Off Day Linkage 7/7
Twins Fix — ... But Sabathia is now closing in on his 28th birthday and his 250th career start. It might take him an outing or two to get settled, or maybe it'll take him a few innings. But he'll get there, and he'll have an impact on the division and the league in the three or four months he'll spend with the Brewers, and he will love to hit -- Sabathia takes a career .300 average into the NL, and recently he hammered a 440-foot homer in Dodger Stadium. " ...

Sabathia’s Web Guy Owns Photoshop
Toledo Newspaper » Matt Sussman — ... Phew. Good thing they shared a common color jersey. You don’t want to have to get into magic wand-RGB level manipulation just yet. And couldn’t it have waited until tonight, when the man actually pitches for Milly-wau-kay? Just because ESPN already ’shopped him in an M’s hat doesn’t mean every Brewers fan has carte blance to throw their 48-hour level of patience out the bay window. After all, Indians fans have well over 48 years of patience. ...

Oliver Perez Stat
Dom D's Mets Fan Blog — ... struck out eight Nationals batters on Thursday, giving him 978 strikeouts before he turns 27 years old tomorrow. The only active left-hander with that many strikeouts before turning 27 is CC Sabathia (1,060). ...

With Playoffs Virtually Assured, Red Sox Aim for Division Title
Sports of Boston — ... Injuries, inconsistent pitching, and the mid-season trade of CC Sabathia contributed to the expectations miss.  However, the team is getting healthy and ...

A Note on Scheduling
It's Mets For Me: Off-Beat, Tangentially Relevant Mets Ruminations — ... (14-6) Thu, Sep 25 Cubs 7:10 PM Martinez (5-6)Harden (10-2) Fri, Sep 26 Florida 7:10 PM Pelfrey (13-10)Volstad (5-4) Sat, Sep 27 Florida1:10 PM Niese or somebody (1-1)Nolasco (15-7) Sun, Sep 28Florida1:10 PMSantana (15-7)Olsen (8-11) And Espn.com reports that the Brewers will be adhering to the following schedule: Wed, Sep 24 Pittsburgh 8:05 PM Sabathia (15-10) Maholm (9-8) Thu, Sep 25 Pittsburgh 8:05 PM Sabathia ...

Red Sox Push Rays to Limit, Fall Short
Sports of Boston — ... in star power compared to the Phillies, but have more contributors, specifically in the starting rotation and bullpen. With only three games in Philadelphia, Tampa should have the slightest of edges in what should be a seven-game World Series. Aftermath The Red Sox offseason will offer up some storylines, not the least of which will be the free agency of Jason Varitek and potential replacement at catcher.  The Yankees will be making plays on Manny Ramirez and CC Sabathia and the Orioles will make a run at hometown free agent Mark Teixeira.  The ...

World Serious
WCBias | West Coast Bias Sports Blog | West Coast Sports News by West Coast Sports Fans, Covering Los Angeles Lakers, Dodgers and All Things West Coast — ... * Free agents the Dodgers should sign: CC Sabathia. Everybody knows he wants to stay on the West Coast and why sign with the arthritic and decrepit Angels? Other than the fact that they will win the AL West for the next five years of course? Come on, McCourt, back that truck up and let’s see if we can come within $30MM of what the Yankees are going to offer and see if he’ll bite. ...

Tim Kurkjian On The Yankees
Your New York Sports Blog — ... They will be very aggressive in trying to upgrade their club for 2009, the first year of their new stadium. GM Brian Cashman, who was re-signed for three more years, will not trade his best young kids, so that means Hank Steinbrenner is likely to heavily pursue free agents. The Yankees need pitching, and the best free-agent pitcher is CC Sabathia. Or maybe they’ll try to get two pitchers for the price of one Sabathia and sign free agents ...

Breaking down the Cy Young candidates
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... will win, or even fare particularly well. I don't think CC Sabathia will win, either, though I think he'll fare better than Lidge. My little man's telling me that Lincecum's going to edge Webb and Sabathia, with Santana winding up with one of the more impressive fourth-place Cy Young seasons you'll ever see.

Awards and More Awards
Baseball Analysts — ... developed by Bill James. Neyer sees Cliff Lee narrowly beating Francisco Rodriguez in the AL and looks for Tim Lincecum to edge out Brandon Webb and Johan Santana in the NL. Like Neyer, I would go with Lee and either Lincecum or Santana with a slight preference for the Giants righthander. In addition to Webb, look for Brad Lidge and C.C. Sabathia to round out the top five in the NL. Roy ...

Yankees make historic offer to Sabathia. They have Burnett and Lowe on radar
Zell's Pinstripe Blog — ... officially tendered an offer to free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia . The offer is expected to be six years in length and have a total value of slightly more than the record $137.5 million deal that pitcher ...

A Word About Value - Pt. I
The Angry Bench Coach — ... me just start by saying this -- here is one dude you cannot overpay for. He's a switch hitter. He's a solid defender at first. He is a masher. He is, by all accounts, a good guy. He is, for the most part, the model of consistency. If you get Tex on a bad year, he goes .300, 30 HR, 110 RBI. And the dude is about to turn 29. It seems to me like you could lock him up easy for about $15 million, 5-7 years. That would be the low end, but I can see him going for a little more. 2) CC Sabathia - P. Age: 28. 2008 Salary: $11 Million. ...

Sabathia Offer Has a Deadline
Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog — Hal's been the boss for less than a day now and he's already making his presence felt. From ESPN: CC Sabathia will have a deadline to accept the New York Yankees' contract proposal. "We've made him an offer. It's not going to be there forever," Hal Steinbrenner said Thursday after he was approved as the team's new controlling owner during a meeting at Major League Baseball headquarters. Greg Genske, Sabathia's agent, did not return a telephone message seeking comment. I don't know ...

Monday Mendozas
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... Huston Street was a little shaky last year. But he's got a 2.88 career ERA while pitching in the Big Boy League. With the exception of a DL stint in 2007 and a few extra walks in '08, he's been consistently excellent. I'm not saying he's better than Kerry Wood. But he's better than 41-year-old Trevor Hoffman, and if you've got both of them, you'd want Street getting more of the high-leverage innings. • What happens if the Yankees don't sign A.J. Burnett , Derek Lowe or CC Sabathia ? I still think they'll sign at least one of those guys. But apparently it's no ...

Angels would gain a few wins with CC
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — Posted by Rob Neyer Remember when everybody said CC Sabathia might as well be fitted for pinstripes? Well, according to Ken Davidoff, ...

Cash to meet CC?
Pinstripe Alley — ... Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met Thursday with agent Scott Boras and planned to get together this weekend with free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia ahead of the winter meetings. ...

C.C.’s Agent Requests Meetings With Yanks, Red Sox
Zell's Pinstripe Blog — ... : The much-ballyhooed face-to-face meeting between Yankees GM Brian Cashman and CC Sabathia was finally scheduled to kick off Sunday night in Las Vegas, according to a baseball source with knowledge of the meeting. But it wasn’t Cashman who requested this close encounter. It was actually Sabathia’s agent, Greg Genske, who asked to meet with the Yankees, the source said. Even more interesting is the fact that Genske also requested a meeting with the Red Sox delegation to discuss Sabathia. That session is now expected to take place sometime Monday. The Red Sox aren’t currently ...

Cashman Meets With CC
Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog — ... club has enough money to sweeten the pot and offer "contract flexibility" that could include an opt-out clause after three seasons.This may or may not hurt the Yankees chances. They still have a much larger offer on the table and I'm sure if it meant signing him or not they could add the same sort or contract flexibility that the Brewers are offering. UPDATE 11:05 a.m.: Buster Olney says that "the meeting between the Yankees and CC Sabathia is characterized by a source as having gone 'great.'" From Bill Madden ...

Thursday Throneberries
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... the team needed a proven winner who doesn't actually have a job, and that's Davey Johnson to a T. The shortstop, though? All I know is that if I were managing the Japanese or the Cubans or the Dominicans, I'd be a lot more scared of Jimmy Rollins or J.J. Hardy . • How Wade Boggs' 3,000th hit led to Doug Glanville meeting Tyra Banks (with a small-but-essential appearance by our man Jayson Stark). • Analyzing from Las Vegas , Joe Sheehan believes that CC Sabathia 's "build" makes him too big a risk, and that if Francisco Rodriguez 's ...

Red Sox Hot Stove: Winter Shopping List
Sports of Boston — ... The major presents have just begun to be opened this offseason with K-Rod signing in Queens and CC Sabathia set to put on pinstripes.  With the Yankees also upping their offer to ...

Friday Filberts
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — Posted by Rob Neyer Today's links were compiled while I was still feeling happy and lucky immediately after seeing this movie … • Best. Story. Ever. • You know how CC Sabathia is listed at 290 pounds here ? And 250 pounds here ? Well, we have a new figure: 311 pounds . At the beginning of a seven-year contract. I'm just saying. • Did Ryan Howard actually deserve all that MVP support he got? Well, no. But is it possible that he was a lot more valuable than we thought? Well, maybe. • As Joe Posnanski points out -- in his ...

Too many dollars, too many years for Burnett
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — Posted by Rob Neyer Writing in the New York Observer, Howard Megdal really likes the CC Sabathia deal. A.J. Burnett , though? Not so much : I completely agree with Megdal's reservations about Burnett's performance. He's not reliable, and the Yankees have pretty obviously overpaid. Too many dollars, too many years. If the Yankees wanted an impressive fifth starter, they probably could have spent a little less money for a slightly better pitcher. But what's a few million dollars to the Yankees? As for Hughes and Kennedy and Aceves, not one of them has yet proved ...

Little change in Teixeira talk
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... got from the Tigers before last season as a baseline for negotiations, and Boras makes the points that Teixeira is a leader and also a free agent (Cabrera had two years to go before free agency when he signed that Tigers deal). Teixeira is also drawing interest from the Nationals, Orioles, Red Sox, Mariners, Yankees and Giants, among others. One owner predicted Teixeira and CC Sabathia are two players who will get their price even in the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Will Sabathia and Burnett Push the Yankees Past the Red Sox?
Sports of Boston — ... The Yankees made the first big splashes of the Hot Stove Season with the $161 million signing of CC Sabathia and $82 million contract for ...

What’s next for the Yankees? Ramirez and Pettitte targeted next
Zell's Pinstripe Blog — ... the Yankees so he can get at the Red Sox,” a close friend of Ramirez’s told The Post. Now wouldn’t you want a guy who wants to get at the Sox? hahaha [image] 2008 Regular Season Stats: Manny: (36 years-old)  552AB  .332AVG  102R  183H  37HR  121RBI  .430OBP  .601SLG  Teixeira: (28 years-old)  574AB  .308AVG  102R  177H  33HR  121RBI  .410OBP   .552SLG————————————————————————————————————- Other headlines.. from ESPN.Com : Sabathia to get $9.5M from Yankees before season opener CC Sabathia will receive $9.5 million from the New York Yankees before he throws his ...

Inside the Mind of a Free Agent
Dugout Central — ...   He was coming off one of his worst seasons but expected, based upon his past history, to get a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract from a team.  He waited.  And waited.  The market never developed.  “It was the wrong year to be a free agent,” he said.  Is that what’s happened during this 2008 and soon-to-be 2009 off season?  Is this the wrong year to be a free agent?  Is more than just our economic climate to blame?  Carsten Charles Sabathia signed a record deal for pitchers.  Alan ...

Teixeira's Decision To Come Today?
Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog — ... Still, it's possible that the Yankees have remained in the negotiations to nudge the Red Sox, in the same way that the Red Sox loomed on the fringes of the CC Sabathia contract talks to keep their rival honest in the bidding. ...

Conventional wisdom says Yanks team to beat
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... . Just like that, the conventional wisdom is now going to be that the Yankees are the team to beat. You know what, though? I'm here to tell you that the conventional wisdom … is, as usual, exactly right. Of course the Yankees are the team to beat. The Yankees won 89 games this past season, and they've added the best pitcher in the majors and the ...

Yankees' $10M offer to Pettitte not too shabby
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... Yankees each of the previous two years and hoped to match that salary this year. The 36-year-old's grievances with the Yankees feature, most prominently, these three sentiments, according to people familiar with his thinking: 1. Pettitte believes that the Yankees should display more appreciation for all that he has done for them. 2. While the Yankees are asking that Pettitte take a pay cut, the team clearly is not hurting financially, given its large investments in Teixeira, CC Sabathia and ...

Have the Cards really missed on any free agents?
Pitchers Hit Eighth :: A St. Louis Cardinals blog — ... Dollars Mark Teixeira, 1B Signed (A) LA Angels NY Yankees 8 $180,000,000 CC Sabathia, SP Signed (A) Milwaukee NY Yankees 7 ...

Red Sox Rolling the Dice on Baldelli, Smoltz
Sports of Boston — The Red Sox may have missed on the big fish this offseason in Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia, and Derek Lowe and saw the Yankees sign the first three, however, they have not stopped bringing in veterans to fill holes in the roster.  They signed Brad Penny to bolster the rotation and Josh Bard to help fill the catching void.  Now, they have signed Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli and appear on the brink of signing John Smoltz.  While the Yanks were writing long-term, long-dollar contracts, the Sox offers have ...

More Calls from Within for a Cap
Ban Baseball — ... no question that, a market like Pittsburgh, a salary cap would be advantageous," Pirates owner Bob Nutting said. "And if that were a direction that the industry were moving, it would be advantageous to Pittsburgh, but it can't be the primary focus of how we're running our business this year and next year and the following year. We need to stay focused in the real world and not use that as an excuse." Not all owners are critical of the Yankees' acquisition of pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett and infielder Mark Teixeira. "I've been asked about the ...

Carmona could be held out of WBC; Quoting Galore
The Tribe Daily — ... and CC Sabathia combined with some depth-oriented drafts have filled out this system over the past two years, although it's arguable how many impact guys the Indians have after Carlos Santana. A healthy Adam Miller, who has No. 1 starter stuff, would have had them a little higher on the list. They are one of a half-dozen teams whose prospect lists genuinely run 12 to 15 names deep. ...

Yankees trying again with pitching
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... then spent two seasons pitching himself out of the majors. Sure, he "led" the Cardinals to a World Championship … and in the same season he went 8-14 with a 5.76 ERA. I suspect he just wasn't all that good. I don't mean to suggest that the Yankees didn't mishandle any of those guys, or that some of them really couldn't handle the pressure of pitching for the Yankees. But the real problem is that the Yankees kept getting pitchers who were old, or injury-prone, or just not real good. CC Sabathia is none of those things. ...

How CC, A.J. go, so will go the Yankees
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — I guess we had to know that the first time CC Sabathia got knocked around in spring training, we'd be favored with a story like this : Well, that's a little scary, because … wait, what? A "Yankee person" said that? What kind of Yankee person, exactly? Assistant visiting clubhouse attendant? Vice president, strength and conditioning (legs)? This guy ? For years now, we've been seeing quotes like this attributed to a team "executive," which of course could mean just about anything. But "person" … well, that's a new one on me. Sabathia is probably going to be ...

Tigers taking a big chance with Porcello
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... to break camp in the big club's rotation -- Porcello is not generally considered one of the game's premier pitching prospects. Not by everyone, anyway. In Baseball America's Prospect Handbook, the three editors list him as the 10th-, ninth- and 11th-best pitching prospect. For whatever reasons, not a single 20-year-old started more than 20 games or pitched more than 99 innings in the 1990s. In the current decade, though, six pitchers have done both: Rick Ankiel (2000), CC Sabathia (2001), Jeremy Bonderman (2003), Zack Greinke (2004), Felix ...

Saturday's Scores: Now with DL News!
Home Run Trot — ... : CC Sabathia adjusted after his disappointing Opening Day start in Baltimore, resulting in a win over the Royals. He made an effort to put his right foot down quicker and took a shutout into the 8th inning. He gave up 6 hits, all singles, and struck out 6. ...

Line of the Night #1: Jose Veras and Damaso Marte Are Not Fans of the New Yankee Stadium
Jorge Says No! — ... Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA C Sabathia 5.2 5 1 1 5 4 0 122-70 3.57 E ...

Thursday's Scores: The House that Derek Jeter Built
Home Run Trot — ... come apart. The 7th inning was the decider. Jhonny Peralta broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run double off Jose Veras, and Grady Sizemore hit a grand slam into the right-field seats off Damaso Marte in what became a nine-run Indians inning. Veras now has an albatross-like 13.50 ERA. Angry fans taunted the Yankees with chants of, "We want Swisher!" Yankees batters stranded 10 runners in the first five innings, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. CC Sabathia pitched 5.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and five walks. He struck out ...

More Early Returns: Rain-Shortened in Boston, Walk-Off in New York
Home Run Trot — ... hit a two-run home run in the 14th inning to give the Yankees the win after the A's scored two runs in the 7th inning to tie the game at 7. Cabrera went 2-for-6 with two home runs and three RBI. The Yankees overcame another shaky outing from CC Sabathia on a rainy afternoon that featured five more home runs. Sabathia gave up seven runs, with six of them earned, in 6.2 innings. He struck out only two while giving up six hits and four walks. Oakland's ...

Monday's Scores: Bombs Away!
Home Run Trot — ... pitched like the ace the Tigers expect him to be, and notched his first victory of 2009. CC Sabathia did not do the same for the Yankees. Verlander had a season-high nine strikeouts and ...

“The Don” vs. “The Dick” (as in Randy of course). What I would have loved to ask “Dick”
Kansas City Wizards — ... you can come back to. 4. So “Dick” is your attack on “The Don” a result of the fact that soccer actually is growing in popularity in the U.S and is and always will be the World’s sport. Where names such as Beckham, Pele, Maradona, Messi and Ronaldhino are know globally and are the image of top athletes (even here in the U.S; known even by soccer hating ignorants like yourself who mentioned the Spice boy) while names such as A-Rod, Texeira, CC, and Jeter barely break the hemispherical border (while at the same time breaking ...

Johnson Is Next, and Possibly Last, in Line to Win 300
Bats — ... difficult it is to even be on pace for 300 victories. For instance, the Mets’ Johan Santana is perhaps one of the most dominant starters in the game. But through age 29, which includes last season, but not this one, he has 109 victories. Compare that with Glavine, who had 124 at 29 or Seaver, who had 146. Toronto’s Roy Halladay, another top pitcher over the last few years, had only 95 victories through age 29. One of the active pitchers who may be on pace is the Yankees’ left-hander C.C. Sabathia , who had 117 victories through last season, which began when he was 27. That ...

Around The Halo 7/10/09
Angelswin.com - Los Angeles Angels Blog — ... If my family was from the West Coast I'd probably still be an Angel. But family is very important to me and I hope people can understand that." Good luck with that one Mark. Up Next : Yankees at Angels TV: FS-W (Fri), FOX 11 (Sat), KCOP 13 (Sun) RADIO: KLAA 830, KFWB, KWKW 1330 Friday : Joba Chamberlain (4-2, 4.04) vs Joe Saunders (8-5, 4.44) Saturday : Andy Pettitte (8-4, 4.53) vs Jered Weaver (9-3, 3.15) Sunday : C.C. Sabathia (8-5, 3.70) vs John Lackey (3-4, 5.18) ...

Bumgarner's debut: 'Where's the heat?'
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... popped into my head. Last season, Bumgarner struck out 10.4 batters per nine innings. This season, he has somehow struck out only 6.5 per nine innings. Also, his walk rate almost doubled. So, what changed? There might be a clue here, from that same Baseball America report of last winter: Will he need a changeup, really? Well, sure. Even CC Sabathia throws 15-20 changeups per game. So does ...

Crasnick Looks At Pitcher's Workloads
Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog — ... first inning was a sure-fire bullpen-taxer. Although the Yankees remain committed to starting Chamberlain, it's become apparent that he's temperamentally better suited to the bullpen, in a Jonathan Papelbon-Brett Myers sort of way. "He just runs so much on emotion," said an AL executive. "That's his personality. He can't help it." The Yankees would like to extend Chamberlain to six innings by the end of the regular season so he can slide in behind CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte in the postseason rotation. But after ...

Cards duking it out for Cy Young
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... who, like Greinke has the lowest ERA in his league but only 13 wins, thanks to lousy run support. Yes, I understand the differences. Wainwright leads his league with 18 wins and has the third-best ERA, while CC Sabathia leads his league with just 17 wins and has the eighth-best ERA (well more than a run higher than Greinke's). If you don't like 15-game winners as Cy Young candidates, it's a lot easier to justify ignoring Lincecum than Greinke, because Lincecum's only real edge over the two Cardinals is strikeouts. And even there, his 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio is ...

Making sense of Granderson's slump
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... on balls in play is absurdly low, as we would expect that figure to hover somewhere between .300 and .320. That's the other, probably bigger, part of the problem. So the batting average will come back, next year if not sooner. Granderson's problems with left-handed pitchers probably aren't going to change, though. Yes, he's particularly struggling this season. But in his career he's got just a .270 on-base percentage against the southpaws. With the Tigers likely to face both CC Sabathia and ...

Greinke takes Cy Young lead!
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... and CC Sabathia . Those rankings can change quickly, though; before beating the Red Sox last night, Greinke was slightly behind those other two guys. Sabathia's going to pick up four more bonus points for the Yankees' division title, which would (as things stand now) tie him with Hernandez, just two points behind Greinke. From there, it's all about the wins and losses. Each of these guys is going to start twice more, and I suspect that whoever wins both starts will wind up at the top of the Predictor. If the Cy Young ballots were due today, I've little doubt that Greinke ...

Game 155: Red Sox at Yankees
yankeesdaily.com — ... NEW YORK Daisuke Matsuzaka 3-5, 6.80 Last appearance: 9/20 at BAL 5.1 IP, 3 ER Dec = Win CC Sabathia 18-7, 3.31 Last appearance: 9/19 at SEA 7.0 IP, 0 ER Dec ...

Still fighting over Cy Young in AL
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — Well, last night the Cy Young situation got clearer in the American League, but murkier in the National League. With CC Sabathia 's ...

Indians: Cleveland Indians outfielder Matt LaPorta has surgeries on hip, toe
Ohio Sports Report — ... . The team said he will need four to six months to recover. The Indians hope LaPorta will be ready for the start of the 2010 season. LaPorta was Cleveland's key acquisition in the deal that sent CC Sabathia to the ...

What's next for the Dodgers?
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... National League. That's pretty good. Sure, you'd like to see him issue fewer walks and pitch seven innings per start rather than six. But he doesn't turn 22 until next spring and presumably has some unrealized potential. Oh, and if that doesn't work out, Billingsley is only 24 and has a 3.55 career ERA. No guarantees, obviously. But I wouldn't bet against one of those guys getting into a Cy Young discussion at some point in the next two or three seasons. Everybody wants their own CC Sabathia or Lee or ...

Yankees spend wisely, and win
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... : When the Yankees got Giambi, he was 31. Nevertheless, he finished fifth in the MVP balloting in his first year with the club and enjoyed three more excellent seasons. Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson both pitched well for the Yankees, but both were well past their primes when the Yankees acquired them. This, of course, is the difference. CC Sabathia and ...

Their Time Is Now
Angelswin.com - Los Angeles Angels Blog — ... it's been Ervin Santana who has come out of the pen and pitched real well. Perhaps it's "Magic" who should be called upon to get the final 3 outs. Game 6 @ Yankee Stadium : 4:57PM PDT TV: FOX RADIO: KLAA 830, KFWB, ESPN Radio, KWKW 1330 Joe Saunders vs. Andy Pettitte Game 7 (if necessary) @ Yankee Stadium : 5:20PM PDT TV: FOX RADIO: KLAA 830, KFWB, ESPN Radio, KWKW 1330 Jered Weaver vs. C.C. Sabathia ...

Yankees-Phillies 2009 World Series Preview and TV Schedule
Midwest Sports Fans — ... Therefore my prediction is that if New York takes a 2-0 lead, it’s over. But if Philly can steal one in The Bronx — i.e. if AJ Burnett comes out flat — I’ll take the Phils, perhaps in just five games. At least this series will draw huge TV ratings. They’ve already been through the roof this postseason, in spite of all the unnecessary days off between and during series. Last thought: where would the Yankees be without the capital to acquire Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Burnett, three of the five main keys to their success ...

Kneejerk Reactions: Game 1
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... ? But I'll go with Utley, because while everyone expected Lee to pitch well -- if not quite this well -- who thought that Utley could hit two homers against CC Sabathia , who hadn't given up a home run to a left-handed hitter in nearly three months ? And even if Lee had given up three runs rather than one, the Phillies still would have won. Goat: Rob Neyer. How could that idiot predict an easy World Series for the Yankees? Turning Point: In the bottom of the sixth with a runner on first base, Lee not only caught ...

World Series Game Four: Yankees at Phillies
yankeesdaily.com — ... Pitching Matchup NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA CC Sabathia 0-1, 2.57 Last appearance: 10/28 vs PHI 7.0 IP, 2 ER Dec = Loss Joe Blanton ...

Kneejerk Reactions: Game 4
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... ). Good Move: With Howard representing the tying run in the seventh inning and CC Sabathia having thrown 102 pitches, Girardi summoned ...

Slow it down and beautify it
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... are giving Major League Baseball pause, too. Posada and pals visited pitcher CC Sabathia eight times -- in a single inning -- on Sunday night, grinding Game 4 of the World Series to a standstill. Agitated Phillies fans booed each trip. MLB vice president of umpiring Mike Port said frequent mound meetings by all teams likely would be discussed by baseball officials this offseason. --snip-- Yankees pitcher ...

Kneejerk Reactions: Game 6
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... lurking in the bullpen, Utley's checked-swing third strike sucked nearly all of the life out of any potential comeback. Good Move: Obviously, Joe Girardi's decision to use only three starters in the World Series "worked" because the Yankees won the World Series. Nobody pitched brilliantly on short rest -- CC Sabathia got lifted in the seventh inning, ...

Yes, the Yankees are filthy rich
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... . And even though I know I'm not supposed to, I couldn't help getting a little worked up. That's just how good Joe is. And then I came to this: The Conventional Wisdom, I think, is that last winter the Yankees really broke the bank when they signed CC Sabathia and ...

Should the Brewers Sign John Lackey?
Jorge Says No! — ... "Remember, it was only a year ago when Milwaukee offered CC Sabathia a $100 million deal, so the Brewers clearly are prepared to pay big dollars for a big-time starting pitcher. And they have a clear need: Even with rising star ...

Throwing out the Joba Rules
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... he'd thrown so many high-stress innings. I'm not saying he won't pitch more innings next year, but the increase will be significant only if he also pitches better . Meanwhile, Hughes also limited himself by posting a 5.45 ERA in seven starts. I suspect that if he'd done better in that role, he would have been the Yankees' No. 5 starter in the second half of the season. What Cashman's saying, I think, is simply that as the Yankees try to come up with three starters to compliment Sabathia , ...