Letter from Indians President Paul Dolan about the Sabathia trade

[Blancofan1]

Here is the email letter that I got from Indians.com today regarding the trade for CC. It sounds a lot like an apology to me, and personally as an closet Indians fan (I lived in Cleveland for a few years) I would rather read more about the upside of LaPorta than the trouble the Indians have run into this year.

 

A LETTER TO INDIANS FANS FROM PAUL DOLAN

 

Dear Fans,

 

Thank you for your many years of loyalty to and support of

the Cleveland Indians. Because you are vitally important to

the success of the Indians, I want to communicate the

thinking behind our recent player personnel decisions,

including our decision to trade C.C. Sabathia, directly to

you.

 

After keeping the strong nucleus from our 2007 playoff

team intact, we all had high expectations entering the 2008

season. Unfortunately, the team did not play up to our

expectations and we sustained injuries to key players

within our starting lineup and rotation. Due to our team's

performance, as well as the significant opportunity to add

talent that can impact the short-term and long-term success

of the organization, we decided to trade C.C.

 

We did not take our decision to trade C.C. lightly. He has

been an integral member of the Indians organization and the

Cleveland community for the past eight years. We all shared

the pleasure of watching C.C. develop from a young draft

pick into a mature team leader and one of the best pitchers

in Major League Baseball. After re-signing C.C. in 2005 to

a contract that extended into what would have been his first

two free agent years, we were able to share in and enjoy his

2007 Cy Young Award winning season as a Cleveland Indian, a

performance that propelled our club to the AL Central

Division Championship.

 

We made extensive attempts to secure C.C.'s future in

Cleveland by signing him to a contract extension. In fact, we

offered C.C. a top of the market contract that included the

highest annual salary in the history of the Indians

organization. Unfortunately, due to C.C.'s desire to test

the free agent market, we determined that trading C.C.

provided the best outcome for the long-term success of the

organization. By trading C.C., we capitalized on an

opportunity to infuse upper level talent into our

organization that can contribute to our on-field success

for many years rather than risk losing C.C. for only two

draft picks with a distant and uncertain future.

 

We remain enthusiastic about the steps we have taken

towards fulfilling our organizational mission to build

and sustain a championship-caliber team. Our minor league

system served as the catalyst for our 2007 playoff run and

continues to develop exciting, young players. We look

forward to the opportunity of watching many more young players

blossom into Major League stars as Cleveland Indians.

 

We have confidence that the tremendously difficult decision

to trade C.C. will enhance our ability to put a winning club

on the field to make our loyal fans and the entire Cleveland

community proud. On behalf of my family and the entire

Cleveland Indians organization, I appreciate your continued

support and look forward to seeing you at a game in the near

future. Go Tribe!

 

Sincerely,

 

Paul Dolan

[UndraftedFA]

I don't think it is too bad. I think it tries to reaffirm that overall they a strong organization and that even though this year has been disappointing, they are going to do what has made them successful. They reminded the fans that CC was once a prospect and the core of last year's team was prospects. I am sure CC had a cult following, and many of the fans appreciate the letter when the trade became a vivid reminder of how disappointing the season has been.

[dadofandrew]

Many people have no understanding of success cycles, building from the bottom up, comp picks, and so on. Only an idiot team would have held onto CC, but many folks are waiting for an inevitable 15 game win streak to get back into the race. Letters like this are done to soften the blow to the herd.

[Blancofan1]

Overall I was impressed that Dolan wrote the letter. I think it was certainly the right move to make for them, but I would also like to think that I pay a little more attention than most fans to what actually goes into running a baseball team. I have gotten several calls and texts today from old friends in Ohio about how the Brewers totally fleeced the Indians and intially tried to convince them that the trade was actually very good for both sides. After the first few conversations, I decided that for a fan who doesn't understand all of the workings even on a basic level, like dadofandrew stated, it's just to hard to explain to most. For that reason and others, I feel the letter was a good idea just to get some fans off of the ledge.

[danzig6767]

Many people have no understanding of success cycles, building from the bottom up, comp picks, and so on. Only an idiot team would have held onto CC, but many folks are waiting for an inevitable 15 game win streak to get back into the race. Letters like this are done to soften the blow to the herd.

I browsed a few Indians forums just prior to the trade and after, i don't think i saw a single person on any of the boards who thought Cleveland shouldn't trade Sabathia if they couldn't sign him. The only debate i saw was over what they could or should get in return via trade, not that CC should have been kept because the team might get hot. They knew their team was toast this season. In fact, most i saw thought the trade was fair and were excited about what they read about Laporta. Of course there were a random few who thought we should have given up Laporta/Escobar/Jeffress, but they were the minority.

 

[jazzytrav]

Many people have no understanding of success cycles, building from the bottom up, comp picks, and so on. Only an idiot team would have held onto CC, but many folks are waiting for an inevitable 15 game win streak to get back into the race. Letters like this are done to soften the blow to the herd.

I think this is right on, and I actually liked the letter. It means that they actually understand the frustration of their fans. But they also took the time to kinda explain something about the success cycles so that fans can have just a tiny bit more in depth of understanding. In that sense, the letter served two purposes: an apology, and an education.