So the Yankees can now come home from the winter meetings with the biggest Free Agent prize on the market. Brian Cashman actually had to travel on a commercial flight to meet with CC in California. "We're not the Red Sox" with John Henry's private jet, quipped Cash. Ultimately the Yankee GM signed C.C. to a $161 million dollar deal for 7 years. But there's a catch! CC can leave after three years and $69 million if he so desires.
This clause tells us two things: first the Yanks were desperate- and showed it in a big way- to get the former Cy Young winner and were willing to go to any length to get him. Hey, what ever happened to all the players who's life long dream was to "wear the pinstripes" and play on the same field as Ruth Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle among others? Clearly Sabathia's first choice was not NY. It took an offer $60 million higher than the next closest team to land him! The Yanks actually had to bid against themselves, increase the dollars by 20 million and add a year to get the deal done- and don’t think that opt out clause didn’t mean as much to Sabathia as the money. Face it- it makes the Yankees look bad when they offer top dollar and give the player a get out of jail free card after three years. The last time a player of his magnitude turned down the Yankees was when Greg Maddux chose less money to play in Atlanta. Hammerin’ Hank Steinbrenner and Cash were not going to let that happen again!
The opt out option also indicates how hesitant Sabathia is to pitch here. He has only piched in smaller markets: Cleveland and Milwaukee. As mentioned in my previous post CC has not done well in the big arena-namely the playoffs which, for the Yankees, is when the REAL season begins. So it will be interesting to see how he responds at the new Stadium if he gets off to a slow start and feels the fan's wrath. When the official media announcement is made, and the Yanks pull out the carving board, put the NY Yankee hat and shirt on their latest prize I don't want to hear Sabathia tell us how much he has wanted to play for the Yankees. If that were the case he would not be planning his potential getaway during the negotiations. How about just telling us you came here for the money and great restaurants NY has to offer? Welcome to NY CC- to quote Mick Jagger-“go ahead- bite the big apple- don’t find no maggots”! Shidoobee!
-Steve
This clause tells us two things: first the Yanks were desperate- and showed it in a big way- to get the former Cy Young winner and were willing to go to any length to get him. Hey, what ever happened to all the players who's life long dream was to "wear the pinstripes" and play on the same field as Ruth Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle among others? Clearly Sabathia's first choice was not NY. It took an offer $60 million higher than the next closest team to land him! The Yanks actually had to bid against themselves, increase the dollars by 20 million and add a year to get the deal done- and don’t think that opt out clause didn’t mean as much to Sabathia as the money. Face it- it makes the Yankees look bad when they offer top dollar and give the player a get out of jail free card after three years. The last time a player of his magnitude turned down the Yankees was when Greg Maddux chose less money to play in Atlanta. Hammerin’ Hank Steinbrenner and Cash were not going to let that happen again!
The opt out option also indicates how hesitant Sabathia is to pitch here. He has only piched in smaller markets: Cleveland and Milwaukee. As mentioned in my previous post CC has not done well in the big arena-namely the playoffs which, for the Yankees, is when the REAL season begins. So it will be interesting to see how he responds at the new Stadium if he gets off to a slow start and feels the fan's wrath. When the official media announcement is made, and the Yanks pull out the carving board, put the NY Yankee hat and shirt on their latest prize I don't want to hear Sabathia tell us how much he has wanted to play for the Yankees. If that were the case he would not be planning his potential getaway during the negotiations. How about just telling us you came here for the money and great restaurants NY has to offer? Welcome to NY CC- to quote Mick Jagger-“go ahead- bite the big apple- don’t find no maggots”! Shidoobee!
-Steve
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