OT:Yanks supposedly agree to deal w/Sabathia

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Posted By: peter ullman

It's another great day to be a Yankees fan...so will this turn out to be another Kevin Brown...Randy Johnson...or god forbid Carl Pavano kind of pick-up? What do y'all think? I've got a good feeling about this one...CC...CC...CC!!!

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Posted By: barrysloate

I'm not concerned with his skill level- he's young and strong, and if he can keep his weight down will have a long and successful career.

But once again the Yankees are trying to buy their way to a championship, and every year the strategy fails.

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Posted By: peter ullman

True, Barry...but it always seems to be lack of quality pitching as the main reason. This is a big step in the right direction...a big addition for a "big" new, expensive ballpark. CC's certainly Ruthian in stature...the house that Sabathia will help pay for?

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Posted By: rand

i dont know, 160 million just seems so unfair with all the problems in the economy right now, especially all the unemployment. thats more the the entire payroll of most of the MLB teams. its rediculous when the government is bailing out everybody.

what will yankee tickets cost after this years free agent purchases, what corporation is left to buy the boxes, ect....

peter, what would he have recieved if the yankees were not in the bidding war., what was his real market value.

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Posted By: Ken McMillan

great player but $20 million per year. Nobody is worth that kind of change.

Kmac

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Posted By: Jim VB

Peter,

One Yankee fan to another... I agree this is a welcome change to who they sign. Pitching was always an afterthought. If George was still running the team they'd be chasing Manny, Texeira, AND Sheffield. After all, you can't have too many power hitting, can't field guys. I hope they get Burkett and Pettitte too.



Everyone else,

Quit complaining! The Yankees are not losing money. If they don't spend it on players, it stays in the owners pockets. Given the choice of CC getting the money or George keeping it, I vote for the players everytime!
(I admit, baseball does seem screwed up financially. The best work model seems to be the NFL, but in that league, the revenues are smoothed out between teams. Good luck getting that passed in baseball. Even the teams that collect baseball revenue sharing money don't spend it on salaries. Seems like baseball needs a good dose of Socialism to fix their problems. )

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Posted By: barrysloate

The one thing I'll say about Sabathia is he is still young and in his prime. It beats some of the over the hill players the Yankees are famous for signing. Maybe this time it will work.

But it's boring. I find a team like Tampa Bay far more compelling. They took a team with low paid, hungry, and talented players and built them into champions. The Yankees are just bullies.

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Posted By: rand

what is CC really worth without the yankees over the top offer?

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Posted By: Fred C

It's rumored that the Brewers had offered $100M for 5 years so that would appear to be the next bid up.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

If the Yankees and Barry Zito didn't exist (sadly, both do exist) I'm guessing he could have gotten 6 years and $120 million from the Giants. He's from Vallejo which is about 30 miles outside of SF.

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Posted By: peter ullman

I agree with many of you...the yankees can be bullyish, they overpaid by 40-60 million...same as a few whales fighting over a rare card! Having since moved to MN from East Coast 9 years ago...I've become a huge fan of "small-ball" teams like the twinkies...and Fla was a great team this year. One of the very few constants in my life is that I will always love the Yankees!!!

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Posted By: rand

i dont keep track of their payroll figures, but i dont think $250,000,000 is to far out of line. CC & Arod are $50 -60m together right?

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Posted By: bigfish

I am a diehard Redsox fan and think it is great that the Yankees signed Sabathia for such a large #. The Sox kill Sabathia and will continue too. I hope they sign Derek Lowe as well. He could not take the pressure in Boston. Complained about the fans booing him when he was awful. They can have them both. Yankees will continue to finish in 3rd place. Maybe 4th.

Dice K

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Posted By: David Goff

I am big time Braves fan and really want to get Burnett. But I know the Yankees and Mets wave the money around and get who ever they want. Oh well...

In my opinion, I think this may be a mistake by the Yankees to sign CC. '07 was his best year in the AL at 19-7. His other years were so-so. He was more dominate in the NL. Should have signed with the Dodgers or Giants. Just my .02

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Posted By: Doug

Well at least you aren't a Reds fan, we get Ramon Hernandez and Arthur Rhodes...whoo...

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Posted By: brock

Bigfish,
You guys dont kill CC.

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Posted By: bigfish

Take a look at his era in the playoffs pitching for Clev. 10. something...

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Posted By: David Goff

Hey Doug

There are alot of Reds/Bengals fans here in Louisville. Sorry for your loss.

I hope the Reds can turn it around. I go to a couple of games each year, especially when the Braves come to Cincy. I was shocked when they traded Dunn, but then figured he'd jump ship after the season.(he was a free agent at the end of the year, right?)

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Posted By: Doug

Yep, Dunn is a Free Agent. I actually thought the Reds might try to resign him, but they've already declared him "too expensive".

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Posted By: Jim VB

I'd quit worrying about the Yankee's payroll. They probably have 5 free agents coming off of last years payroll.

Giambi - $23 million
Abreu - $16 million
Pettitte - $16 million (They offered him $10 million)
Mussina - $11 million
Pavano - $11 million

I think the can sign CC ($23 million), Burkett ($16 million) and even a few more and still pay the rent.

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Posted By: rand

those pay days are amazing, tied with a long career span, baseball is the way to go

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

they traded away David Wells for Roger Clemons in 1999 .....Sabathia wont make a difference.

As, a Yankees fan since 1947....I have lost my interest in them these past 10 years. David Wells
was a "Yankee killer" for many years....so, Stenbrenner smartens up and finally acquired Wells.
After an 18-4 record which include a PERFECT game NO-HITTER in 1998....they trade him away.

But, then pitching a No-Hitter as a Yankee during the 1990's was the "Kiss of Death"....ask Dave
Righetti, Jim Abbott, Doc Gooden, and David Cone ?

In my mind trading away Wells is like the NY Jets letting go of John Riggins.....who was another
"free spirit" like Wells.
The NY Jets have never been the same since.

What is it with the management in the NY sports scene that cannot deal with free spirits such
as Riggins and Wells....who are outstanding competitors ? ?

Does anyone here have an answer to this ? ?

TED Z

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Posted By: Dave F

It's because of the Yankees I wish baseball would finally join big brother the national football league and incorporate some sort of salary cap. the way baseball currently is has totally turned me off...the yankees keep spending....a couple other clubs spend "almost" as much...then you have the majority of everyone else, and then the kansas citys of the world. major league baseball is just way too far out of whack like this. can't wait to see who the top free agent is next year so the yanks can sign him too.

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Posted By: Greg Ecklund

Ted,
Don't forget the "no-hitter" that Andy Hawkins pitched against the White Sox in 1990 that he ended up losing 4-0! Fay Vincent ended up taking the official no hitter away because Hawkins didn't pitch nine innings, but I hardly see how that was Andy's fault - Jim Leyritz and Jesse Barfield butchered a couple fly balls which let all the runs in.

Hawkins didn't even have to wait until the game was over for his "Kiss of Death"

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Posted By: Jim VB

The entire difference between MLB and the NFL is Television revenue. Football had little or no money for years and when Rozelle negotiated it, the league handled negotiations, collection, and distribution. Every team get the same %, so it's pretty easy to set a uniform salary cap.

Baseball has had TV money in it for years and it has always been done through the individual teams. Like everything else in life, some do it way better than others. Big markets have some advantage but it's more than just that. The Yankees, the Braves, the Cubs, the Red Sox and more recently, the Mets have built a regional and/or national brand that commands more money from advertisers. The Yankees were smart enough to start their own network so they get even more. The teams that have bumbling management in the front office have screwed up TV just as badly as they have player personel.

Dallas is a top 5 media market, yet they have screwed up their TV revenue as badly as they have the team. St. Louis is only the #21 TV market, yet they manage to field a competitive team every year.

Hell, the Yankees have huge TV revenue as we mentioned, and they haven't won a World Series in years.

You can win from any size market with a good front office. True, the bigger have a better chance to be competitive every year, but they don't always win.

As it is, MLB forced a revenue sharing plan on the owners a few years ago. The Yankees pay a huge payroll tax. The small market teams that collect often pocket that money as profit rather than spend it on payroll. Kind of defeats the purpose. You'll never get the owners to agree to pooling the money and splitting it.

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Posted By: Bob

I've been a Pirates fan since '48, when I watched Ralph Kiner's club play Jackie Robinson's nine in Forbes Field.

"You can win from any size market with a good front office. True, the bigger have a better chance to be competitive every year ..." Sadly, quite true.

So I agree absolutely that a salary cap is the way to go. My club has had rotten management for close to two decades, and of course will never be able to buy its way out of the hole. The Yankee front office apparently isn't any more capable, but who wants to bet, right now, fifty to one, that the Yanks won't be in the playoffs and the Bucs will?

I hate what money has done to the game I love.

Bob

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Posted By: brock

What do you want the Salary cap at. It would have to be around 75 to 100 million. Because 19 teams are under 100 million. There is no way it would ever work.

Also if the red sox's get Tex, no one will be talking about how they bought him and more then half of their team also. They dont need a first basemen. They already have a gold glove first basemen and a gold glove thrid basemen.

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Posted By: Dave F

Well a salary cap works in most ever other sport at this point. A good front office is great, a good manager is great...but it is hardly enough to keep a level playing field. I am an Atlanta fan and Atlanta hasn't been the same since Ted Turner sold out to Time Warner who in their time operating the club cut the payroll back which ended up resulting in the Braves not being one of those top tier teams anymore. There was a time when these free agents (especially pitchers) would look at Atlanta as the place to go. Now we just can't compete with those New York's and Boston's anymore. If Greg Maddux was a free agent leaving Chicago today as he was fifteen years ago he'd be a Yankee.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

They apparently just added AJ Burnett, too. 5 years, 82 million.

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Posted By: Doug