Yankees Sign The Right Guy in Sabathia

By Gary Armida

They still have to dot the “I’s” and cross the “T’s”, but CC Sabathia is going to be a New York Yankee. Sabathia comes to New York on a reported 7 year, $161 million dollar contract, the richest contract ever given to a pitcher. Typically, the baseball world is in shock over the money and bemoaning the fact that the Yankees, in the present economy, spent so much money on a pitcher. And New Yorkers…well, they are doing their typical dance of the expecting the worst case scenario and judging a player before he actually throws a pitch in pinstripes. As the 2009 Yankees begin to shape their roster (they are not even close to done yet-two more starters and a hitter are coming), they actually spent their money quite wisely this year. This is not a Jaret Wright signing. This is not a Kevin Brown long-term contract who the Dodgers signed him to a 7 year, $105 million dollar deal at age 33. This isn’t even an AJ Burnett contract who will undoubtedly get a five year deal close to $90 million despite a colored injury history. No, this is a wise investment on many fronts that should be held in the same regard as the Johan Santana contract. For the first time in quite a while, the Yankees actually made a wise investment in a starting pitcher.

The Need for an Ace

The Yankees have been searching for a number one starter in his prime since they first acquired Mike Mussina in 2001. Mussina was 32 years old at the time and had a tremendous season. But, as Mussina’s prime passed, no Yankees hurler took the number one slot which may explain why they have not won a World Series since 2000. The Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman have tried many different pitching configurations. Cashman has brought in 40+ year olds Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens, thought that a young Javier Vazquez would be the ace of the staff, and signed the likes of Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright to big money contracts. Obviously, none of that has worked. Only Chien Ming Wang has been considered a young starter with potential to be a top of the rotation starter. But, Wang lacks the tools to be a shutdown ace as he relies on his sinker to get batters to make weak contact. Although Wang won 19 games in both 2006 and 2007, his makeup and stuff is suited to the middle of the rotation.

When the Yankees correctly passed on acquiring Johan Santana last winter, they pinned their hopes on Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, both young pitchers who the Twins targeted in the Santana trade talks. As history shows, Hughes and Kennedy didn’t win a game in 2008, Wang was hurt running the bases in an interleague game (can we please just have a DH in interleague games or, better yet, in both leagues), and Andy Pettitte was awful. The Yankees were forced to use Sidney Ponson, Darrell Rasner, Carl Pavano, and Kei Igawa for a combined 43 starts. While many second guess Cashman’s decision not to trade for Santana, this winter allowed his plan to come to fruition.

The Yankees get CC Sabathia without having to trade any players. Sabathia, whether one wants to believe it or not, is in the class of Johan Santana. In fact, over the last two seasons, Sabathia has thrown more innings (494 compared to 453.1), walked less batters (96 compared to Santana’s 115), and struck out more hitters (460 to 441). Their ERA’s and WHIP’s were also close as Sabathia had an ERA of 2.95 and a WHIP of 1.12 while Santana posed an ERA of 2.91 and a WHIP of 1.11. Santana is widely considered the best pitcher in the game (rightfully so), but Sabathia is not far behind him. If one concedes that Santana is the best in the game, then one must concede that Sabathia is a very close second. The Yankees get a dominant left hander who is two years younger than Santana and who has a great track record against the AL east (more on that in a bit). They do this while still holding onto Phil Hughes.

With Sabathia as the number one starter, the Yankees are now able to move Wang into the two or three spot while having Joba Chamberlain fill that other spot. Now, the Yankees can either sign another free agent or two to fill out the rotation or they can give the 5^th position to Phil Hughes.

In terms of their 2009 staff, Sabathia was the pitcher the Yankees had to get. He is the only reliable, dominant pitcher on the market. This now allows the Yankees to matchup with division rivals the Red Sox, Rays, and Blue Jays. For the past few years, the Yankees simply could not do that.

Debunking the Arguments against CC

Many New York area pundits, radio hosts, and fans are harping on a few issues with this deal. First, they dislike that Sabathia supposedly didn’t want to come to New York in the first place. The first question to that is this: does it really matter? He’s here, he’s an excellent pitcher, and he’s a significant upgrade over anyone on the staff. Simply put, he makes the Yankees a better team.  For the first time in his professional life, Sabathia had a choice where to play. If he wanted to play closer to home, he’s earned that right. The fact that he let the money sit on the table for a month doesn’t negate that he will pitch well in the Bronx next season. This doesn’t matter anymore.

The second “concern” is the contract length. Yes, seven years is a long time when projecting a pitcher. Many experts point to Kevin Brown and Mike Hampton as the poster boys for the evils of long term contracts for pitchers. Yes, those two pitchers didn’t work out, but there were other mitigating circumstances that made those signings poor such as age, general managers not looking at the peripheral numbers, and the total number of innings thrown before signing that contract (for a complete breakdown read this). Brown and Hampton didn’t work out because the Dodgers and Rockies committed money to the wrong pitchers. One could point to Mike Mussina as an example of a successful long-term contract. Long-term contracts are wise when given out to the proper people. Johan Santana was a wise investment; CC Sabathia is an investment just as wise. He has never once landed on the disabled list for any type of arm, shoulder, or elbow injury. He’s made at least 28 starts in every season of his career. He’s thrown 20 complete games in the last three seasons. He’s posted ERA’s of 3.22, 3.21, and 2.70 and WHIP’s of 1.173, 1.141, and 1.115 for the last three seasons. His strikeout total has increased in each of the last four seasons. In other words, he has become a dominant pitcher at the age of 28. He’s at the beginning of his prime years and has pitched the majority of his games in the American League (except those 17 starts with the Brewers last season).

The other concern with Sabathia’s contract is the player option after the third year. This was given to Sabathia as a way to get out of New York if he is truly unhappy (which could be possible with the unrealistic expectations of the fans and the foolishness of talk radio). Many are upset that the Yankees would stoop to this to get a player signed. Player options are never really good for teams as the player usually opts out to get another big payday. But, for a team like the Yankees with seemingly unlimited resources, does it really matter? No, it does not matter. If Sabathia does opt out after the third year, the Yankees would have most likely received three stellar years of pitching. They could then decide if re-signing him is worth it just like they did last off season with Alex Rodriguez. If Sabathia decides to stay, the Yankees will have pitcher in his early thirties who can still pitch well even if he is not the ace of the staff (Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes may occupy that spot by then). If the option was the dealmaker, then it is a great move by the Yankees. It allows Sabathia to go out and pitch knowing he did not sign a life sentence to live in New York and it allows the Yankees to have one of the best pitchers in the game on their staff while he is still in his prime.

The popular negative to talk about when Sabathia is concerned is his weight. The Tuesday New York talk radio scene was largely classless when talking about Sabathia’s girth. Yes, Sabathia is a large man who may weigh in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. But, there are a couple of legitimate arguments to be made. The easiest one to make is that Sabathia has been one of the most durable pitchers in the game. He’s been on the disabled list once with a pulled oblique muscle. Last season, pitching at his heaviest, Sabathia was able to single handedly pitch the Brewers in to the playoffs. As fans remember, Sabathia pitched on short rest for the entire month of September. For the record, Sabathia threw to a 2.11 ERA and had 43 strikeouts in 42 innings of work. The weight has never been a problem and wasn’t a problem while being used frequently last season.

Quite frankly, while it may be fill air time with rude fat jokes, there is absolutely zero data on weight and pitching. One could easily point to Carlos Zambrano and more famously David Wells as heavier pitchers who are/were able to succeed for long stretches. There has not been one single weight study and pitching so for a fan or “expert” to say that “Sabathia is ‘fatting’ his way out of the game” is just speaking with absolutely zero proof, logic, or knowledge. The only fact is that Sabathia at 250 pounds, 290 pounds, or however many pounds posts an average season of 15 wins, 222 innings, with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.244 WHIP and has actually improved on those numbers of the last four seasons. Further proof is in looking at his career numbers in the second half. In his eight seasons, Sabathia has posted a 3.39 ERA in the second half of seasons as opposed to a 3.89 in the first half. He’s also struck out 697 batters in the second half as opposed to 696 in the first half. But, that second half total is more significant as that total was compiled in almost 100 less innings. If weight was a problem, a certain decline would predictably occur in the second half of the season. Obviously, that does not happen for Sabathia. Again, at just 28 years old, Sabathia already has had a good career and has the potential to have a great career. The same can be said for just a handful of pitchers in the game. So, the fat jokes may make for a cheap laugh, but since Sabathia has never been hurt or slowed down, they are just baseless and tasteless.

The Worth of Sabathia

The Yankees get the best pitcher on the market who will make a great impact on their staff. First, he will give them 200+ innings and close to 200 strikeouts, something the Yankees lacked in their rotation. Even more importantly, Sabathia has a track record of success against the American League East. For his career, he is 21-8 in 261.1 innings against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rays, and Orioles. In those 261.1 innings, he’s given up 217 hits, just 58 walks along with 212 strikeouts. He has posted an ERA of 2.96 and a WHIP of 1.053 for his career against the four division combatants.  Not only do the Yankees address a weakness on their staff, but they address it with someone who can have a direct impact on their immediate competition.

Given his dependability, his durability, his age, and his career success within the division, the Sabathia signing is the best free agent acquisition the Yankees have had in quite some time.

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