THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE - With one XXL-sized move, the Milwaukee Brewers hope to transform themselves from scrappy underdogs to a big, bad pitching powerhouse intent on chasing down the Chicago Cubs and making the playoffs for the first time since 1982.
The Brewers obtained AL Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia in a trade with the Cleveland Indians on Monday, giving up four prospects in return, including former UF star slugger Matt LaPorta, the top-rated Brewers prospect who was the centerpiece of the deal.
Milwaukee sent Cleveland LaPorta, pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson and a player to be named. Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said the player to be named would be one of two specified in the deal.
Melvin said the Brewers' strong farm system gave him flexibility to deal away a good prospect.
"Matt LaPorta is going to be a good big league player, and I hope he is," Melvin said.
The Indians, who fell one win shy of the World Series last year, are in need of power-hitting corner outfielders, and LaPorta is expected to fill that void. He hit .288 with 20 homers and 66 RBIs in 84 games for Double-A Huntsville.
"It is a little unsettling (but) it's a business decision," LaPorta told the Huntsville Times.
He said he was held out of Sunday's Double-A game against Birmingham because the Brewers didn't want to risk injury.
"I hope (the trade) works out for both teams," LaPorta said. "It's a great opportunity with another organization."
"I'd say we're going for it," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "That's the way I look at it."
The deal stacks the Brewers' deck with a pair of aces, Sabathia and Ben Sheets - but only for a few months.
Barring blockbuster contract offers from a small-market team that already is stretching this year's payroll into the $90 million range, both players will become free agents after the season.
Still, the deal hardly assures the Brewers an easy road to the postseason. Milwaukee began Monday a percentage point ahead of St. Louis for the second-best record in the NL, and both teams are chasing the Chicago Cubs, who are 3 1/2 games ahead in the NL Central.
The football player-sized Sabathia - slugger Prince Fielder offered to lend him a pair of uniform pants - is the first reigning Cy Young winner to be traded since Roger Clemens was dealt to the New York Yankees in the off-season after winning the award with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998.
For Cleveland, it's a sign of surrender hardly anyone would have imagined going into the season.
Shapiro said the team's string of injuries and disappointing performances made it hard to imagine a significant rally in the second half.
"We all headed into this season with what we feel are well-founded expectations for a championship-contending season," Shapiro said. "Four core players on the DL - tough for almost any franchise to overcome - as well as disappointing performances from many components of our team, most noticeably in the bullpen, leave us at the juncture we're at. There wasn't much doubt or question in our mind that it was nearly impossible for us to become a contending club this year."
Sabathia arrived in Milwaukee before Monday night's game against Colorado and is scheduled to pitch against the Rockies on Tuesday night. He also is expected to pitch against Cincinnati on Sunday, giving him a pair of starts for his new team at home leading into the All-Star break.
Sabathia rejected a $72 million, four-year extension from the Indians during spring training and announced he wouldn't negotiate until after the season.
ROYALS END RAYS STREAK: ST. PETERSBURG - A stroke of good luck by Carlos Pena wasn't quite enough for the Tampa Bay Rays. After Pena hit a tying solo homer off All-Star closer Joakim Soria in the ninth, the Royals struck back with 10th-inning home runs by John Buck and Mike Aviles for a 7-4 win Monday.
The loss snapped the Rays' seven-game winning streak. Tampa Bay, with the major's best record at 55-33, lost for the second time in the last 13 games. The Rays went 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position.
"Today was a tough day for us," Pena said. "We couldn't capitalize."
Pena nearly salvaged a bad day with his home run off Soria, who blew his second save in 25 chances.
"You know it's going to happen at some point in time," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "That fastball caught just a little too much of the plate. It was kind of right in Pena's nitro zone, and he got it out of the ballpark."
