LAS VEGAS CC Sabathia is not going to play on the West Coast. He is not going to play in the National League. CC Sabathia is going to be a Yankee, The Post has learned exclusively.
All I can say is, if it's true, I am one extremely happy Yankee fan!
LAS VEGAS CC Sabathia is not going to play on the West Coast. He is not going to play in the National League. CC Sabathia is going to be a Yankee, The Post has learned exclusively.
All I can say is, if it's true, I am one extremely happy Yankee fan!
7 years...that is going to be awesome for the Yankees in 2009. But paying 20+ million for a 450 pound 36 year old CC is going to make Pavano look like a bargain.
Sabathia wasn't exactly setting the world on fire in Cleveland against the rest of the AL. It wasn't until he got the softer-hitting NL that he started to put up outrageous numbers. But the Yanks are due for a rude awakening here.
spf already mentioned that at 7 years, Sabathia ballooning to 300+ lbs. is an inevitability. But also think about how much the Brewers worked him at the end of the season. Throwing all those innings eventually catches up to a guy. It'll be a great 2009, but at some point, something in Sabathia's arm has gotta give. The Carl Pavano comparison might not be that far off. This is all without mentioning that he got off to a 6-8 start in Cleveland last year. If he has that start in the Bronx, they'll be chasing him out of the new ballpark with pitchforks. Hell, they might do that once they realize that he isn't exactly a premier postseason pitcher and when he comes out of October with an 0-1 record, the pressure will really be on. There's the Major Leagues and there's the New York Yankees, where expectations are that if you don't win a championship, then you suck.
And if they think the backup answer is Derek Lowe or Ben Sheets, they're kidding themselves. Now A.J. Burnett on the other hand...
And if they think the backup answer is Derek Lowe or Ben Sheets, they're kidding themselves. Now A.J. Burnett on the other hand...
(edited by It's False on 10.12.08 1232)
I'm sorry, have you seen Burnett's track record?!? No one stepped up bigger than Lowe in the 2004 post-season, despite his mediocre year. He really seems to have found himself since then, albeit in a pitcher friendlier park than Boston.
A 5-year deal to Burnett will result in one healthy season: 2013.
Originally posted by It's False There's the Major Leagues and there's the New York Yankees, where expectations are that if you don't win a championship, then you suck.
Originally posted by MUTigermaskActually, Sabathia was pitching at a Cy Young level for a while before he was traded.
And was, y'know, pretty good in the AL the year before, too.
Except in the playoffs. He's a great pitcher who has to get over the hump and even though he's not with the Tribe, I wish him well. He was better off in the NL though and is anyone worth that much jack?
Originally posted by MUTigermaskActually, Sabathia was pitching at a Cy Young level for a while before he was traded.
And was, y'know, pretty good in the AL the year before, too.
Except in the playoffs. He's a great pitcher who has to get over the hump and even though he's not with the Tribe, I wish him well. He was better off in the NL though and is anyone worth that much jack?
Gotta agree there. He's a workhorse in the regular season, but in the postseason he's been used up the past two years. If they manage him well, he should be okay.
I hate the Yankers, but good luck to him.
Oh yeah - check out the contract terms too. I believe he has an opt-out at three years. What a freaking awesome contract for him. Gobs of money guaranteed and the chance for a ton more.
"As you may have read in Robert Parker's Wine Newsletter, 'Donaghy Estates tastes like the urine of Satan, after a hefty portion of asparagus.'" Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock
...and Jerry Crasnick's reporting (sports.espn.go.com) that Pavano's replacement has been found too. $16.5 mil/year for five years of A.J. Burnett sounds very...Pavano-esque. I hope my feeling of dread goes away.
Certainly, this deal will suck for the Yankees for the last few years, but I think the difference between this and CC is they probably had to do five years to get him and weren't bidding against themselves. It's a dumb deal in length, but other teams were likely offering nearly as dumb deals. Because Burnett's been effective when healthy, this was not a buyers market.
I know many stadiums are publically financed, but man the timing of spending a quarter of a billion dollars on two players at the same time as you're asking a city battered by the financial crisis (sports.yahoo.com) to pony up even more cash for you is sure pretty poor timing. But hey, what's another half a billion between friends?
When you consider how much revenue the city will gain from the new stadium, it's not really that big a deal to ask for a few more city dollars. And, it's not like the yankees haven't put up a lot of money for the construction either.
Originally posted by StaggerLeeWhen you consider how much revenue the city will gain from the new stadium, it's not really that big a deal to ask for a few more city dollars. And, it's not like the yankees haven't put up a lot of money for the construction either.
It needs to be done but most studies of public financing for these things show that it never really makes sense economically for the taxpayers to pony up that kind of money.
Paul Allen just announced on KFAn that he got an e-mail from a friend of the family that Harmon passed away this morning in hospice care in Arizona. Wow.