ESPN: Yanks, Sabathia ‘very close’ on deal
River Avenue Blues — ... Update 8:32 a.m.: Early reports this morning featured a New York Post story saying the deal is all but done between Sabathia and the Yanks. ESPN.com has now seemingly confirmed this independently. According to the Worldwide Leader: ...

Surprise: it IS about the money afterall
It's About The Money - A New York Yankees Blog — ... who clearly has questions of her own about whether New York is right for both of them. ...... I asked another baseball man who has known Sabathia for years whether he thought CC could work himself into a New York state of mind, even for $140 million. The answer I got: "Oh, he could play there. He could do it. CC is an amazing guy. There isn't anything he couldn't handle. But I don't think it would be his ideal scenario. Let's put it that way."And the update from ESPN.com wire services updated a whole 5 minutes ago (at 8:42am): ...

'It Moved'
Boston Dirt Dogs — ... The Market Starts to Take Shape As Yanks Reportedly Land The Big Lefty Bronx Bombers Need NYC Bailout to Pay for CC's Deal ESPN Reports 7 Year, $160 Million Deal Brings Sabathia to Yankees Only His Pitching Line Will Look Thin in Pinstripes ProJo: Sabathia Playoff History Isn't a Pretty Picture CC Expected to Eat His Way Out of New York by Year 3 K-Rod Contract Sets the Bar for Jonathan Papelbon Cafardo: Vegas Jackpot Remains Teixeira | SI.com:Yankees in Serious Negotiations with ...

C.C. Sabathia Close To Deal With The Yankees
MKRob's Sports Blog — C.C. Sabathia is close to signing a seven year $160 million dollar deal with the New York Yankees.

Two Reports Say CC Sabathia's Ready to Sign With the Yankees
FanHouse — by Josh Alper Filed under: Yankees, AL East, MLB Rumors, MLB TransactionsThe Yankees epic pursuit of CC Sabathia may finally have reached its end. And, unlike Ahab, they appear to have reeled in their white whale. According to the New York Post and ESPN, Brian Cashman's third meeting with Sabathia on Tuesday night led to a preliminary agreement between club and player. Nothing's finalized just yet, but Jayson Stark's reporting that there are no major road blocks in the way of the ...

Sabathia's playoff history -- It's not pretty
Projo Sox Blog — ... In other news on Sabathia, ESPN the Magazine is now reporting that the left-hander is close to a preliminary agreement worth $160 million over seven years. The original offer made by the team and reported this morning by The New York Post ...

The CC Sabathia Rollercoaster is Finally Over
SimonOnSports — ... And now you wake up this morning and find out that CC and the Yankees have essentially agreed to a 160 million dollar deal over 7 years.

Sabathia Going to NY, Sox Need to Concentrate on Teixeira
The House That Dewey Built — Link The New York Yankees are in the process of adding a heavyweight to their rotation, in the bulbous form of C.C. Sabathia.  It appears to be 7 year deal at $160 million.  All things considered, its a good signing for NY.  They desperately needed an established ace pitcher, and they got just that.  Offering a 7 year deal to a guy with nearly 1,700 innings under his belt might seem insane on its face, but the Yankees have the ability to swallow mistakes if need be, and their 2009 rotation has the potential to be dominant if Phil Hughes rebounds. As Billy ...

STEPHEN CURRY MAY HAVE A FUTURE IN THE NBA
With Leather - Sports news and gossip, panda sex, and the occasional Toonces the driving cat Photoshop — ... MLB – BREAKING!  CC Sabathia is reportedly signing a 7-year, $160M deal with the Yankees.  I don’t understand why it’s a big deal that this is breaking news.  Nobody else was going to pay that much, so it’s not a surprise.  And the season still doesn’t start until April.  So please pardon my dismissive wanking motion. ...

Sabathia to New York for 160 Million? Lowe Next?
Beyond the Box Score — Unofficial, but everyone seems to be confident that it's going to get done. If the deal does indeed finalize as 7 years 160 million, that's roughly 23 million a year, and leaves the Yankees paying for about 4.6 WAR annually. Here's a look at Sabathia's performances over the past three seasons (note: NLRS is strictly over replacement level starters in this case):   ...

Of Course the Yankees Signed Sabathia
The Sporting Blog — ... season for the Yankees. Naturally. Because, after waiting around for a couple weeks for any N.L. team to come anywhere close to what the Yanks could offer (seven years, $160 million), CC gave in, realizing the sad truth in baseball today: There are only a handful of teams that can compete in free agency, and none of them can offer the money New York can. CC never really had a choice. As you'd expect, the Yankees aren’t done winning the December World Series, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark: They have also aggressively pursued A.J. ...

Wednesday (hot stove, Stephen Curry, late leads) edition: Wha’ Happened?
Randball — ... . There would be worse things than having him land here. * CC Sabathia to the Yankees : $160 million for seven years, sayeth Buster Olney. This is one of the few times (if not the only time) we can remember the Yankees getting the best pitcher available on the market. Seriously, it seems like they have always overpaid for pitching with the wrong guys (Javier Vazquez, Carl Pavano, etc.). Is it possible they got both the best pitcher available and overpaid for the wrong guy this time? Wait and see. *Finishing games: What allows one team, or one player, to impose a will and rise ...

I Guess the Yankees Really Wanted That Sabathia Guy
Jorge Says No! — 7 years/$160 million. WOW That's a lot of loot to give to anybody, let alone a starting pitcher. Seven years is unheard of for a starting pitcher (unless your name is Kevin Brown) and is a very risky move. However, there is no doubt that the Yankees needed to get this deal done, at whatever cost. Sabathia is a different kind of pitcher and certainly a different kind of free agent: he is just entering his prime (28 years old). The Yankees finally have the ace they have been lacking, but the pressure is now on Sabathia to deliver in ...

Yankees Land CC Sabathia
RealClearSports - Blog — ... The deal is not officially done, but there are "zero major road blocks" to stop the deal (though, Sabathia would still have to pass a physical). ...

Reports: Sabathia Close To Becoming A Yankee
6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog — Reports from the New York Post, ESPN's Jayson Stark, and Ken Rosenthal all report the Yankees and prize free agent starter C.C. Sabathia have an agreement in principle for a $160M/7-year deal. According to a Jon Heyman piece in Sports Illustrated yesterday, the Angels were never serious about acquiring Sabathia: "We're eventually going to make a decision to move on,'' Moreno said. "We have a B Plan and a C plan.'' And while some Angels baseball people are fantasizing about Sabathia, Moreno suggested Sabathia isn't even the ...

Reports: CC Sabathia is Coming to New York
YanksBlog.com — Reports this morning from Jayson Stark , Jon Heyman , Joel Sherman , Ken Rosenthal and Buster Olney have the Yankees getting what they came for, so to speak, and bringing CC Sabathia to New York. The majority of them indicate that the Yankees have raised their offer, from 6 years and $140 million to 7 years and $160 million. This drops the average annual salary from $23.3 million a year to $22.8. So, an odd $500,000 a year less, with a higher total value. Sabathia hasn't yet put his name on the dotted line, but the various sources say that ...

The Yankees Are Kind Of Stupid
Foul Balls — ... had finally agreed to sign the contract offer the New York Yankees were making him my first thoughts were "Well it's about time, idiot." Not that I think that CC isn't intelligent or anything, but I just found it increasingly ridiculous that anybody could turn down that kind of money when nobody else was offering anything near as much. Throw in the state of the country's economy to the mix, and Sabathia seemed like an even bigger idiot. I mean, that size of a contract means that car companies will start calling CC when they need a handout... ...

The Yankees Are Kind Of Stupid
FanHouse — ... had finally agreed to sign the contract offer the New York Yankees were making him my first thoughts were "Well it's about time, idiot." Not that I think that CC isn't intelligent or anything, but I just found it increasingly ridiculous that anybody could turn down that kind of money when nobody else was offering anything near as much. Throw in the state of the country's economy to the mix, and Sabathia seemed like an even bigger idiot. ...

Sabathia set to take 7 years, $160M for the Yankees: The Zito deal kills the Giants, again
Kawakami — ... probably better off for everybody this way–the Yankees spend the money, everybody else sighs and realizes that, unless you’re the Yankees, paying Yankees-level money is just not wise (hello, Giants with Barry Zito deal!). This is the course of natural baseball events. You can’t compete with the NYYs. When the Yankees are involved and the Yankees are motivated, they get the guy they want by paying him huge money and if they really want him they REALLY pay him huge money. Here’s the ESPN story  this morning about Yankees GM Brian Cashman landing CC Sabathia late last night ...

A Piping Hot Stove Pile of 10 Things I Think Smell Like Shit (12/10/08)
The Bad News Bloggers — ... C.C. You in New York. If you haven't heard already; it appears as though C.C. Sabathia will sign the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history. This will blow away the previous record(s)...all set by the Yankees anyway. Its looking like 7 years and $160 million or almost $23 million per year. Plus Sabathia is rumored to have an opt out clause after three years (and $69 million) so that he can either seek a new team or reup for maybe even more. With this economy (even though the Yankees seem uneffected), I can't imagine him getting a better deal elsewhere until his ...

Winter Meetings News: Wednesday
Raise the Jolly Roger — ... I'm sorry to report that the Pirates lost out on the CC Sabathia sweepstakes. [The Yankees signed him for a paltry $161 million for 7 years]. At least he is out of Milwaukee, the Central, and the NL, so he won't be throwing any [ ...

Links of the Day 12/10/08
The Victoria Times — More bad news for the beard. Gaborik looks to return to practice. Sabathia will be contributing to the further downfall of the Yankees, post haste. Twins rumor of the day.... Mark DeRosa? As a part of a huge Jake Peavy deal?

Retraction: Those Words Don't Taste Good, They Taste Terrible
Respect Jeter's Gangster — "In fact, the Yankees had begun to send signals that if Sabathia didn't accept their offer soon, they were ready to pull it off the table and move on. But all that became a moot point late Tuesday night, when Cashman was able to satisfy the Sabathias that they could play and live happily in New York." (Source). ...

Stop Telling Me That Sabathia's Contract is the Largest Ever for a Pitcher
Royals Review — To take one of an endless number of availible examples: Sources told Olney that, to get the deal completed, the Yankees added a seventh year to their original six-year, $140 million offer, bringing the total package to seven years and $161 million -- at $23 million a season, by far the biggest contract for any pitcher in history. Really? You mean that Sabathia is going to get paid more in raw dollars than someone in the 1970s? The 1980s? The 1990s? Wow, that is so helpful to know. Relevant and noteworthy too. ...

Josh's Corner: Oh me, oh my, Winter Meetings
tonyblogs.net - Sports news, humor, videos and prognostications. — ... the last two seasons don't happen for a third time. Not only did they sign K-Rod to a nice deal, they also traded for Mariners closer J.J. Putz, who had 76 saves combined in ‘06 and ‘07. Putz was injured last year but anyone who has seen his stuff knows it’s dirty. He’s got a wicked curve and a nice fastball and as low as he keeps his stuff in the zone, it'll be like the game will be over for the Mets after the 7th inning. The Yankees: They got their guy. CC signed for an insane amount and Christmas will be nice around the Sabathia household. ...

Sabathia signing renews Sox-Yankees rivalry
Red Sox Monster — What's an extra $21 million among friends? Not much, if you're the Yankees. That's the big takeaway from their dramatic signing of ace CC Sabathia , a 6-foot-9 battletank of pain who has ...

MLB Weekly: New York Yankees Sign C.C. Sabathia & A.J. Burnett, Raul Ibanez, K-Rod, & More
Hip 2 Da Game — New York Yankees: The Yankees are moving full speed ahead this offseason being very aggressive after missing the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. They signed pitcher C.C. Sabathia to a 7 year, $161 million contract and also pitcher A.J. Burnett to a ...

AJ Hits the Jackpot!
Yankees Chick — ... liked him*) and will likely do much better than that. He hasn't had an ERA over 3.22 since 2005 or a WHIP over 1.3 since 2004, and he hasn't been slacking off: he pitched over 240 innings in each of the last two years and has never appeared in fewer than 28 games in a season (his 8-season average is 34 games per season). Better yet, he's still a relative youngster at 28. Eight years of primarily healthy, 3.66 ERA pitching and you're not even 30? Here you go sir, this is a bag full of money, please come wear our jersey and stand on our mound. ...