CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Melky's Impending Departure

Wow, that was a busy week. As predicted, the Yankees wound up signing CC Sabathia, for a contract within about 0.6% of the total amount I estimated a couple of weeks ago , albeit for one less year than I thought. The signing came as little surprise to anyone, excepting perhaps Los Angeles GM Ned Colletti, who apparently had an imaginary encounter in which Sabathia professed to want to play for him . When push came to shove, apparently it was about the money, stupid, as Jason Rosenberg will tell you . Also as expected, it is the largest total and largest average value for any pitcher's contract in history. The unexpected thing is that there is a player option to get out of the contract after just three years, after which the Yankees will have spent "only" $69 million on him, and after which he will be 32 and perhaps starting to (or about to) decline. That is where the real issue lies, though. While some people have posited that the opt-out clause is actually a good thing for the ... (link)