The global economic crisis has bypassed the Sabathia household.\u00c2\u00a0 A potential seven year\/ $161m deal with the Yankees is on the table waiting to be signed and all that stands between CC and a fitting session for some new pinstripe clothing is a medical.\u00c2\u00a0 After a month or more of being told (not directly by the man himself, it should be added) that the standout pitcher preferred to play on the west coast and in the National League, he has ended up on the east coast playing in the junior circuit.\u00c2\u00a0 The Yanks’ offer was just too good to turn down.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
So the fairytale return to Milwaukee failed to materialize, despite a considerable offer by the Brewers that showed just how valuable he could have been to the franchise.\u00c2\u00a0 The prospect of seeing him hitting while wearing a Dodgers or Giants uniform remains only as a picture in the mind’s eye of a disappointed fan.\u00c2\u00a0 The Angels will comfort themselves with the knowledge that Mark Teixeira is the guy they are really after, as will the Red Sox.\u00c2\u00a0 Someone will be doubly disappointed.<\/p>\n
That’s not an emotion that will be recognised on the\u00c2\u00a016th of\u00c2\u00a0April in New York next year.\u00c2\u00a0 52,000-plus fans will enter the new Yankee Stadium struggling to take in the sights and sensations of a gloriously unfamiliar new home,\u00c2\u00a0possibly with\u00c2\u00a0their recently-acquired ace walking to the mound\u00c2\u00a0to deliver the first official game pitch at the venue (subject to any number of circumstances that could scupper the plan).\u00c2\u00a0 Sabathia’s former team the\u00c2\u00a0Indians will revel in the opportunity to play the role of spoiler, but their odds at succeeding will be slim.<\/p>\n
What’s more, spending $161m on Sabathia doesn’t necessarily mean that the starter\u00c2\u00a0of the second game at the new stadium\u00c2\u00a0will be a holdover from the 2008 roster.\u00c2\u00a0 Burnett, Lowe and Sheets seem to be linked even more heavily with the Bronx Bombers now that target one is in the bag.\u00c2\u00a0 All three are being pursued by a host of other clubs, but this can often be a mere triviality to the Yankees.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s probable one of the above will join Sabathia in the re-modelled rotation and right now it appears as though Burnett\u00c2\u00a0could be the next big signing.\u00c2\u00a0 The Braves had been leading the chase after failing to complete a trade with the Padres for Jake Peavy, but whether they will stretch to a five year deal, as the Yanks reportedly are willing to do, is open to question.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Burdett’s successful 2008 campaign, in which he pitched more than thirty games for only the second time in his career,\u00c2\u00a0ensured that he would use his opt-out clause and leave the Jays for a new deal.\u00c2\u00a0 Frankly, it seems very risky to lock yourself into a contract with Burdett on the back of his most recent performance.\u00c2\u00a0 However, top-class pitching is at a premium and there’s no doubt that when he’s on the mound, Burdett has the stuff to dominate.\u00c2\u00a0 It looks like the Yankees are prepared to make this high risk\/high reward deal.<\/p>\n
Brewers fans would be quite happy if they did.\u00c2\u00a0 Even across the Atlantic, you can feel Milwaukee wincing at the thought of a Sabathia and Sheets reunion under the interlocking NY.\u00c2\u00a0 Big Ben is another pitcher whose injury history must make any team nervous about guaranteeing him a long-term deal.\u00c2\u00a0 No doubt someone will though.<\/p>\n
The free agent market has moved slowly so far, with due respect to the Casey Blakes of this world, and everyone was waiting for the first major domino to fall.\u00c2\u00a0 Now that it has, unofficially at least, the hot stove will move from a gentle simmer to boiling point.<\/p>\n
Both the Orioles and the Nationals have reportedly made big offers to try and tempt Mark Teixeira back to his roots.\u00c2\u00a0 In competition with the Angels and the Red Sox, it’s difficult to have too much confidence in either of them being successful with their pursuit.\u00c2\u00a0 Even with Tex in their lineup, the Nationals don’t look like they will be contenders in the NL East for several years at least.\u00c2\u00a0 The Orioles do have some talented young players (Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Matt Weiters -\u00c2\u00a0the latter looking set to make the catching position his own from ’09 onwards after the O’s traded Ramon Hernandez to the Reds), but competing in the AL East is the toughest task in baseball right now.\u00c2\u00a0 My money is on the Red Sox countering the Yankees’ moves by signing the best bat on the market, with Mike Lowell eventually being traded close to the start of the new season.<\/p>\n
As for Manny Ramirez, a return to L.A. still seems the most likely outcome.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0However it may be the Angels who sign him, rather than the Dodgers,\u00c2\u00a0if\u00c2\u00a0they lose out on Teixeira.\u00c2\u00a0 Either way, Manny may have to come down from his initial demand for a five-year deal before anyone hands over the dollars per year he would be looking for.<\/p>\n
In some ways, the potential free agent deals are less interesting than the many trade rumours that are flying around.\u00c2\u00a0 Yesterday saw a three-team, twelve-player deal between the Mets, Mariners and Indians in which Omar Minaya added J.J. Putz to the back of his bullpen alongside their free agent acquisition of Francisco Rodriguez.\u00c2\u00a0 Today may also see the conclusion, one way or the other,\u00c2\u00a0to the prolonged discussions between the Cubs and the Padres regarding Jake Peavy.<\/p>\n
The dealing is just getting started.\u00c2\u00a0 However, somehow I don’t think anything’s going to top the Yankees’ signing of Sabathia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The global economic crisis has bypassed the Sabathia household.\u00c2\u00a0 A potential seven year\/ $161m deal with the Yankees is on the table waiting to be signed and all that stands between CC and a fitting session for some new pinstripe clothing is a medical.\u00c2\u00a0 After a month or more of being told (not directly by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[553],"class_list":["post-1498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb-2","tag-mlb-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1498"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7291,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions\/7291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}