Report: Yanks Not Sabathia’s First Choice
Via Tyler Kepner -
The Yankees’ strategy is usually to identify their target, overwhelm him with an early offer, intimidate the competition and get their man. They have done the first three things, but Sabathia is still a free agent.
“If they went to Sabathia with $140 million, he could go back to them and say, ‘Give me $170 million and I’m there,’” said one major league general manager, who was granted anonymity so he could freely discuss another team’s plans. “He hasn’t done that. The Yankees aren’t his first choice. Why isn’t he jumping on their offer?”
Mike Mussina signed quickly after the 2000 season, and a year later, there was never much doubt about Jason Giambi’s intention. Both times, the Yankees had just been to the World Series. Both players wanted to be in New York – or in Mussina’s case, somewhere close to his Pennsylvania home — and both had a veteran agent, Arn Tellem.
Sabathia is a different case entirely, and the reason he is stalling, to those who know him, is just as the general manager suspected: his first choice is not New York. Sabathia is from Vallejo, Calif., near the Bay Area, and it is well known that his preference is to play for a team on the West Coast. But the money is elsewhere.
“It’s not that he doesn’t want to be a Yankee; that’s not it at all,” said a friend of Sabathia’s, who was granted anonymity because Sabathia had not authorized him to speak on his behalf. “It’s just the aspect of being out there, his family, that kind of stuff.”
The picture here is really starting to come into focus.
The prom is just one week away. The Yankees are the class nerd who is desperate for a date for the big dance. And, CC Sabathia is the hottest girl in the school who just broke up with her boyfriend – with the prom only days away.
The class nerd is hoping to now get the hottest girl in school to be their prom date. But, the hottest girl in school is praying that someone else will become available at the last minute and save her from going to the prom with the class nerd.
Throw in a hip soundtrack and we’ve got ourselves a good John Hughes teens-movie here.
I will respond to your headline with a big, fat WHO CARES?
Why does it matter if Sabathia doesn’t consider the Yankees his first choice? The bottom line is simply if he’ll sign or not. At that point, whether he considered the Yanks #1 or #2 or #3 on his list is irrelevant.
If Sabathia doesn’t want to be a member of the Yankees, that’s his right and doesn’t reflect poorly on the organization, the owner, the manager, or the GM. He’s free to make the best decisions for his family and his own well-being.
But if he DOES want to be a member of the Yankees, the fact that he waited around for another offer — one that could potentially serve as leverage to yield him extra money from New York — wouldn’t make him anything but a good businessman. His rank of preferences is irrelevant.
MJ – say you were looking to buy a car. And, going into it, your choices, ranked in preference, were:
1. A Chevy
2. A Ford
3. A Honda
Now, you really, really, like Chevy’s. But, when you start to price them, you see these price-tags:
Honda: $20,000
Ford: $22,000
Chevy: $23,000
What are you going to do, are you going to buy the Honda, because it’s the cheapest? Or, are you going to buy the Chevy, even though it costs more, because you just love Chevy?
Since you’re going to spend $20,000, no matter what, you’re probably going to go with the Chevy – since it was your first preference going into the process.
That’s why this is important.
The Yankees are not CC’s first preference.
Somebody, besides the Yankees, is going to offer him more money than he can spend, to sign with them.
And, then, he’ll go….
So, in the end, if the Yankees are banking on getting him, it’s a mistake.
And, again, that’s why this is important.
I could be wrong but I highly doubt that Sabathia will take an offer from a California team for $30M less than what he’s being offered from the Yankees. Furhermore, and far more pertinent, is the fact that no other offer for Sabathia even exists from a California team. Even if he WANTS to pitch in Cali, he can’t until he gets an offer. He can wait until the cows come home but he’s not going to sit out until February 20th hoping that his California dream comes true.
So, in the end, if the Yankees are banking on getting him, it’s a mistake.
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I don’t think the Yanks are banking on him. You make it seem like the Yanks are sitting there without other ideas of what they’ll do. I know you think very little of Cashman but this notion is preposterous. I am fairly certain that the Yanks built an off-season plan with various scenarios playing out, even one with Sabathia not coming to NY.
Since you’re going to spend $20,000, no matter what, you’re probably going to go with the Chevy – since it was your first preference going into the process.
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And the use of the word “probably” means that even though you have a preference, you can be encouraged to go in another direction.
When it comes to cars, what a person wants, what is offered and what a person gets are sometimes 3 different things.
When it comes to cars, what a person wants, what is offered and what a person gets are sometimes 3 different things.
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Although I think it’s implied in Raf’s statement, in both the case of the cars and a Yankee-Sabathia contract, the element of negotiation comes into play. Sabathia may want to pitch in California but he will certainly negotiate with New York, if only to obtain leverage with the team(s) of his choosing in his home state.
Of course the Yankees aren’t Sabathia’s first choice. Just like Steve has said before, if C.C. was in love with the Yankees and grew up wanting to be a New York Yankee he would have signed with the Yankees a long time ago. Who cares if he didn’t grow up with dreams of pitching in a new Yankee Stadium?
Does this article even reveal anything new that we don’t know? No, so why should we conclude anything different than what we already know? The guy is sitting on an offer from the Yankees and is waiting to see if any other suitors step up. Good for CC and his agent for being strong-willed business men. The man will most likely make a decision sometime soon and with no other offers on the table other than the lower Brewers offer, as of this point, you have to remain confident that he’ll be a Yankee. Things can change but right now chances are in our favor.
I would be extremely surprised if he left upwards of $30-$40 million on the table to join another club.
You know for all of this talk about Sabathia not going to the Yankees, where’s all the talk about no other team offering a contract to Sabathia….If he is so comfortable in Milwaukee and money isn’t first on his list, then why hasn’t he taken their deal?
So far CC has two choices–New York or Milwaukee, Angels said they aren’t interested, Dodgers haven’t made a move, and the Giants haven’t made a move either….
The class nerd is hoping to now get the hottest girl in school to be their prom date. But, the hottest girl in school is praying that someone else will become available at the last minute and save her from going to the prom with the class nerd.
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The thing you forgot to mention about the class nerd is that his father is number 5 of the Fortune 500 list, would bring the girl to prom in a helicopter, would supply 100 bottles of Cristal, and would bring P. Diddy with him to prom.
Again, Steve, you’re assuming that he is going to sign with a WC team. It seems likely that only the Dodgers MIGHT have a chance, and they seem to prefer Manny anyways. Sabean pretty much said the Giants don’t have a chance (and how could he commit 120 mil to a fat pitcher after Zito?), the Angels said they weren’t interested. Is he gonna go to Oakland or SD just so he can play on the WC. Please Steve.
In fact, I think this quote from his ‘friend’:
“It’s not that he doesn’t want to be a Yankee; that’s not it at all,”
is more promising, if anything. See, he is willing to be a Yankee. And, since no one else has offered him a realistic offer, it still seems like thats where he is going to end up.
The fact that Cashman met with Teixeira is a positive sign. Maybe he’s thinking we should actually have a first baseman who can catch the ball. What a concept. And then he’ll meet with CC and knock some sense into him. All will be well. (Maybe.)
jane:
I understand you thoughts on Tex, but don’t forget about Swisher. He is a very capable 1b in case the price for Tex gets too high.
The CC story is not done yet and who in hell is gonna give CC crazymadstupidmegabuck Yankee money? Sabean? Sabean f&*ked up with Zito and needs hitters. LA? Jason Scmidt was a bomb, as was Jones and Pierre, do they need another expensive pitching piece? THe Angels seem to want to bring Garland back and they could afford him. So, if a team gets him other than the Yanks it would be Moreno’s Orange County Assholes of Pasadena. BUT still, I don’t see Arte throwing even 120 at a pitcher for 6 years……
Frankly if CC doesn’t want to be in NY than I don’t want him there either. An unhappy player is an unhappy performer. I wouldn’t doubt Cashman hasn’t done it already, but I think he should start lining up other #1 & 2 starters to pursue.
I understand you thoughts on Tex, but don’t forget about Swisher. He is a very capable 1b in case the price for Tex gets too high.
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Not a substitute for Teixeira offensively, especially not in light of the fact that without Giambi/Abreu, this offense looks to be worse in 2009.
Swisher’s best value to the Yanks, frankly, is in LF. That way he doesn’t clog up Teixeira’s spot. Yes, a Swisher/Damon/Nady OF is gruesome defensively but in a year’s time both Damon and Nady could be gone and Austin Jackson could provide improved offense and defense.
Frankly if CC doesn’t want to be in NY than I don’t want him there either. An unhappy player is an unhappy performer.
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No one said CC doesn’t want to be in NY. Further, I challenge you to prove that he’d be unhappy in New York if he signs the offer and, beyond that, that he’d be a poor performer EVEN IF he didn’t want to be on the team.
“Swisher’s best value to the Yanks, frankly, is in LF. That way he doesn’t clog up Teixeira’s spot.”
You just admitted that Swisher in the outfield contributes to a brutal defense, so how is that Swisher’s best value? I never said Swisher was better than Tex, I said in case we don’t get Tex (which we probably won’t get unless we lose out on CC) we still have a viable option at 1b in Swish. Swisher’s best value is at 1b where he is strong defensively, and the fact he’s versatile he can move to the outfield when Posada needs to rest his arm a day or two a week from catching. Then when Montero is ready in the bigs Swisher can either be a full time outfielder or the Yanks can dump his affordable salary. Swisher brings talent and roster flexibility which is very valuable.
I’m not downplaying what Tex would bring to the team if we were able to obtain him. I was simply saying in case we don’t get Tex, Swisher is a viable option at 1b with all of what I just listed.
Swisher is a hyper/super role player on this team. He’s a nice player BUT the Yanks need at least one player like Teix to make up the offense lost from Jasteriod Giambi and Booby ” I don’t like walls” Abreu. Offense was weak last year and the Yanks need to improve that right quick. Instead Cash Man’s focus is on CC, AJ, and DL…not Derek Lowe (DL) but that’s where CC and AJ will end up if they sign with the Bombers! This is another case where Cash Man makes the wrong adjustments…..
YankCrank, I don’t disagree with you about Swisher being the everday 1B in the event the Yanks don’t get Teixeira. My comment was more coming from the point of view that I think we NEED Teixeira and, hence, Swisher’s bat in LF would be his greatest utility (since he won’t bring defense to the position, the least he can do is hit while letting the better 1B have the spot).
Insofar as Montero is concerned, let’s forget about him for a while. He projects to be a good hitter but he hasn’t even advanced beyond A+ ball yet. The Red Sox have a similar stud hitter in the making in Lars Anderson, who is closer to the big leagues, and they’re not worrying about his path being blocked just yet.
Even with Teixeira, Montero wouldn’t necessarily be blocked since by the time he’s ready (let’s say 2011) Posada will be in his last year and could be a DH by then, if he’s even still playing as a man who would turn 40 during that season.
MJ, if you were Cash and for some reason you only had enough payroll to afford either Tex or CC, who would you take?
I’d take Teixeira. Not only does the Yankee offense project as a moderate stinker in 2009 but Teixeira addresses a need at 1B and also represents less risk of default on his contract. In short, I more or less know that Teixeira will put up close to his career stats from age 28-33.
Sabathia is a good pitcher and the best free agent starter available. But there’s certainly a risk that he turns into Bartolo Colon. Given their body type and the workload, I’m less sure about Sabathia’s future returns starting in Year 3 or Year 4 of a six year deal.
That being said, the Yanks have the capacity for both and should be aggressively pursuing both at the same time.