Brewers Perspective On The Sabathia Deal

One thing I always like to get, is a perspective from the other side of the deal. In this case, the Milwaukee Brewers. Brian Kapellusch over at www.brewerfan.net was kind enough to respond to my call this morning and provide some insight on the four players the Indians are getting in this deal.

He and the rest of the guys over there, like here, have followed these guys extensively and may know more about these guys than anyone in the media. Here is what he said about the deal:

*note, the deal is not 100% confirmed yet, but it is almost for sure Matt LaPorta, Rob Bryson, Zach Jackson and the player to be named later is believed to be Green.

On Matt LaPorta - "Pat Burrell clone. Walks, strikeouts, homers, but also carries a decent batting average as well. He projects to be an average-to-above average 1B, or a sub-average OF. The ability to DH obviously makes him more valuable to Cleveland than Milwaukee, but I haven't heard anything that tells me he couldn't be a 1B at worst. His right-handedness made him a bit more available than Mat Gamel, but he's a player with a great deal of character... You won't ever have to worry about him in the clubhouse. Laporta was my favorite minor league player. I think he'll be special."

On Zach Jackson - "I wouldn't call him a prospect, more like a "change of scenery" guy. He's got a funky Dontrelle-Willis-esque delivery which can be tough on lefties at times. He's a bit older, but his arm isn't as old, as he didn't get a ton of playing time in college. He probably projects as a long-reliever or LOOGY at best, but you never know."

On Rob Bryson - "Draft & Follow guy, with a really great strikeout rate. He's got a very plus slider, and a decent fastball. I think he projects as a reliever, possibly a closer, but I suppose he could start if he developed a third pitch. Obviously he's only in A-ball, so he's got a way to go ... but the Brewers wouldn't have signed him as a DFE player if they didn't think he was worth it."

On Taylor Green - "The best way to put it, is that he's a Jeff Cirillo clone. Not the neurotic Jeff Cirillo that only seems to perform well in a Brewers uniform, but an all-around solid 3B. The knock on him will be the lack of pop at the hot corner, but he's a plus defender, and has great plate discipline. He's not the prospect that Gamel is, but if he's the PTBNL, it'll sting a bit for me, personally."

In Other News...

Akron catcher Wyatt Toregas was named Bank of America Eastern League Player of the Week today, as the native of Fairfax, VA hit .421 (8-19) with three doubles, five homers, six runs scored, 13 RBI, and a 1.368 slugging percentage in six games. In case you didn’t catch this fact the first time through, let’s put it another way: All eight of his hits week this went for extra-bases. Toregas is the fourth straight Aeros hitter to win an Eastern League weekly award, preceded by Wes Hodges for the week ending June 15th and Trevor Crowe the last two weeks.

Posted in: Matt LaPorta,Rob Bryson,Taylor Green,Zach Jackson