This morning, Buster Olney leads off his morning piece by wondering if the New York Yankees’ CC Sabathia could be pried out of New York if/when he opts out of his current contract. The New York Yankees would seem to the be the favorite even if he does exercise his opt out clause. The New York Yankees need him and they have the money to pay him. It will really just come down to the willingness. On the other hand, CC Sabathia loves New York City and you would have to imagine he doesn’t want to be on his fourth team in four years if he can help it. There are several teams that Buster Olney touches on as potential landing spots for CC Sabathia should he and the New York Yankees fail to come to an agreement.
We have already heard about the Boston Red Sox thinking about getting involved and we’ve heard about the Texas Rangers readying themselves to make a sizable offer should they get the opportunity, but Olney mentions a couple of teams that I had not seen linked to Sabathia until this point. He mentions the Chicago Cubs as bidders as they will be looking for “an infusion of clubhouse leadership”. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they have some money to spend and with new ownership dubbing 2012 “Year One” you might imagine that they’d be willing to make a big splash. Olney also mentions the Los Angeles Angels. Adding Sabathia to a rotation that includes Dan Haren, Jered Weaver and an improving Ervin Santana could be enough to push them ahead of the Rangers in the American League West. Those same Rangers are another reason why the Angels will be heavily involved should CC make it that far on to the market. They can’t afford to keep finishing behind their division rival on the Hot Stove.
The New York Yankees will have a lot of competition for CC Sabathia if he decides to dive into the free agent market this off-season, but if they are willing to commit the money and the years to him, I don’t see anybody out there being able to pry CC out of NYC without an offer that blows him away – a near impossible task when bidding against the Yanks.
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