Via Tom Haudricourt:
The room is about to get more crowded in the auction for free agent left-hander CC Sabathia, if it hasn’t already.
An agent familiar with the situation said Wednesday he expected the San Francisco Giants to make an offer to Sabathia’s agents in an effort to coax him into playing for what in essence is his hometown team.
Another agent keeping tabs on Sabathia said he expected the Los Angeles Angels also to enter the fray at some point. Because Sabathia’s representatives are keeping all offers private, it wasn’t known if either the Giants or Angels had submitted formal bids or merely were testing the waters.
Reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers were preparing to make an offer apparently were not true, according to those familiar with that club’s plans.
Either way, the Brewers’ already slim chances of keeping Sabathia will diminish further with California teams in play. Sabathia, who hails from Vallejo, Calif., just down the road from San Francisco, has told friends and acquaintances he likes the idea of playing in his home state.
Pretty soon, we’re going to have to start calling Sabathia “Fingercuffs” because of all these teams trying to link-up with him at the same time. And, the more this goes on, I think the odds of the Yankees getting him are decreasing by the day…
9 Responses to “Add Giants To Teams Chasing CC”
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November 19th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
So your concerned about an unnamed “agent familiar with the situation” saying that the Dodgers and Giants might try to get CC, something that LA has already denied?
November 20th, 2008 at 1:23 am
And, the more this goes on, I think the odds of the Yankees getting him are decreasing by the day…
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I really hope he joins the Giants and stays in the NL.. no pitcher is worth that much… also i am just scared by his size and workload… it just cant hold up for 6 yrs…
November 20th, 2008 at 4:35 am
The situation hasn’t gone on that long folks, relax. In addition, where the hell is Sabean getting this money to pay another pitcher over 20 mill a year? San Fran needs offense, they have tons of young pitching and made a big mistake with Zito, why throw money at another potential disaster? This seems to be hype and once again of Sabean offers him a 5 year 100 mill contract the Yanks will offer 6 for 160 or something crazy like that. That weak West Coast rivalry and baseball talk makes me sick. I wanna see McCourt and MacGowan make an offer close to the Yank one, their closest offer being 30 mill short probably…..what a joke!
November 20th, 2008 at 8:12 am
What you continue to ignore is that if Sabathia gets an offer that makes him the highest paid pitcher – total or AAV – why shouldn’t he take it and play where he wants to? The Player’s Union can’t criticize him that much, he’ll still be setting the bar for future contracts.
The Yankees best chance is if no one tops about 120 mill, and they end up the one team willing to exceed Santana’s deal. Then the pressure will be on him to take it to keep setting the market higher. Even then, he should hold out for an extra 20 or 30 million.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Besides, he should be set for life by now anyway. Right now it should be all about where he’d be most comfortable playing.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:29 am
He should be set for life now but I think the point is that whatever contract he signs, he’ll really be set, along with several generations of descendants. But that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be strong pressure on him not to take a relatively low offer just to play where he wants to. The offer should be high but doesn’t have to be the highest.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Once I Was, were you talking to me,unh? I discount any angle where there is a diminiution of salary. The vast majority of players follow the money trail. If the HollyWood Dingbats offer CC, 120 mill and the Tankees offer him 170 mill, trust me he’s coming here. No one in his right mind leaves 50 mill on the table. In terms of giving him a chance to win AND making the most money the Yanks give him the best chance to win. The CC wants to play on the West Coast has been debunked already, supposedly he would like to play for the Yankees. These sportswriters and talk radio shills love to add juice to this unsexy story.
Also comfort level is highly overrated. JD Drew is one of the softest players in the last 20 years and he decided to go for the money instead of going back to Easy Street AKA LA LA Land! A soft player is usually not gonna come to a Northeastern club because of the scrutiny of the media and the fans, people leave early out in LA for chrissakes.BUT money always talks. Drew saw dollar signs and bolted from his LA contract with an opt out. That’s why, I’m curious to see if Ricciardi will give Burnett 4 for 65 mill. If he does he has a shot BUT Burnett will go where the money is…that’s why he went to Toronto in the first place.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:30 am
JD Drew is one of the softest players in the last 20 years and he decided to go for the money instead of going back to Easy Street AKA LA LA Land!
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So wouldn’t the fact that he signed with a NE club not make him soft?
A soft player would stay in LA, and have his contract renegotiated, no?
Or am I misunderstanding your definition of soft?
November 20th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Well then Butchie, if your authoritative pronouncements are right, then why doesn’t Sabathia just negotiate with the Yanks exclusively? Why not just say, “I’m interested in New York, but 140 won’t do it. Get back to me when you’re ready to make a serious bid.”
And there are plenty of players who have given weight to where they want to play. No one has heard Sabathia say that he’ll chase the last dollar. And no one has heard him say that he would or wouldn’t want to pitch and live in NY or California.
None of us know if a Santana-level offer would get him to sign, regardless of what the Yankees offer. And there’s absolutely no guarantee that he’ll go for the bucks, regardless.