The latest on CC Sabathia
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- December
- 9
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I knew there was some rumor floating around when my iPhone suddenly lit up with a dozen e-mails. Yep. Somebody reported that CC Sabathia turned down the Yankees. It’s not true.
Here is what is known for sure on CC:
Yankees: Have an offer on the table. Nothing has changed.
Brewers: Have an offer on the table. Contrary to some reports, they have not raised it. Sabathia did not bother to hang around Vegas yesterday to meet with them. He sent his agents.
Red Sox: Have met with Sabathia and possibly have made an offer. Terry Francona laughed out loud when asked about the idea of a long-term deal. File this under the Red Sox making trouble.
Angels: They have prioritized Mark Teixeira but could make Sabathia an offer if only to drive the Teixeira process. Teixeira, according to Torii Hunter, is having trouble sleeping and wants to ake a decision soon.
Giants: Depending what you want to believe, they could be in the mix.
It’s going to be a long week.
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Suzyn Waldman will host a Hot Stove show on WCBS 880-AM at 7:30 tonight. You can listen here on the web.
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on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 6:27 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
Gordon Edes, resident Sox shill, just said on NESN the Red Sox have all but signed Tex,pending what Arte Moreno does tonight.
from the previous post:
I seriously hope Boston or Philly steal Lowe away from the Yanks. Signing Lowe to a 4 year deal for 65 million means trouble. Ugh!!
From last thread… Heyman reporting yanks will offer AJ a 5th year
Five years is a long time for AJ. That’s a huge risk.
But if they go 5 years I assume they’ll basically tell AJ it’s a take it now kind of deal.
Years later we look back on deals and wonder how they were made and why those contracts were given.
But it’s difficult to remember the context under which offers are made.
The yankee’s are exposed to enormous amounts of risk right now – they have two starters in their rotation, one of whom is innings capped.
The risk of that enormous exposure is driving everything they are doing.
5th year for burnett? Let’s hope he is the next Curt Schilling…
Big mistake for Yanks to not land Tex…big mistake.
memo to the New York Yankees:
sign CC, and Ben Sheets.
disregard all the rest.
I would love to here “Georgie girl” get on the radio and recreate her “Roger Clemens” only this time with CC. Something like this: “Oh my CC is standing in the studio, oh wow hes right behind me, CC you mind stepping outside? This is a pretty small studio.”
Pheeeeeeew. They better sign the hefty lefty damnit
CB,
signing Lowe and AJ to 4-5 years definitely means trouble. Who knows when Aj hits the DL again? Lowe disappeared from the AL east for a few years, the league have changed, and he made it clear he rather return to Boston.
“Big mistake for Yanks to not land Tex…big mistake.”
I must have missed something, Tex signed? For how much?
I can be a dreamer, can’t I?
CC + Sheets + Tex + Pettitte
and we’re set.
And get that Andy Phillips back, please.
– Won’t make sense here but I had it in the last thread.
I was driving down the FDR in November and I saw Joe driving next to me. It was weird because it was the first time i’d ever seen him “up close” and I always thought of the guy as a like that uncle who had the good stories at christmas, cult of personality. Been following the Yanks with my grandpa since about ‘92 when I was seven so really Joe was all I ever knew as a skipper. Sure he screwed the pooch sometimes when it came to which guys out of the pen had their arms falling off and which had bed sores on their backsides but you can’t argue with the results he gave you year in and year out. (Even if Sturtzey and Proctor’s pitching arms both fell off.) It was weird watching him manage the Dodgers in the playoffs, and I don’t know about anybody else but when I read “I think it ate on him a little bit.” I could hear him saying that with his cap off in a post-game talking to Kim Jones.
Tell CC I bought the most comfortable mattress I’ve ever layed down on for $3500.00. Imagine what he could get for $40,000,000. I would bet that can buy a good night’s sleep.
Rob: what type car, was he driving?
There is always some fool who posts some rumor knowing it isn’t true. It happened in the season also. I have a hard time believing it’s a Yankee fan. When I saw the grammatically tortured post “reporting” CC had turned down the Yankees, I didn’t even bother trying to look into it.
I believe nothing until the Yankees report it – but if it turns out the Yanks sweeten their offer to Burnett, I will be quite happy.
The Yankees know more than us mortals ya know. Honest to God they do.
CB – I agree that 5 years is too much for Burnett, but the Yanks may be forced to do it if they think they’ll miss out on Sabathia. Isn’t that how the Mets got Pedro – by offering the extra year knowing that he might not be pitching by then, but needing him for the front end of the contract.
Fives years commited to AJ is a high risk…Right now no years with him is even a higher risk I suppose…..If CC does decide vs. the Bronx, then he becomes a must….As would the signing of Texeria and then another guy like maybe Brad Penny for a few years until everyone in theorganization is ready to answer the call from the Stadium……Hell, if Sabathia says no, you get in theory get Burnett / Sheets / Penny for the same price….Not advocating this, as I’d be very pleased with AJ & Texeria….
“I believe nothing until the Yankees report it – but if it turns out the Yanks sweeten their offer to Burnett, I will be quite happy.
The Yankees know more than us mortals ya know. Honest to God they do.”
As much as I admire your enthusiasm if the Yankees knew more than us they would have at least been offering Tex a deal. They are basically putting all their eggs in one basket, that is never a good move especially in a business like baseball.
Burnett for 5 is really risky, but how much more than Burnett for even 1? In for a dime, in for a dollar. They are desperate this off-season. CB, good to point out that we often forget the context of deals. Let’s hope that sometime in 2010 or 2011 when AJ is worth considerably less than what he is being paid that the Yankees were over a barrel.
If Hughes or Kennedy had succeeded last season, none of this would be going on. Heck, if one of them had succeeded only HALF of this would be going on. C’est la vie. Don’t we all wish we had working crystal balls?
All I hope is whatever pitcher(s) the Yankees sign end up being effective.
Al,
They did meet with Tex. So, perhaps something substantive was said at that meeting. Not everything gets leaked.
Offering a fifth year for Burnett would be foolish, but the Yankees are so desperate for pitching they appear to have little choice.
Offering four years for Lowe is also one year too many.
Who knows at this point what’s for sure, there are a million reports going around.
But the longer Sabathia waits to give an answer, the more the Yankees have to intensify offers for Lowe and Burnett. If they have deals on the table for both, they can’t tell them its contingent on whether C.C signs. And if Burnett and Lowe were to accept, that means the Yankees could not afford C.C.
The Yankees will have missed out on the two best free agents – C.C and Tex – and then overpaid in years and dollars for two over age 30 pitchers.
I hope this is not the case, but if it is, um, how can anyone see this as a positive?
Yanks seem to have offers to all 3 top pitchers.
Just need 1 to bite and maybe the dominoes start falling.
I just hope it’s not Lowe.
Sorry Al,
Still no offer to Tex.
“signing Lowe and AJ to 4-5 years definitely means trouble.”
Good chance. But at this point its pick your poison given that they only have 2 starters in the rotation.
I know everyone thinks Sheets is now the answer. But look at how the pitching market is going. It’s exploding. So who knows what the market will bear for him.
Why would sheets just sign now for a 2 year deal? He’s not going to. He might wait until CC, Burnett and Lowe come off the board. Who knows if Burnett and Lowe get 5 year deals maybe sheets gets 4 or 3 with an easy vesting option.
There’s really no ideal choice between Lowe, Burnett, and Sheets. There really isn’t.
Youd think we have learned our lesson on Pavano. Lets take our chances with a short term deal on Sheets and Penny. We need to do away with the albotross deals. Got rid of 2 this year. Lets not feel like we have to replace those.
The Giants would deal Jon Sanchez for a 3B. too bad we traded away Betemit.
I wonder if Damon for Sanchez + Nate Schierholtz, or Travis Ishikawa would do?
I hope they sign CC it will make me feel a little better since I just lost my job.
Chris NY-
is that what they’re calling the “Emperor’s Club VIP”
I’d sign Pettitte and Sheets to 1 and 2 year deals instead of giving Burnett and Lowe these 5 year deals.
CB, by the way, when I said I was envious of the Mets in an earlier thread, I did understand the circumstances that they were in vs. where the Yankees find themselves this off-season.
Pretty much a downer day. I waited too long to decide to get my kids a Wii for Xmas and now, lo and behold, like every other Christmas season, Nintendo didn’t ship nearly enough and everyone is sold out. Fortunately, my kids are old enough to understand an IOU. Seriously, does Nintendo do this on purpose??????
“Sorry Al,
Still no offer to Tex.”
If the Yankees get word the Sox are the destination for Tex look for us to get involved. Yanks cannot risk Tex to Bos and CC to Angels.
Burnett is a big mistake at almost any cost.
Yeah the economy will not affect salaries tell K rod that is untrue.
Texiera is a nice player not a superstar.
yanks get cc and sheets for 2 years and leave it at that. Or take Pettitte and CC and pettitte for 1 yr at $10 mill.
just for hehe-haha: since Nady played 3 career games at 3b, why don’t Cashman promote him as a 3B, and trade him for Jonathan Sanchez?
honestly, the Giants have a logjam with the OF and 1B, they should really straighten it out before doing any kinds of trading.
why can’t the yanks risk tex to boston or CC to LA???
It guarantees nothing…
the woosie posters, the world is coming to a end gang on this site is laughable…
One BIG REASON to sign AJ Burnett….
on TOR over the last 3 years…..
vs Red Sox = 5-0, 2.56 ERA
vs Yankees = 5-2, 2.39 ERA
vs Tampa Bay = 3-3, 3.48 ERA
vs Baltimore = 6-1, 5.19 ERA
———————————————–
vs AL EAST = 19-6, 3.29 ERA
**logjam with the OF, and both corner infield**
“I’d sign Pettitte and Sheets to 1 and 2 year deals instead of giving Burnett and Lowe these 5 year deals.”
How does anyone know sheets will sign a 1-2 year deal? There’s no way to know that and with things going the way they are Sheets could very well demand way more.
And he’s at a much higher risk for not giving them innings in 2009 than either burnett or lowe.
If the yankees are bidding on Sheets seriously then there’s a good chance they’ve missed out on all of their other targets.
And Pettite is not a substitute for the other guys. He’s in addition to the other guys. They need two pitchers in addition to Pettite.
They basically need to get one guy signed as soon as possible. That will have the added benefit of making them less desperate.
But every free agent pitcher out there knows that. He knows the longer he waits without the yankees having a pitcher locked up the more desperate the yankees will be.
Just today it was reported that now that the mets have signed K-Rod at their price, they are going to make a serious offer for Lowe.
And on it goes…
There’s just not enough pitching. They are invariably going to sign someone to a deal that is far more favorable to the player than the team. That’s just inevitable.
In this context, the one pitcher who could return more value on a deal that seems unbalanced towards the player is AJ Burnett. He’s the guy who has room to move up in terms of performance and could return far more value than anticipated at the time of signing.
But right now – it’s all risk. It’s just a matter of what type of risk they want to assume.
As Pat M said – they’re biggest risk right now – both in term of performance and money – might be to do nothing and get none of these guys signed.
I agree, if the SOx sign Tex than were screwed with signing CC. He easily goes to the Angels for $120 mil.
” Yanks cannot risk Tex to Bos and CC to Angels.”
Didnt they reward the Angels the championship last year after they acquired Tex? One thing iv learned in the last 8 years. Paper champions dont always end up World Series Champs. Also, dont forget that they both got ousted in the first round this year.
I really hope that the Yanks do not give Lowe $70m. His numbers back in the AL will probably be close to what Garlands will be. They should just sign him for alot less money.
Doreen,
Regarding your comment before. I know that you understood that. Sorry. I wasn’t trying to respond to your comment. Just thought it was interesting and using it as a spring board for some thoughts.
mlb.com – which has been very successful – laid people off today.
I just find it remarkable that during such a bad economic time – a time when even sports are being effected – the starting pitching market is still exploding. It’s still in such limited supply that guys can ask what they wanted.
I was more making a general comment on the level of demand. Sorry if it came out wrong as I know it’s really an elementary point. It’s just remarkable how insatiable the need for arms is in the game – even now when everything is melting down CC can leave $140M on the table for a month and AJ’s price is going through the roof.
“why can’t the yanks risk tex to boston or CC to LA???
It guarantees nothing…
the woosie posters, the world is coming to a end gang on this site is laughable…”
If Tex goes to Boston CC goes to the Angels. Thats why it matters short-sighted idiots fail to see this. In order for us to get CC Tex MUST go to the Angels. If he is going to Boston then we must stop him, because not only do we lose CC our arch-nemesis gets stronger.
Aaron
Sorry to hear such news in all this nonsense. Any prospects or plans?
“Didnt they reward the Angels the championship last year after they acquired Tex? One thing iv learned in the last 8 years. Paper champions dont always end up World Series Champs. Also, dont forget that they both got ousted in the first round this year.”
Boston was one game away from the World Series.
One BIG REASON to sign AJ Burnett….
on TOR over the last 3 years…..
vs Red Sox = 5-0, 2.56 ERA
vs Yankees = 5-2, 2.39 ERA
vs Tampa Bay = 3-3, 3.48 ERA
vs Baltimore = 6-1, 5.19 ERA———————————————————————-
vs AL EAST = 19-6, 3.29 ERA
Gee, according to most commentors here, NL pitchers can’t make it in the big bad AL East. so much for that.
“If Tex goes to Boston CC goes to the Angels. Thats why it matters short-sighted idiots fail to see this. In order for us to get CC Tex MUST go to the Angels. If he is going to Boston then we must stop him, because not only do we lose CC our arch-nemesis gets stronger”
exactly.
CB -
I should have added my smiley face – I didn’t mean for you to apologize. It is awfully incredible, isn’t it, that pitchers who have spent substantial time on the DL could end up with long-term guaranteed contracts for godly sums of money (or is it ungodly sums?). Basic economics – supply and demand.
What I should have expounded on was that I was jealous of the position the Mets found themselves in – desperate for a closer at a time when not only several were on the market, but no other teams had that same need.
As far as starting pitching goes, it won’t ever change unless the league contracts. Far too many teams with far too little stellar pitching talent. Cashman has the right idea about developing their own pitching, but “the process” let him down – or rather, reality let him down. Can’t rush the process, and can’t predict particulars, specifically the need to rush young pitchers because of injuries and the market.
Al,
Meant C.C.and Tex. My point was that one player isnt the savior. We need to be well rounded. Do these guys help us. Absolutely. But we need big years from other players and a couple more pieces to the championship puzzle.
Hey, if CC falls through, Randy Johnson is available. Just kidding. I’d go for CC, and Sheets for 2-3 years. AJ and Lowe for 4 or 5 years are too much of a commitment.
Thanks for all the updates, Peter!
If the choice is signing Lowe or Burnett to 5 year deals or having Hughes in the rotation, I think it makes more sense to have Hughes in the rotation. The Yankees are finally getting rid of their bad contracts, why replace them with new bad contracts? Maybe if the Yankees don’t give in to these crazy contracts next offseason free agents won’t try to wait the Yankees out like they have been.
Thanks LTL…working on it but in this economy mess everyone is getting laid off it has been tough. Hopefully…just trying not to have a pity party for myself…gotta keep your head up and hope for the best.
wcbs isn;t working?