Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
January 31, 2008
C.C. Sees C-Notes

Jim Ingraham notes that one person benefiting greatly from the Santana trade is C.C. Sabathia:

I'm no NASCAR expert, but I am familiar with the principle in auto racing called ''drafting,'' in which a car sits behind the leader, benefiting by the lack of wind resistance.

That's Sabathia right now. He's drafting Santana. Both pitchers are eligible for free agency after this season.

Santana won't become one, however, because by giving up four of their top seven minor league prospects to get him, the Mets essentially told Santana to name his price.

Moreover, should they not sign Santana, the Mets could expect wild rabble-rousing, roving bands of their fans, torches in hand, marching on the team's offices with intentions of the most sinister kind.

Meanwhile, lounging comfortably on the sun-splashed deck of his northern California home, sipping from a tall cool tumbler of lemonade while listening to the birds chirping a sonata to the moneyed gentry, is gazillionaire-to-be Sabathia.

His soaring market price is about to be established by the Santana signing, and the best estimates now are that Santana's deal with the Mets will be in the neighborhood of six years, $130 million.

All together now: ''So long, C.C.!''

I don't know about that. Cleveland does a good job of taking care of their players. With Sabathia, the Indians signed him to a multi-million dollar deal in 2002, after his great rookie season. Before that contract was up, they picked up his option and extended him two more years with a substantial raise. So if there is going to be a player and team that can agree to a home town discount, C.C. and the Indians are it.

On top of that, the Indians are winning. That means Cleveland's revenue is going up. By signing players young, Cleveland does a great job of controlling costs. They very well may be able to afford $20 million a year for Sabathia. They also may be able to get a shorter term with options, which lessens the risk of the ace breaking down. I wouldn't count out a deal yet.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:16 AM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)
Comments

They can sign him if he wants to play there, it's that simple.

Posted by: abe at January 31, 2008 08:41 AM

Roy Halladay's 40M 4 year would be a better comparable for what could be in his future... Now that's a hometown discount

Posted by: andrew at January 31, 2008 12:57 PM

$40M for 4 years in the current market? Are you insane? Never in my wildest dream would I have guessed CC would make $100M in his career and he is pretty close to locking that up soon. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Posted by: Nate at January 31, 2008 01:41 PM

Abe hit the nail squarely on the head: the only way CC stays in Cleveland is if HE wants to stay there.

Posted by: Zippercat at January 31, 2008 07:30 PM
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