After the 2008 season pitcher CC
Sabathia signed a mammoth seven year, 162 million dollar deal with The
New York Yankees. Yankee general manager Brian Cashman sweetened the
deal by giving Sabathia an opt-out clause after the 2011 season. There
is plenty of time to speculate what Sabathia will do once the season is
over, but if Sabathia opts out he may find the field of big market
takers is very slim. The Philadelphia Phillies are loaded at starting
pitcher with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, and Cliff Lee. The
Yankees arch-rival The Boston Red Sox are stacked as well and if they
were to make a bid for Sabathia’s services it would just be to show up
The Yankees. If Sabathia truly wants to leave The Bronx, The Chicago
Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, or Milwaukee Brewers make the most
sense for Sabathia. If it truly about money Sabathia could go to
Washington D.C and play for The Nationals.
The Cubs have an estimated 22 million dollars coming off of the books
after this season and could make a splash. Imagine if The Cubs landed
both Albert Pujols and Sabathia? It could happen due to the fact that
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is looking to get ‘The Northsiders” back
to the top of The National League Central Division.
The Tigers have an estimated 29 million dollars to come off of their
payroll following this season. Detroit already has a team in place that
can make the postseason and by signing Sabathia they would have a team
that could win a World Series. Justin Verlander is the unquestioned ace
of The Tiger pitching staff. Signing Sabathia would give The Tigers
depth as the combination of Verlander and Sabathia would put fear in any
opponents eye. Once young studs Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer are
added in the mix it could good times in Motown.
Since the group led by Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan took over The Texas
Rangers last season they have not been shy about making things happen in
The Lone Star State. Last season The Rangers made a big splash in
trading for Cliff Lee which led them to their first American League
Pennant. Lee left via free agency, but what about luring his former
Cleveland Indian teammate to Arlington. Everything is big in Texas and
CC brings his size and a ton of strikeouts to the table. The Rangers are
trying to show that they can hang with The Yankees and Red Sox and
signing Sabathia would be a big step in proving that.
The Milwaukee Brewers traded for Sabathia during the 2008 season and
thought they had a good shot to re-sign him when they offered him 100
million over five years. Even though The Brewers are a small market
team, owner Mark Attanasio is not afraid to spend the money. Milwaukee
just signed outfielder Ryan Braun to a five-year 105 million dollar
extension to keep him in Milwaukee until 2020. First baseman Prince
Fielder is a free agent after 2011 and The Brewers will try to keep him
as well. The Brewers have upgraded their pitching staff with the
acquisitions of Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum to team with Yovani
Gallardo. Since teams are loading up on talented pitching since “the
steroid era” is over why not add Sabathia? Miller Park in Milwaukee is
constantly drawing fans as The Brewers have been able to rank in the top
ten in attendance over the past few years. During his brief time
pitching for The Brewers in 2008, Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 earned
run average that helped Milwaukee makes their first postseason
appearance since 1982. Sabathia also hit one home run for The Brewers
during that stretch.
The Nationals have already shown that they are willing to spend money as
they overpaid in the offseason for outfielder Jayson Werth by giving
him a seven-year, 162 million dollar deal. They went after Mark Teixeira
in 2008 before he signed with The Yankees. The Nationals are in The
National League East which is getting tougher and they want to porve
that they are contenders. Attendance was up last season at Nationals
Park for the brief time that Stephen Strausburg pitched before he blew
out his arm. This caught the attention of team owner Ted Lerner and
Sabathia would add to that. If Sabathia goes there he knows that team
would not contend immediately and if he wants to get back to The World
Series it would take a few years with this squad. Sabathia would just be
a piece in the process and he been on the rebuilding bus in Cleveland
so I do not believe that he would go down that route once more.
If Sabathia leaves New York it won’t be about money as The Yankees are
by far the richest team in baseball. Sabathia may just not be happy with
the carnival atmosphere that is The Yankees. You can loved by
management and then throw under the bus in a “New York minute”. Just ask
longtime standouts Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter. Sabathia has seen this
and it may time to drop for him to drop the curtain on his Big Apple
show.
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