The Yankees have already made a new contract offer to Sabathia and remain the favorites to keep him, although the Cubs, Rangers, Tigers, Blue Jays and Cubs are also considered possibilities.

I don't see why we should think it's a foregone conclusion he's going back to the Yankees.

Well, if anyone knows the hazards of stating something as a given...............

It would defy all probability for Sabathia to leave the Yankees, unless someone offered him a ridiculous, indefensible contract.

This is best FA class in recent memory. Do Pujols, Prince, C.C., and Reyes top A-Rod, Manny, Mussina, and Hampton? Probably not, but I think that's how far back you'd have to go.

Wasn't Lee offered a decent amount more than what he signed for, though?

I don't see why we should think it's a foregone conclusion he's going back to the Yankees.

Whoever signs him is going to get a guy with knee or back trouble within 2 years

That's why I'm hoping the Cubs, Rangers or the Blue Jays sign him to a 7-year mega contract.

Dear god. This season's rotation wasn't enough of a gamble for you?

So what are the odds of Sabathia getting 300 wins at this point? He is at 176 right now. A wildly optimistic projection would put him 6 seasons away from 300.

Unless he signs for the Yankees, Red Sox, or the Phillies he has ZERO chance of getting 300 wins.

ZIPs puts Sabathia at 293, meaning it certainly believes there's a good chance he'll get over 300.

Tall pitchers, we find, are slightly worse-off than short pitchers, and overweight pitchers tend to perform better than their skinny brethren. Given that overweight pitchers also survive for much longer time periods in the major leagues, all else being equal, invest in fat guys. But generally, all else is not equal, in which the case the answer should be obvious: Go for the better ballplayer, always.

P.S: I'm just pissed at CC for opting out of his contract. Actually the opt-out clause was offered by Brian Cashman, not by CC or his agent. CC had concerns if his wife and children would like living in New York. So Cashman gave him the option to opt out if things didn't work out well. Both CC and his wife have said they love their life in New York. And yet, they are using the opt-out clause to grab more money. CC's good guy image has been tarnished by this move.

I'm about 99% sure it was included as a way to offer Sabathia less money than had it not been included.

Also, it may be my anti-Yankee bias flaring up. But Sabathia signs one of the biggest contracts of all time to go the Yankees, and three years later when he opts out is when he is outted as a greedy player just after the money?

CJ Wilson + Roy Oswalt will be a better option for the Yankees than giving CC a 7-year deal.

There's a big difference between a free agent going for the highest contract and this opt-out. Until 2011 when the Yankees failed to sign Cliff Lee, CC had always maintained he wouldn't opt out. Now that he has seen the Yankees' situation, he changed his mind. It's nothing illegal, but definitely unethical.

I just don't see why Sabathia is morally obligated to play for less than he and the Yankees feel he's worth when his contract specifically says he doesn't have to.

I'd like to hear a longer explanation of how this is unethical, because I admit I'm not seeing it.

P.S: I'm just pissed at CC for opting out of his contract. Actually the opt-out clause was offered by Brian Cashman, not by CC or his agent. CC had concerns if his wife and children would like living in New York. So Cashman gave him the option to opt out if things didn't work out well. Both CC and his wife have said they love their life in New York. And yet, they are using the opt-out clause to grab more money. CC's good guy image has been tarnished by this move.

In your opinion, how could CC act or have acted in this case to meet your basis for unethical behavior within the confines of his contract?

A few days ago somebody brought up that point that it's a good deal for the Yankees if he moves along. Knowing what they knew 3 years ago (great pitcher, but all pitchers break), they certainly would have been happy to sign him for 3/60 rather than a long deal, but there's no way the market would allow it. But if he leaves, that's what they got. Let the rest of his career be somebody else's worry.

I think CC's been pretty clear that he's leaving the opt-out option open.

This is a business, CC can leverage this into a longer contract, and if he doesn't he is doing himself and his family and his charitable foundation a disservice.

Or, to put it another way, should he donate the money to a charitable foundation or to the Yankees?

So what are the odds of Sabathia getting down to 300 lbs. at this point?

P.S: I'm just pissed at CC for opting out of his contract. Actually the opt-out clause was offered by Brian Cashman, not by CC or his agent. CC had concerns if his wife and children would like living in New York. So Cashman gave him the option to opt out if things didn't work out well. Both CC and his wife have said they love their life in New York. And yet, they are using the opt-out clause to grab more money. CC's good guy image has been tarnished by this move.

2. In his first two years with the Yankees, CC had always maintained he wouldn't opt out.

The opt-out clause was put in there for a family-related reason, not for how CC is using it right now.

this is not true

it's in there for whatever reason he wants to use it

But it was originally put in there for family reasons.

Do you have a source for this? Because it sounds really stupid.

CC Sabathia had met with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on Sunday and on Monday, but Cashman suggested that maybe it would help if he were to fly to California and speak with Sabathia, again, with Amber Sabathia, the player's wife.

Cashman arrived at Sabathia's home about 7 p.m. PT, and for two hours, he mostly restated points that he had made in the first meetings, in trying to make Sabathia feel comfortable with the notion of playing in New York.

In the midst of that conversation in the Sabathia living room, Cashman talked about the opt-out clause after the third year of the deal, and his willingness to include it in his offer, just in case the Sabathias didn't like their first years in New York. The issue of the opt-out clause actually came up two days before, when it was made clear that it would have to be part of any contract proposal that the Yankees made, to remain competitive with other offers.

After a couple of hours, Cashman left, leaving the Sabathias to talk, for about an hour. At that point, at about 1 a.m. New York time, Sabathia spoke to Cashman directly and told him he wanted to sign with the Yankees.
-- Buster Olney

The deal, according to a source close to negotiations, gives Sabathia the right to opt out of the contract after the first three years, by which time he will have been paid $69 million. Sabathia appreciated the clause because it satisfied concerns he had about living in New York and the impact it might have on his wife and three children

"The whole opt-out thing was never really our choice," Amber Sabathia revealed Thursday, at her husband's introductory news conference at Yankee Stadium. "We never asked for it. It was (general manager Brian Cashman's) way of saying, 'I know you're going to love it here. If you're not happy after three years, then I want you not to be here. But I know you're going to love it, and this is going to be your home.'

"When he said that, I knew we're going to love it."

so C.C. should honor what Cashman says about clauses in his contract?

What if Cashman had said that the no-trade clause was included so CC could prevent himself from being traded to a bad team and then CC invoked it when they tried to trade him to a contender? Would that get the same negative judgement?

So, you are assuming Cashman lied about the reason behind the opt-out? Amber Sabathia's statements proves he didn't.

Here's from above, right below the part you bolded "The issue of the opt-out clause actually came up two days before, when it was made clear that it would have to be part of any contract proposal that the Yankees made, to remain competitive with other offers." Olney is not gospel, but he is reporting or speculating that the initial reason for the opt-out was to make their offer better.

Who the hell wouldn't like living in the New York area? You've got your good pizza, your authentic Jewish deli, good bagels, Flushing for chinese....does he want to go back to Milwaukee and eat ####### bratwursts?

Better in what sense? Not monetary sense as far as I understand it.

This opt-out came up because CC had genuine concerns whether his family could adjust to living in New York.

Darvish is of course an option instead of Wilson, but his deal is front-loaded by nature.

The interesting idea would be if you thought you could get Darvish and Wilson for ~$100M each. I might prefer the two of them for $200M to CC for $150M.

It doesn't seem like you understand it if you can't see how CC is going to benefit in a monetary sense from the opt-out.

You just quoted his wife saying that they didn't ask for the clause!

They didn't ask for it, the Yankees offered it to persuade them. Basically CC expressed his concerns, and Cashman offered him this get-out-of-NY option.

But with this move CC has lost a lot of respect from the fans. Does he really want to be treated like A-Rod for this extra few millions? Does he want to get booed every time he leaves the game after a poor start? I don't know how much these things mean to players, but it's worth pondering.