CC Sabathia signs with Yankee's

[Chris]

Who can blame Sabathia?  7 years, $160 million vs. the Brewers reported offer of 5 years, $100 million (with money deferred, making it worth even less).  $60 million is a heck of a lot of money (and again, it's really even more than that.)

on a 5 year deal, he would be a FA again at 33, in the NL, where he is significantly better. As such, he would be set up for another monster deal.  not to mention his happiness of being in the nl, where he can hit...

At 35 coming out of the deal with the yanks, he may not have another big deal coming his way.

7 160 is like 23 mill a season.  5 100 is 20.  factor in the cost of living in NY compared to milwaukee, and the difference shrinks further.

That's if Sabathia stays injury free and dominant.  What if he has a career-ending injury tomorrow?  What if he turns into Barry Zito or Mike Hampton?  This way, he has in excess of $60 million guaranteed money.  It's hard to fault him for that.

Yeah, any pitcher counting on another big contract (to make up $60 million) at the age of 33 is probably pushing their luck.  A pitcher who is carrying as much weight, and has pitched as many high intensity innings over the last 2 years as Sabathia has is absolutely insane. 

Obviously there is still a chance he could get another big contract, but I would say the chances are well below 50%, which makes it a terrible gamble. 

[Brickowski]

If Cashman is smart he'll go after Sheets, not Lowe. Sheets is a better pitcher, and appears to be healthy at the moment.

[Chris]

If Cashman is smart he'll go after Sheets, not Lowe. Sheets is a better pitcher, and appears to be healthy at the moment.

Sheets is the guy I would like to see the Sox sign if he really could be signed on a 2 year deal.  I think Sheets, Lowe, and Burnett are all equal risks at this point (Lowe for age, Burnett for up and down performance and injury, Sheets for just injury), but it sounds like Sheets is commanding a much shorter contract than the others.

[yall hate]

Tim Brown and Gordon Edes of Yahoo report that the deal is for $161MM over seven years (which would top Johan's average annual value).

The deal has an opt-out clause after the first three years, which are worth $69MM.  The 31 year-old Sabathia will make his opt-out decision after the 2011 season with four years, $92MM remaining on the deal.  He would have to buck the opt-out trend (or renegotiate) to make this more than a three-year, $69MM deal for the Yankees.  That is not necessarily a bad thing for them.

Interesting.  If he dominates and hates NY, I guess he can opt out.  if he sucks and is injured, he will not. 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

[Tr1boy]

stupid signing and for 10 million dollars more than necessary. Yankees are a dumb organization and ruining baseball for the rest of the league.

Like someone said their should be a cap into how much a free agent can make llike the nba with additional profits made by a team going to charity or to other teams

[Chris]

stupid signing and for 10 million dollars more than necessary. Yankees are a dumb organization and ruining baseball for the rest of the league.

Like someone said their should be a cap into how much a free agent can make llike the nba with additional profits made by a team going to charity or to other teams

Why is it a dumb signing?  They had to overpay to get him to play in NY.  They desperately needed a front-line starter, and he was by far the best available.

And I don't see how any Red Sox fan can say that the Yankees are ruinning baseball.  Yes, they spend more money than the Sox, but the Sox success can be directly attributed to their ability to spend much more money than the majority of teams in the league.

[ma11l]

This signing doesn't bother me as a Sox fan.  He's struggled against us, and has struggled mightily in the playoffs.  I also believe he's damaged goods.  He has pitched a LOT of innings the last two years.  What he did at the end of last year was almost inhuman, and potentially damaging to his arm in the long run.


Would've been nice to see the guy go home where he said he wanted to before the money was brought up, but that's nothing new in today's sports.


Burnett, Lowe, and Sheets become the big competition of the offseason now.  If the Yanks get one or two of them they will definitely be back in the playoff picture.

[CelticPride]

Sheets is the guy I would like to see the Sox sign if he really could be signed on a 2 year deal.  I think Sheets, Lowe, and Burnett are all equal risks at this point (Lowe for age, Burnett for up and down performance and injury, Sheets for just injury), but it sounds like Sheets is commanding a much shorter contract than the others.

Chris - I'm on the same page as you. I'd love for the Sox to end up with Tex, Sheets and Salty this off-season (maybe with Bard or Schneider to help him learn the catching ropes).

I hope that the Yanks sign CC for gobs of money, because it may limit their ability to sign other big free agent pitchers.

But it won't surprise me if the Sox sign _none_ of the big free agents. It would mean they have confidence that Lowell/Papi/Beckett are all coming back healthy next year and the farm will continue to produce magic.

[Brickowski]

The Yankees have plenty of money.  Remember all that TV money (for starters they own the station).

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yankees get Teixeira too, but if I were Cashman I'd want that second pitcher plus some outfield defense ahead of Teixeria.  In particular I'd be looking at Rocco Baldelli, even if he can't play every day, and I'd be doing my best to resign Abreu and trade Damon.

[yall hate]

The Yankees have plenty of money.  Remember all that TV money (for starters they own the station).

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yankees get Teixeira too, but if I were Cashman I'd want that second pitcher plus some outfield defense ahead of Teixeria.  In particular I'd be looking at Rocco Baldelli, even if he can't play every day, and I'd be doing my best to resign Abreu and trade Damon.

I read a rumor with a quote from steinbrenner (the younger one)today that he wants manny.  I doubt it, but you never know with the yanks.

[Brickowski]

Manny?  Well, then it will be the Bronz Zoo, the sequel.

[Finkelskyhook]

Sabathia hasn't pitched well against us.  So I'm not real concerned.  Way too big a gamble for somebody who doesn't appear to take care of himself. 

Seems like a nice guy, though.  So when he's not pitching against us, I wish him well.

[TripleThreat]

I'd argue that Sabathia really hasn't pitched that bad against us. He's 2-4 with a 3.91 ERA against us lifetime, including a 2.35 ERA at Fenway Park. Not to mention the biggest Sabathia killer we had was Manny Ramirez (.571 BA with 4 HR). The only two current Red Sox batting higher than .300 against him is Kevin Youkilis (.429) and Mike Lowell (.364). (Statistics from Baseball-Reference.com) He's struggled mightily at Yankee Stadium but he'll be wearing pinstripes now and won't be facing the likes of Alex Rodriquez and Derek Jeter.

With all that said I think the Yankees are taking a huge risk with Sabathia. He had a heck of a year last year after a slow start but if he's going to have any sort of long term success for the Yankees he is going to need to get into better shape. I like the Colon comparison that was mentioned earlier in the thread. Colon was a stud for a little while but eventually his weight caught up to him.