Sabathia was by far the best pitcher who was known to be on the trade market. There are always a number of teams that want to improve pitching and plenty that would give up a lot for one more ace to lead them to October. That being said, all the Indians managed to get was four minor leaguers. The best player that they got in return was an AA prospect.

Had the Indians held their cards longer they would have been able to get much more in return. They would have had teams such as the Red Sox and the Yankees that will become desperate because they are unable to pass the Rays. Why would the Indians trade him so early rather than wait for the Yankees and the Red Sox to get into a bidding war?

Last year, the Yankees were 11 games back before Roger Clemens showed up and gave them the extra push they needed to start making a run. Sabathia could have been the piece to jumpstart that team. He could have also been a key piece to some positive press and to get rid of some of the A-Rod distractions. Boston could have felt that Sabathia was the missing piece necessary to get their team over the Rays. With Ortiz coming back and Sabathia coming to the team, why would people count the Red Sox out? That team would be hard to beat and a pitching staff of Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, and Sabathia would be nearly impossible to beat in a short series.

I know there is no guarantee that other offers would have come to the Indians of that those offers would have been better. However, I feel that there had to be something better out there than Matt LaPorta. In my opinion, the Indians rushed to trade CC and did not receive what they could have had they been a bit more patient.