mets could use the second half Santana to make an appearance at Shea today.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Chicago Cubs (49-30) vs. Chicago White Sox (43-35) - 4:05 PM ET

The final weekend of interleague play for the season kicks off in the Bronx at 2 but the most meaningful game is in Chicago. The two Chicago clubs are in first, just as they were last week, but the White Sox can't afford another sweep at the hands of their crosstown rivals. The Twins are hard on their tail, a half-game back as play begins today, and there's that whole bragging rights thing to worry about too.

They'll need to do a better job against Ryan Dempster (9-2, 2.63) this time around. He held the Sox to one run in eight innings to win Sunday's finale at Wrigley Field. Dempster's won his last four decisions in what's turned out to be a very successful conversion from bullpen to rotation. They'll also need a better outing from their own starter. Jose Contreras (6-6, 3.96) got thrashed for 10 hits and nine runs in three and a third innings.