There’s no defending Manu!
February 14, 200802/15 Morning Minute: Is Anybody Out There?
February 15, 2008Tribe Ace Sets Aside Contract Talks
Look up the definition of ‘bad news’ in the dictionary. As the Indians pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training today, CC Sabathia made news on his own. In a statement on his own personal website, Sabathia has said that he will not discuss a contract extension during the season, and all negotiations will be put on hold until after the season. The statement may be brief, but the message rings loudly. The Indians’ window to sign Sabathia just got significantly smaller. Sabathia’s statement reads,
” This off-season, through my representatives at Legacy Sports Group, I have discussed the possibility of a contract extension with the Cleveland Indians. At this time, we haven’t been able to reach agreement. Now that the reporting date for spring training is here, it is time to put aside contract discussions so that I can focus all of my energies and attention on preparing for the upcoming season.
I look forward to a successful 2008 season, both for myself and for the Indians as a whole. I will do everything within my power to help the club to its first World Series appearance since 1997 and its first World Series Championship since 1948.
There will be time after the season for the Indians and my representatives to discuss my contract status. I remain hopeful that these discussions will result in a contract extension that will keep me with the franchise for many years to come. In the meantime, in order to avoid any distractions, my representatives and I will not make any further comment about my contractual situation beyond this statement.”
This is unfortunate for the Tribe because right now, their biggest advantage in signing the big fella was that they were the only team who could negotiate with him. Once the season ends, the Indians will have a brief time period as the sole team that can negotiate with Sabathia. But once that initial signing period ends, Sabathia will be fair game to the entire market, and all the teams will then be able to throw all the years and money they want at Sabathia.
There’s no doubt this is not a good thing for the Tribe. But it doesn’t mean it’s 100% over. There have been plenty of instances in baseball history where a player said he would not negotiate during the season, but a deal still got done. In fact, Travis Hafner’s deal came about that way. I think Mark Shapiro will continue talking to Sabathia’s agents during the season, and if the Indians ever make an offer that Sabathia’s agents think he would consider, they’ll pass it on to him.
This definitely creates a lot of uncertainty, and it certainly casts a large shadow of doubt on the chances of Sabathia playing for the Indians in 2009. This also makes the first couple months of the season enormous. If the Tribe stumbles out of the gate and finds themselves in a big hole, the organization will be forced to make some hard choices, including the decision on whether or not to start looking to trade Sabathia. Regardless of what happens, this much I am sure of….no matter how much Sabathia believes this announcement will put the story to rest for the remainder of the season, it won’t. This story will not be going anywhere and it’s going to hang over the team until there is some kind of resolution.
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14 Comments
Looks like we have another option to go under “Waiting For Next Year.”
I don’t know why I’m not surprised by this. The Dodgers are likely thrilled by this news…
overheard inside the Indians’ spring training clubhouse…
So I guess there’s only one thing left to do…win the whole freakin’ thing…(Grady Sizemore starts slow clap….)
Hahaha, nice.
At this point, I give the Tribe about a 10% chance of resigning CC after the season. Just like Manny & Thome, someone else will offer more money for more years & CC will not be able to pass it up. Most likely, it’ll be the Dodgers or Angels…CC has always wanted to be back on the West Coast. I would seriously consider trading him before the season is up or lose another stud & get nothing in return. Same story for the Tribe.
I can’t disagree more about trading CC. Unless the Indians are waaaaayyyyy out of the race let’s ride this train. I’d rather see them make a run at other players at the All-Star break to try and load up before Sabathia departs…let’s win something for a change instead of holding our cards close and never taking a chance!
I’m with Mark on this one. We all know that Dolan won’t pony up and pay him. Don’t let him go for nothing, get something in return. Why would you let a guy whose been here all that time, that you can’t re-sign, walk away? Especially when you can get something for him.
So that we have a chance to win once? What are you going to get for Sabathia’s rental services for the year? A couple of prospects for three or four years from now? That’ll be great. Then when we have assembled a team in 2011 that has a chance to compete are we going to turn around and trade Grady Sizemore so that we don’t lose him without getting something in return? You don’t win the World Series that way.
I think it all depends. If the Indians win the World Series, he won’t be walking away for nothing. If the Indians do trade him, they will not win the World Series. So I can see why the Tribe would want to take the risk and hang onto him for the season. But if they get anywhere near 10 games back prior to the deadline, then in that case Shapiro has to look at some potential deals to get something back.
It’s a tough situation to be in either way I think. Being an Indians fan, I’ve seen my share of home grown talent leave for greener pastures. It’s not a fun feeling. The worst part is, we didn’t get anything to show for any of them. A few World Series appearances, but no title. I think if we do get there, we can beat any team from the NL. But it’s such a crap shoot to even know that we will get there. In one of the toughest divisions in baseball, we still have the Yankees and Red Sox to deal with. Not to mention the Mariners and Angels, both of whom will be pretty good this year. ESPN said today the Indians had a four-year deal worth $17-$18 million per on the table. How much more do you think he’s gonna want. I’m pretty sure they can’t go much higher.
it’s the years that Sabathia is looking for. I think he’d take $18 per if it was a 6 year deal.
Why wouldn’t they just put it on the table then? They were willing to do something along those lines for Manny.
More on trading CC- this from the PD-
“Not only did Santana’s deal set a precedent for Sabathia’s future contract, but for his trade value as well. Four prospects, none of them major-league ready, wouldn’t help the Indians defend their AL Central title. The Twins received Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber for Santana.
The deals that Boston and the Yankees offered for Santana late last year – containing big-league players such as Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester – are apparently no longer available.”
Well, lets see what happens when one of them is trailing the other at the trade deadline. I tend to believe the 2nd place team would consider sweetening the deal a bit. But this doesn’t change my opinion that CC should not be on the block right now and the Indians should still be doing everything in their power to get an extension done, no matter what CC says about not wanting to talk about it anymore.
Why wouldn’t they just throw it out there then? That’s what I don’t get. If you know what he wants, give it to him and get it done. I have know that if I were a GM that’s what I’d do. I also agree with RockKing on this one. It doesn’t really matter what the PD says. Come the all star break, a team that’s down will be willing to part with some ready talent.