New York Yankees near deal with CC Sabathia

So this morning I woke up late, around 11AM, because of the all-nighter I pulled the day before studying for my Korean final exam. I stumbled over to my laptop to see several messages from friends asking if the New York Yankees have signed CC Sabathia. Naturally I rush over to ESPN and see the illuminating red and cream box of text with breaking news reporting that CC Sabathia is indeed near a 7-year $160 million deal.

After perusing over my routine of baseball blogs and listening to Buster Olney and Michael Kay's analysis on ESPN, this is what I think of the CC Sabathia deal:

The Yankees probably have targeted CC Sabathia for at least two years now, which is one of the reasons they didn't give up the farm for Santana last year, knowing that Sabathia would be hitting the open market in Winter 2008. Whether or not you agree with Cashman's decision to not give up Hughes and Kennedy, there should be no argument that giving up a draft pick in the 2009 draft is less expensive than giving up both Hughes and Kennedy.

Also keep in mind that Santana's stats and performance was showing that he may have peaked as a pitcher. The number of HRs allowed were going up, his fastball velocity lost a tick. Sabathia on the other hand, is being signed after posting an excellent season, and a track record of being durable and pitch deep into games (despite his physique which I am sure a lot of people are concerned or critical about).

That being said, they absolutely had to land Sabathia because of the gaping holes in their rotation. There was also a recent article about how there won't be another pitcher of Sabathia's caliber hitting the open market for two-three years. Take Jake Peavy for example, teams are locking in successful young pitchers with high ceilings to long term contracts before they can be eligible for free agency in fear of a Santana-Sabathia situation where the team won't be able to afford an multiyear annual $20+ million salary.

Keep in mind there is almost always a New York "premium" or "surcharge" because of our taxes, cost of living, and media. Combined with the supply and demand of ace pitching, the Yankees had to overbid to ensure they signed Sabathia.

I agree with Michael Kay's analysis. He said realistically speaking, with this signing, the Yankees are probably looking for post season contention and at least 1 World Series rings in the next four years. Everything they get after that would be considered as a cherry on top of the sundae. Cashman knows very well that long-term pitching deals rarely pan out (Barry Zito and Kevin Brown for example), and that is why the Yankees have actually stayed away from these kind of deals in the past. However, the last time the New York Yankees signed a pitcher to a deal of this length was Mike Mussina, who provided six years in his initial contract, and was eventually resigned for two more years, providing a total of eight years of excellent pitching . Lets hope CC Sabathia will be the same bang for the buck.