CLEVELAND — The Indians’ season has reached a new low point.
Riding an eight-game losing skid and all but out of contention in the Central Division, the team is reportedly close to trading ace C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cleveland is on the verge of completing a deal that will send the American League’s defending Cy Young Award winner to Milwaukee for a package of prospects that includes highly touted outfielder Matt LaPorta.
An announcement is expected today.
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin told the Journal Sentinel on Saturday that a deal for Sabathia was on the table and that he was awaiting word from Indians GM Mark Shapiro.
Sabathia all but confirmed that Melvin had heard from Shapiro, responding to a text message from ESPN.com on Sunday with: “I’m good, excited. It’s weird leaving these guys.”
The Indians knew parting ways with Sabathia was a possibility.
He entered the season in the final year of his contract after rejecting a four-year extension worth $72 million in spring training and saying he would not negotiate during the year.
Sabathia, 27, is expected to command a lucrative multiyear contract should he become a free agent, but the budget-conscious Indians still held out hopes of re-signing a pitcher who has been with the club since being drafted in 1998.
The small-market Brewers are likely renting Sabathia for a playoff push, standing 3½ games behind first-place Chicago in the NL Central, percentage points ahead of division rival St. Louis for the league’s second-best record.
If Sabathia does not re-sign with Milwaukee, the Indians could join the offseason bidding for the left-hander with suitors expected to include the Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies and Red Sox.
He could make his first start for the Brewers on Tuesday against the Rockies at home, the same day he was scheduled to start for the Indians at Detroit.
The Brewers are getting one of the majors’ top starters in Sabathia, who has regained his Cy Young form after a slow start to the season. The three-time All-Star is 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA in 18 starts, numbers that are deflated by a lack of run support from a Cleveland offense that ranks last in the AL with a .246 batting average. The Indians have scored two runs or fewer for Sabathia in nine of his starts.
Offense is what the Indians are projected to receive in LaPorta, Milwaukee’s first-round draft choice last year.
The power-hitting left fielder, who was scratched from the lineup for Double-A Huntsville on Sunday night – an indicator of a trade — is batting .288 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs in 84 games for the Brewers’ Class AA affiliate.
Cleveland is also expected to receive other prospects in exchange for Sabathia, but not Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel, a pair of Milwaukee’s top young players.
The season began promisingly for the Indians, who returned much of the same roster from a team that came a win away from the World Series. But a lack of production from its offense and injuries to key players — Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez — quickly took Cleveland out of contention.
The last-place Indians are riding a season-high losing skid and stand 13 games out of first place with the league’s second-worst record, 37-51.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. 

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