Wedge: Sabathia will fit right in
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Dec 10, 2008 
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Just spoke to Indians manager Eric Wedge, who had CC Sabathia for six seasons, to get some perspective on the lefty.
He talked far more about Sabathia’s personality and character than he did his pitching.
“I think about his leadership and the strength that he has as a person and what he does for those around him,” Wedge said. “I get this question a lot and I think CC is going to be fine, I really do. He has perspective and a tremendous belief system in himself.”
Because they only appear in 33 or 34 games over the course of a season, starting pitchers are often quiet components in the clubhouse culture. But Sabathia has integrated himself fully and made a lot of friends in the game.
Performance is what counts, not personality. But in Nick Swisher and Sabathia, the Yankees have added two players who will speak their minds and are, in baseball parlance, grinders. That’s never a bad thing.
but what about the espn report that the yankees added a 5th year for burnett and he is looking for zambrano type 91.5 mil??
I think Pete is in the camp that says signing Burnett is a bad idea. And that was before the rumors took off to ridiculous 5yr/80M+ contracts. yikes…
That’s fantastic.
So, about AJ and this supposed 5 year offer to him..not too thrilled here.
BEN SHEETS!! please
i read on mlbtraderumors that the burnett deal is 5 years 91.5 million. that is what the yankees have offered
“My guess: The Yanks want to introduce CC and AJ at the same press conference. It will be the ultimate statement”
this is like going Deer Hunting with a tree-stand, dogs, and an automatic rifle.
would have preferred the continued youth movement. This takes the sport of it
takes the sport out of it.
I have no problem giving C.C. 7 years as I’m sure the Yankees know you have to bite the bullet on potentially 2 of those years not being “great” but you never know.
I’m not sold on Burnett personally. If he could be had for 2-3 years, go for it. But I’d rather take the gamble with Ben Sheets, who’s younger, will only need a 2-3 year deal, and is about the same “injury prone risk” as Burnett.
Even though Derek Lowe is “battle tested” he is older. Again I’d be happy with a 2-3 year deal for him, but once you start talking 4-5 years, that kinda scares me and seems to go against Cashman’s philosophy of “roster flexibility”.
Don’t you just love how all the “haters” from around the country are talking about how he’s 0-2 .vs the Red Sox in the playoffs and his Playoff ERA is 7.19. If any other team signed him it would be the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Matzuzaka costed the Red Sox $100 million yet not one seems to think was insanely overpriced.
I’m in love – with the Swisher signing and the (probable) CC signing and the (probable) AJ signing.
Oh yes I am a happy kid right now!
Also, it will be good to see warriors back on the field. We have three of them in our quiver.
“i read on mlbtraderumors that the burnett deal is 5 years 91.5 million. that is what the yankees have offered”
I pray that is just a rumor. 5/70 is too much. 5/91 could be a colossal mistake.
It all depends on who the third starter they go after. If they look to sign Pettitte, it leaves a spot open sooner.
The Yankees still could use a good bat to help get some run support for these guys. I don’t want to see the Yankees looking like the Blue Jays of last season.
I think maybe Ben Sheets might be more interested in NY now that NY’s pitching staff is looking better and better. I can’t see giving AJ a 5 year deal….that’s just too much. Personally Derek Lowe is a better fit but I won’t argue with either Sheets and/or Lowe.
Interesting question….what do the Yankees do with Phil Hughes if the Yankees go out and sign 3 FA pitchers? Let him pitch a year in Scranton??
Right now ESPN is like a morgue. All those red Sox pandering buffoons are devastated because they know were coming for that number 1 spot!
“But in Nick Swisher and Sabathia, the Yankees have added two players who will speak their minds”
Until they get hammered for it and then they’ll start speaking in cliche too.
From the last thread…
“The Yankees could get Teixeira for less than 2 million more per year. This is NOT a good deal.”
But that’s not the way baseball contracts and the market function.
The variance on the amount players make on a per year basis doesn’t vary all that much based on performance.
Tory Hunter makes $18M/yr. Tex is going to sign for 20-22M.
What distinguishes players in terms of their skill level is the total guaranteed money.
Better players get more years at slightly higher AAV’s.
It’s the years that are being bargained by agents much more so than the AAV.
Look at burnett – his opening AAV was 15M. Now its 17M. That’s an increase of 12%.
But his total guaranteed money has increased by nearly 33%.
And at the same time even if he gets 90M he will only getting 50% of what tex is getting.
Lowe is NOT a good idea. He is 35 years old and his last year in the AL East he got destroyed to the tune of a 5.50 ERA. Burnett is a risk but he is the better pitcher, its not all about ERA. IMO anyone can have a decent ERA in the NL West but AJ had a 4 ERA in the AL East which is the varsity hitting division in the game.
“Interesting question….what do the Yankees do with Phil Hughes if the Yankees go out and sign 3 FA pitchers? Let him pitch a year in Scranton??”
he should be doing that whether they sign the guys or not.
why no post on Burnett??
Nats offer Tex 8/160.
Hot Stove special starting on ESPN2.
Teixeira @ 180/9 years is a safer deal than Burnett @ 91.5/5 years.
I just want to say one thing to the Yanks!!! Congrats!!!! They got what they wanted in CC. I’ve been looking at some the comments in other articles and blogs. And let me tell you, if the Red Sox would have signed him, it would have been the best deal ever. But now that the Yanks have signed him, according the comments, it’s the worst deal anyone can make. Now everone is saying the Yankees are buying themselves a playoff spot, they’re should be a salary cap, blah, blah, blah, and blah. Why is it that when the Yanks get a superstar free agent, everyone brings up the salary cap? And why is it that the red sux get somenoe huge it’s the best deal ever? I hardly heard anyone cry when they had a three headed ace named fat schilling, beckett, and dice-k. where was the uproar then? Get over it, the Yanks needed pithing and that’s what they got. And guess what? They’re going for more pitching whether you like or not!!!!
Wow Nationals 8/180 for Tex
“Wow Nationals 8/180 for Tex”
take that Boston.
did anyone hear what Kay said on espn news? i missed it.
AJ turns 32 in less than a month. Does anybody really think he will post even 3 200 inning, quality seasons worthy of that kind of contract?
He has ridiculous stuff but even last season he wasn’t an ace by a long shot.
Sign Sheets for 2/30M, Pettitte for 1yr/12M and Penny for 1/7M. Please… no more bloated long term deals for second and third tier players.
I love the Nats now. Anything to make Boston suffer
Remeber AJ or who ever else we get will be our number 3 guy.And Pettitte can still dish out 180 innings+.AJ is just our AL East killer and Red Sox killer(something WAng isn’t) thats all.And AJ showed he can do that.
“Wow Nationals 8/180 for Tex”
I’ll believe that if/when it’s official.
ugh, i pray that the 5 years 91 mil is just a rumor, if its true then, i wouldnt know what to say or do, disgusting, and if he accpets?
UGH.
Burnett has pitched 200 innings 3 times in his career. His first time pitching 200 innings he pitched 23 the next season. The second time he had 135 the next year. How many innings do you think he’ll pitch next season?
“He has ridiculous stuff but even last season he wasn’t an ace by a long shot.”
It doesn’t help that he was on the same staff as Doc Halladay. He doesn’t need to be an Ace on the Yanks just a great 2 or 3. The Yankees are building a PS3 rotation here. I would have preferred Sheets but its not my money so it still makes the team better.
“He has ridiculous stuff but even last season he wasn’t an ace by a long shot.”
We don’t need an ace anymore, we need a #3. Burnett is more than capable to fill that role.
Imagine going up into Boston with these 4 going in a 4 game set.
Joba, CC, Wang, AJ.
I feel the Boston crying already.
“He has ridiculous stuff but even last season he wasn’t an ace by a long shot.”
Well it depends. If you adjust for defense and stadium Burnett was the 9th best pitcher in baseball last year.
He was great last year. Better than his record and ERA suggest.
“We don’t need an ace anymore, we need a #3. Burnett is more than capable to fill that role.”
You don’t give #3 caliber pitchers 5/91M. period.
“did anyone hear what Kay said on espn news? i missed it.”
The Yanks were going to do anything they had to do to sign CC. This was 2 years in the making after they passed on Santana they were determined to get him. Also that they are looking into Cameron.
that ozzy ozbourne/warcraft commercial is weird.
“He was great last year. Better than his record and ERA suggest.”
how do the 86 walks come into play?
CB, do you have a list of the top pitchers adjusted for park/defense? Is that what DIPS is?
If they sign AJ Burnett to a 5 year deal for 90M it really calls into question the entire strategy of trying to draft one young pitcher after another in the draft.
Not a lot of consistency between those two strategies.
““We don’t need an ace anymore, we need a #3. Burnett is more than capable to fill that role.”
You don’t give #3 caliber pitchers 5/91M. period.”
AJ is technically a 2. However on a staff with Wang and Sabathia he will only need to be a 3.
No disrespect Pete, but how come all of these national journalists keep breaking developments? You haven’t even mentioned the AJ Burnett rumors yet.
Instead you interviewed Eric Wedge who wanted to say what a great guy CC is??? Trust me, we’d rather have actual updates than an interview with a guy who has already said that exact same thing 50 times in the last month.
rather see them get Sheets and Perez
“No disrespect Pete, but how come all of these national journalists keep breaking developments?”
these “developments” are mainly a bunch of garbage. If we were logging how many of them came to fruition, we’d probably see that many writers are more interested in creating drama and intrigue rather than reporting fact based stories with credible sources.
no.27
December 10th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Burnett has pitched 200 innings 3 times in his career. His first time pitching 200 innings he pitched 23 the next season. The second time he had 135 the next year. How many innings do you think he’ll pitch next season?
-
He pitched 23 innings when he hurt his arm in 2003 and then had TJ surgery he is now recovered and his innings have climbed the last 3 years.
He will be fine.
Adjusted for ball park and defense these were the 10 best pitchers in baseball in 2008.
If they sign Burnett the yanks will have added 2 of these 10:
CC Sabathia
Cliff Lee
Roy Halladay
Tim Lincecum
Brandon Webb
Ervin Santana
Dan Haren
Javier Vazquez
A.J. Burnett
Derek Lowe
“If they sign AJ Burnett to a 5 year deal for 90M it really calls into question the entire strategy of trying to draft one young pitcher after another in the draft.
Not a lot of consistency between those two strategies”
exactly. I’ve probably been labeled a ‘Cashmanite’. However, to this point i’m not impressed with Brian Cashman. It’s rather easy to throw piles of money at the top starting pitchers. As opposed to being creative and fixing all elements of the team (including offense).
“AJ is technically a 2. However on a staff with Wang and Sabathia he will only need to be a 3.”
fair enough. but the only 2 and 3 I’m concerned about is which one will be the # of quality seasons we get from him out of a 5yr contract.
Im on your side Boston Dave. This is ridiculous. He hasnt proved he can stay healthy. So in that case we are taking a huge gamble. If we’re going to play that game, give me Sheets and Penny for lesser years to gamble with. Or Teix.
Are they trying to field a pitching staff that doesnt need a defense behind them due to their strikeout capabilities?
“Imagine going up into Boston with these 4 going in a 4 game set.
Joba, CC, Wang, AJ.”
Seriously, just wow.
“You don’t give #3 caliber pitchers 5/91M. period.”
AJ isn’t a #3 caliber pitcher. He’s easily a #1-2 on most pitching staffs. We’d just be in the fortunate position of only needing him to be a #3. It’s hard to label someone #1-3 when you have a starting three of CC, Wang, Burnett.
CB,
that is very very interesting. surprised Lester didn’t make it, or Johan Santana. And maybe the ChiSox shouldn’t have soured on Javier so quickly. They gave the guy away.
I just watched highlights from AJ’s final game of the season and wow he was just filthy. If this guy can stay healthy he will be worth the money.
rather ,see the Yankees go into Boston with CC,Wang,Sheets,Perez…Joba 8th inning man(closer of the future)
Gammons is stuttering talking about where Tex and Manny will end up. He is speculating that they will end up in Boston and LA and he refuses to even mention the remote chance that either f them could end up on the Yankees.
If that happens he will drop dead.
Those in the know, which includes Cash and the Yanks would know that Burnett’s Fielding Independent ERA was 3.47 this season, which indicates he had a great season. With the yankees poor Defense, Cashmoney is definitely paying for strikeouts here and low HR rates.
5 years and $91mil for AJ Burnett is insanity. I cant think of any other adjective. I was very happy with the CC signing. But $18 mil AAV for a 32 year old pitcher that’s won more than 12 games once is nothing less than insane.The only way it makes sense is if they were on the hook for no more than 3 years.
“Are they trying to field a pitching staff that doesnt need a defense behind them due to their strikeout capabilities?”
Yes.
Compare the strike out rates of this starting staff and bull pen to the team they had in 2007.
The difference is staggering. 2008 they reinvented the bull pen into a strike out pen. NO they are doing that with the rotation.
There’s only so good the defense can get if Jeter and ARod are your left side.
Burnett? Cameron?
Ugh…Cashman is digging his own grave.
I’d say pick up Sheets for 2 years, $25 million. Then, Jon Garland or Andy Pettitte to fill in the fourth spot.
Sabathia, Wang, Sheets, Garland/Pettitte, Chamberlain/Hughes
I’m not worried about the end years of the long term deals. 1. It’s not my money and 2. the Yankees will still continue to develop from within. We will have some of our pitchers from our farm system ready to step in.
NTW. Not to worry.
“the only 2 and 3 I’m concerned about is which one will be the # of quality seasons we get from him out of a 5yr contract.”
That’s a gamble you take with anyone you sign. CC pitched almost 500 innings the last two years, is he due to be hurt? Lowe has always been healthy, is it his time to break down?
At the same time, you can say that Burnett has successfully rehabbed from Tommy John. It’s rare that players ever require the surgery twice, maybe his prime is about to begin.
If these AJ rumors are true, isthat an indication that the Yanks are willing to bring payroll to the 190-195 mil mark?
Wasn’t the plan to sign 2 out of the top 3 and Andy?
Still need a decent bench guy.
rather ,see the Yankees go into Boston with CC,Wang,Sheets,Perez…Joba 8th inning man(closer of the future)
WE gambled with young starters last year who were thrown into anchoring the rotation and failed.Joba,Hughes and maybe Kennedy are still 2 to 3 years from becoming 200 innings Ace’s.
AS long as AJ doesn’t get a no-trade clause maybe he can be good as our young guys try and work out their health issue’s and problems.Then we can trade him.
5 years for Burnett?
Seriously?
Are they just going to throw as much money as they possibly can at all these guys? 5 years for Burnett? 5 YEARS!
That has to be false. Whatever happened to developing talent? One 7 year pitching contract and now a 5 year contract to a guy that never stays healthy and is a bit of a dog according to some baseball people.
Can’t we be happy letting Burnett go to the Braves? He’s out of the AL, that’s half the problem.
No way pettitte is back. That’s becoming more and more clear everyday.
it is ridiculous if this so called deal with burnett goes through… one good season is not deserving of that money
Looks like the consensus on this forum is no to the Burnett signing, yes to Ben Sheets.
I couldn’t agree more. Let’s get Sheets please.
And Vince is the first person other than me who likes Jon Garland. Please let’s at least give a look at Garland. He has proven himself to at least be able to succeed in the AL.
Jon heyman thinks the offer is for 80 mill im all for this deal like other peple said its not my money
Both Burnett and Sheets have filthy stuff but might be injury risks. Derek Lowe is pretty good but not on their level. And what everyone seems to be forgetting: When they sign Lowe for 4 years he will be 39 in the last year of his contract. Do you really think he’s going to reinvent himself like Mussina did in the AL East? Possible, but I’d rather have the younger guys…
“Those in the know, which includes Cash and the Yanks”
Eric, that says it all as far as I’m concerned. There is hardly ever fan unanimity about anything so it’s not surprising to find a split over CC’s money and contract length and about AJ’s money and contract length. There was also discord when Swisher was signed – who wept that he absolutely shouldn’t be our first baseman, who wept that it should have been Tex instead. And then there were those who decided Swisher was a really good signing and would be fine at first. And there were some who were against getting Tex. So see what I am saying? Everyone has an opinion and everyone seems convinced her/his opinion takes the day!
I ultimately defer to what you pointed out – Cash and the Yanks are obviously in the know – much more so than Yankee fans are. So what they decide ultimately makes sense to me since I am at least bright enough to realize that I’m not as bright as they are – in terms of picking players anyway.
The fact that I am in accord with their decisions so far is a happy coincidence, since I wouldn’t agree with their taking Lowe – but would grudgingly concede they must be seeing something that I’m not!
Say NO to AJ!
Yes to Sheets & Tex!
We Need Bat!
vinny-b (bring back Petitte and sign Sheets at 2 yrs)
December 10th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
“If they sign AJ Burnett to a 5 year deal for 90M it really calls into question the entire strategy of trying to draft one young pitcher after another in the draft.
Not a lot of consistency between those two strategies”
exactly. I’ve probably been labeled a ‘Cashmanite’. However, to this point i’m not impressed with Brian Cashman. It’s rather easy to throw piles of money at the top starting pitchers. As opposed to being creative and fixing all elements of the team (including offense).
I couldnt agree more. What do these signings say about the Yankee drafts the last 6 years? It’s basically an admission they didnt work. They’re going to give a rotation spot for the next 5 years to Burnett at the expense of one of their prospects. After all the lecturing we’ve hears about fans exhibiting patience,they buy a rotation .What message does this send to Kennedy, Aceves and Brackman? Those kids and others are about to be stonewalled.
“Looks like the consensus on this forum is no to the Burnett signing, yes to Ben Sheets.”
It appears that you have skipped quite a few posts!
“And what everyone seems to be forgetting: When they sign Lowe for 4 years he will be 39 in the last year of his contract.”
Lowe doesn’t get hurt.
Burnett would be 37 in the last year of his deal and he has a history of injury.
i rather wait for kennedy and hughes to get their sh*t together than have burnett..especially for all that money..its just gettin out of hand with the yanks man!
trish,
They might be smarter than us but we’ve seen some great pitching acquasitions in the recent past.
Pavano
Wright
Johnson
Vazquez
Brown
My point is they arent perfect and it isnt smart to OVER PAY for injury prone products. All we had to do is match the Braves offer. If i can remember he wanted to be a Yank anyways.
Again, we are not the freakin Royals to have to do these types of acts.
I don’t think Texiera is worth $180 million, but I guess that is just me.
If Posada and Matsui are healthy, I think the Yanks are going to be fine, offensively. I don’t think we need Texeira. Pitching, pitching, pitching.
S.O.S. – I didn’t know what the Braves offer was. If we surpassed it by a ton, sure that would bother me at least a little bit because I too would be going with all the reports that Burnett said he wanted to play for the Yanks and therefore probably didn’t need a lot of persuading.
Just the way I look at things.
“I don’t think Texiera is worth $180 million, but I guess that is just me.”
Vince, actually I haven’t been in the Texiera camp from jump street. I won’t be upset if he isn’t in pinstripes.
I am hearing people complain about how much money CC is getting. Yes it is an insane amount of money. But I am trying to explain that you can’t even look at it. You wouldn’t do anything enjoyable in life.
Look at what musicians make, you couldn’t buy a cd, go to concerts if you looked at the dough they make.
Look at movie starts, tv stats, a lot of them make a lot of scratch, you couldn’t watch tv or go to the movies if you looked at that.
I try to detach myself from the fact that arod probably makes more in one inning than I make in an entire year. You can’t think about it.
Vince,
I would have agreed with you in the past. But if we are going to blow money on question marks. Id prefer to blow it on a young slick fielding good hitting first baseman. We have no one in the minors coming up in the near future and am sick of watching dh’s/out fielders play first for us. We have a ton of pitchers coming up. No need to lock everyone up forever.
Boston Dave:
From the last thread, re: your comment about Brad Penny: again, speaking from L.A. where I’ve seen him a lot, my advice would be – no freakin’ way. He’s a mess, and he has a really bad attitude; after he got hurt towards the end of the season, he just disappeared.
P.S.: As much as I support Lowe over Sheets and Burnett, not at $17M a year, unless it’s for two years. And Burnett at 5 yrs. at $70/80/90 is insane.
I also agree strongly with vinny-b, Miggs, Drive 4-5 and the others that this buying-of-a-rotation is a big statement about the failure of the farm system under Cashman. I’m a big Cash fan but his touted farm system also failed in eight years to produce a successor for Giambi and had even more time to groom a replacement in CF for Bernie – yet we have neither. How’s that possible? Kudos to you guys.
Ian Kennedy has had a solid winter ball season.He’s proven he can get minor league hitters out consistently. At some point they need to find out if he can get major league hitters out too. Alfredo Aceves may have enough stuff to be a #4 or 5 starter. And then there’s Phil Hughes. If any of those 3 stand out in Spring Training, I’d rather see one of them get a rotation spot and have the other spot go to a shorter term contract for a Pettitte or a Sheets.Save the #18mil you’re going to give Burnett and use it to fill (Tex)the biggest hole in your lineup.
Save the Yankees!
Sign Tex & Sheet!
Let Burnett Go Else Where!
“Vince,
I would have agreed with you in the past. But if we are going to blow money on question marks. Id prefer to blow it on a young slick fielding good hitting first baseman. We have no one in the minors coming up in the near future and am sick of watching dh’s/out fielders play first for us. We have a ton of pitchers coming up. No need to lock everyone up forever.”
You know what, I actually agree with that completely. I think I was so focused on getting more of the free-agent pitchers because they give me comfort. Comfort in the fact that they are major league proven, and can give the starts needed.
So what do you suggest? Get one more of the big 3 FA pitchers? And then Tex?
The only thing is, I just don’t think the Yankees are on his radar. Maybe I’m wrong.
Point well taken though.