Best Midseason Trade Ever? CC Sabathia Goes GOD MODE For The Brewers

[Music] when Major League Baseball's trade deadline approaches and there's impact Talent available there are certain teams that automatically come to mind first as potential suitors you think of the Yankees you think of the Dodgers you think of the big Market Big Money teams that more often than not are in the hunt one team you don't usually think about the Milwaukee Brewers but in the summer of 2008 in an aggressive bid to end a historic playoff drought the Brewers pulled off one of the most memorable mid season deals in recent baseball history acquiring a Bonafide Ace who put his new team on his back with one of the most dominant electrifying stretches of pitching the game has ever [Music] seen of all the starting pitchers to debut this Century few accomplished more than CC Sabathia a six-time Allstar who ranks in the top five in war strikeouts and wins since 2000 he won won 17 games as a rookie in 2001 and by the summer of 2008 the imposing left-hander was at the absolute height of his powers he had won the American League Sai Young Award the season prior when he carried Cleveland to their first playoff appearance in six years and into the league championship series and he was outstanding again in ' 08 with his free agency looming an ugly April notwithstanding Sabathia still found himself among the American League's top five most valuable starters at The Season's halfway point in fact excluding his Rocky first four starts to the season bathia's ra stood at 196 as June gave way to July he was cooking the rest of his team however not so much one year after coming within one win of an Al pennant Cleveland had regressed big time on July 1st Cleveland was 10 games under 500 and in the early stages of an epic losing streak that would eventually stretch to 10 games so with their playoff odds looking grim and Sabathia months away from hitting free agency Cleveland had no choice but to put their Ace on the market and try to turn him into a mammoth Hall of prospects ahead of the trade deadline and naturally with one of the game's top pitchers suddenly available to rent there was tons of Interest throughout the league among those teams that were reportedly lining up to make a deal for Sabathia the Yankees the Phillies the Cubs in fact the Dodgers nearly did make a deal for him agreeing to the framework for a blockbuster trade that was ultimately vetoed by then owner Frank mccort and in the end it wasn't a big Market Juggernaut that landed Sabathia instead the prize left-hander ended up in wait for it Milwaukee Milwaukee a small market franchise that hadn't been to the postseason since 1982 the Brewers hadn't even won 90 games since the early 90s and while their 08 Club was unquestionably more talented than most previous iterations of the team 3 months into the season the Brewers were playing at an 87- win Pace however on account of their Perpetual mediocrity the Brewers did have a solid stable of prospects and after 26 years without October baseball in Milwaukee and with the Brewers on the periphery of the playoff hunt General man manager Doug Melvin decided to capital g go for it making arguably the biggest mid-season trade in franchise history to prise Sabathia from Cleveland Melvin gave up four young players most significantly Matt leaport the seventh overall pick in the previous year's draft and already a top 30 Prospect but the package headed to Cleveland also included two minor league pitchers and a player to be named later a player that turned out to be a 21-year-old outfielder named Michael Brantley it was a steep price to pay for a rental starter even one as good as Sabathia but by season's end that gamble by the Brewers would look like one of the savviest moves in franchise history because Sabathia wasn't just good upon arriving in Milwaukee he instantly became the most electrifying most dominant player in all of baseball not pitcher player turning in a summer that made him a legend in Milwaukee in his much anticipated Brewers debut in front of more than 42,000 fans at Miller Park Sabathia delivered a quality start overcoming a bit of early wildness to propel Milwaukee to a win over Colorado and with those post-trade Jitters behind him Sabathia really locked in his next time out Sabathia allowed just two runs over nine outstanding Innings against Cincinnati recording a complete Game victory in his second Brewer start and get this Sabathia also homered that day smacking a third ining solo shot to get Milwaukee on the board 5 days later he threw another complete game this time allowing just one run while striking out 10 in a thumping of the Giants 5 days after that Sabathia hurled a complete game shut out against the Cardinals let's break that down through his first four starts with Milwaukee Sabathia was 4-0 with three complete games and a 136 ER pretty good right well his August was even better in The Season's penultimate month with the trade deadline in the rearview mirror and the pennant races in full swing Sabathia was nothing short of extraordinary in six August starts Sabathia never once allowed more than two earn runs tossing three complete games two of them shut outs while posting an RA of 112 it should go without saying that Milwaukee won all six of his Stars and by the time September rolled around every Sabathia outing was appointment viewing this wasn't just the finest stretch of his career this was one of the most Sensational stretches of pitching the game had ever seen and it was absolutely vital for the Brewers chances too after cruising through July and August the Brewers hit a rough patch in September losing 12 of their first 15 games that month a slide that actually cost manager Ned Yos his job with only a dozen games remaining before the playoffs but Sabathia wasn't going to let his team miss the postseason not again though the NL Central Was Out Of Reach Sabathia almost single-handedly kept the Brewers in the Wild Card race authoring a 211 erra over his six September starts four of them wins for his last three starts by the way he pitched on three days rest and fittingly in his final outing of the regular season on the final day of the regular season with a wild card birth on the line Sabathia delivered yet another Masterpiece nine innings of one-run ball Against The Division champion Chicago Cubs and between Sabathia's dominance and Ryan Bron's Unforgettable eighth inning Homer the Brewers locked up a 3-1 win over their division rival their 90th win of the Season guaranteeing them at least a share of the National League wild card and minutes later with the Mets lost to the Marlins the Brewers had the NL Wild Card all to themselves they done it for the first time in 26 years Milwaukee was heading to the playoffs and with all due respect to Braun Prince Fielder and Ben Sheets all of whom played like all stars all season long there was no question as to who is the key to Milwaukee season it was CC Sabathia who became a franchise icon in only two months with the Brewers in his 17 starts for Milwaukee Sabathia recorded seven complete games including three shutouts pitched to a 165 ra and average more than seven and 2/3 Innings per start in fact from his Brewers debut onward Sabathia threw 18 more Innings than any other pitcher in baseball while also managing the lowest ER and the lowest Fielding independent pitching of any qualified starter Milwaukee by the way won 14 of his 17 starts it was simply put one of the most remarkable runs ever by a starter and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that almost no other pitcher in the history of the game enjoyed such a strong start with a new team in fact Sabathia is one of just two pitchers ever to manage a sub7 ra while also recording 100 or more strikeouts in their first 17 games with the team the other guy to do it he was born in 1879 and his stats from his Sensational 1906 campaign are dubious to say the least to that end despite making only 7 starts for Milwaukee Sabathia still finished fifth in National League sa young voting his Herculean efforts also earned him a sixth place finish in NL MVP voting and ironically one year after earning his first and only career sa Young Award Sabathia ultimately turned in the finest season of his career he set career best in 2008 in ER adjusted ER strikeouts whip complete games shutouts and innings pitched and although Sabathia's magical run didn't lead to a World Series Championship or even a pennant for the Brewers the importance of his brief time in Milwaukee can't be overstated his Brilliance that summer electrified a city that had long since forgotten what a pennant race felt like in what was essentially a two-month layover before free agency Sabathia played the role of Exorcist for the Brewers and their fans and shortly thereafter as expected Sabathia commanded a mammoth contract from a big Market Club getting $161 million from the Yankees but to this day despite spending only a couple of months with the Brewers Sabathia is revered in Milwaukee he's a legend in at town and deservedly so thanks for watching if you like this video and want to see more content like this hit that subscribe button