CC willing to stay long-term?

[fondybrewfan]

I think CC will be gone but I still thyink we will sign Sheets at 4-5 years at roughly $17MM a year. And IMO the days that a pitcher gets a 7 year deal are long gone, just like Zito's career. There is just now way CC is going to get a 7-9 year deal. I think 6 years would be stretching it. I think theoretically we could sign both, but that would all but eliminate our chance to sign Hart among others to long term deals.

[bcf5575]

I always hear that a long term deal with someone with Prince's body type is a bad a idea because it wont age well. What about CC's? I would be terrifed to give him a 5 year+ deal - he is a big dude! Seems ripe for back and knee problems in the future.

 

Sheets is the one to sign. He has never been ineffective - only fluke injury and health problems have slowed him down. Contract insurance will cover any major injuries - and there is no reason to think a healthy Sheets wont be a top pitcher...

[Patrick425]

Contract insurance will cover any major injuries - and there is no reason to think a healthy Sheets wont be a top pitcher...

Hmm..I'm sure I have heard of this before, but do you have any more details on contract insurance? I'm assuming they generally take it out to cover for long-term injuries. Is it common for all contracts or is it usually just used in cases where the player has a history of injuries? I'm assuming that it would be relatively expensive for a guy with Sheet's history.

[eanelson4]

I don't even think the idea of CC re-signing with the Brewers is worth talking about. It will not, and should not happen. He will demand far too much money for our team to pay him (~20% of our entire salary cap). The Brewers should not make plans in their budget for a player that wants that much money.

 

I do think that re-signing Ben Sheets, however, would be a good plan. He will be much more affordable, and will most likely require fewer years on the contract.

[SeriesFinale]

Some guy claiming to be a friend of CC's called into KNBR here the other day and said that CC wanted to sign for an NL team because he "wanted to bat." I'm amazed the radio host didn't hang up on him.

[bcf5575]

Contract insurance will cover any major injuries - and there is no reason to think a healthy Sheets wont be a top pitcher...

Hmm..I'm sure I have heard of this before, but do you have any more details on contract insurance? I'm assuming they generally take it out to cover for long-term injuries. Is it common for all contracts or is it usually just used in cases where the player has a history of injuries? I'm assuming that it would be relatively expensive for a guy with Sheet's history.

I am by no means an expert in this, but it is my understanding that teams take out insurance on most long term deals to protect themselves in case the payer gets hurt. the player needs to miss most of, if not all of the season for it to kick in. I have no idea on what it costs.

 

 

 

[joepepsi]

I think if a player goes on the 60 day DL any insurance on the contract will kick in. But there are some limitations. I don't think you can get insurance beyond a 5 year contract and of course, it's never 100% coverage. I believe when Albert Belle went down the Orioles had to keep him on the 40 man roster for the length of his contract, 2-3 years after he could no longer play, in order to collect insurance on him.

 

As far as CC's body type, he's built more like Ortiz than like Prince. Prince is really short! CC carries his weight better on that 6'7" frame. He still probably won't last 10 years, but history is rife with fat pitchers who are effective well into their 30's.

 

As far as the days of long term contracts being over, Santana's is for 6 years with a 7th year option; Arod's is for 10 years. Both signed this past offseason.

[Patrick425]

I do think that re-signing Ben Sheets, however, would be a good plan. He will be much more affordable, and will most likely require fewer years on the contract.

I wouldn't count him being much more affordable. He'll be as affordable as whatever the Yankees or Red Sox decide they want to pay him. If he finishes the season strong and healthy..that could be quite a large some of money.

[TooLiveBrew]

Some guy claiming to be a friend of CC's called into KNBR here the other day and said that CC wanted to sign for an NL team because he "wanted to bat." I'm amazed the radio host didn't hang up on him.

 

From the Indians fan chatter I've seen, there's a lot of truth to this. Sabathia loves to hit, and not just in a novelty sense. As long as dollars are comparable, I think he will sign with an NL squad (LA would be my early guess).

[SeriesFinale]

From the Indians fan chatter I've seen, there's a lot of truth to this. Sabathia loves to hit, and not just in a novelty sense. As long as dollars are comparable, I think he will sign with an NL squad (LA would be my early guess).

I agree that it'll be a California team, and I think the Dodgers fit the bill. He's got a massive house in his hometown of Vallejo and spends a lot of time in the community here during the off-season. I think if not for Lincecum/Cain/Sanchez, and, of course and primarily, the monstrosity of Zito's contract, the Giants would've been a great fit, and I bet he would've taken a slight and literal "hometown discount." As it stands it doesn't make sense for a team with that many holes to sink even more money into a starting pitcher when that's their position of strength.

[bklynbrewcrew]

If CC was gonna take a discount it would have been with Cleveland. He will most likely end up with the Yankees or Dodgers. With his body type I wouldnt want to resign him anyway. Sheets on the other hand is worth signing. There is no reason why this team cant have one super highly paid pitcher. We give Sheets a 5 year deal and then Gallardo gets the type of money Sheets will get with this next contract.

[datrain711]

sure he'll stay long term. All it will take is a check for $120 million.

[logan82]

sgtcluels wrote:.

Didn't Lee and CoCo both say they wanted to stay?

I remember Lee saying he would like to stay, but it wasn't his choice, which by the way I think is a total crap line. Just admit that you are going to whoever pays you the most instead of saying it isn't your choice.

[SeriesFinale]

If CC was gonna take a discount it would have been with Cleveland.

A "slight discount" from San Francisco would still be more than what Cleveland could (or should) offer, and seeing that he's such a home-based guy, I bet he would've taken it. It's a moot point, though.

 

I'm not particularly worried about CC's body type, if he weren't for the amount of money he's asking for (obviously a huge If). There are big men who pitched very effectively late into their careers, and CC's shown to be durable.

 

Of the two, though, I'd rather them sign Big Ben, if at the least for sentimental reasons. I think the Brewers have a much better chance at getting him, too. It's interesting to me to hear how many people seem to have said their mental goodbyes to him...all this talk about how great it'll be to have 5 picks in the top 35 strikes me as nuts. By the time those five picks can come up and be useful, the window we have right now will be narrower, I believe. I really want to see a Sheets/Gallardo/Parra rotation for an entire year.

[eanelson4]

I do think that re-signing Ben Sheets, however, would be a good plan. He will be much more affordable, and will most likely require fewer years on the contract.

I wouldn't count him being much more affordable. He'll be as affordable as whatever the Yankees or Red Sox decide they want to pay him. If he finishes the season strong and healthy..that could be quite a large some of money.

With that presumption, I was also factoring in the fact that it is highly unlikely that Ben Sheets will get a contract with the same number of years that CC will on his. Year-to-year, yes, Ben may not be much cheaper than CC, but his deal would also probably be at least 2 or 3 years shorter (just my guess at it) given his injury history.

[dvoiss]

I would love to sign either/both but there is going to be a huge bidding war particularly in light of how poorly the Yanks have done this year by their standards. I really dont see Mark A taking on the Steinbrenners in a bidding war and winning. To me it just isn't realistic to think either one will be back. It's more likely that Weeks/Hardy will be moved to help the rotation for 09.

[southpaw121505]

Some guy claiming to be a friend of CC's called into KNBR here the other day and said that CC wanted to sign for an NL team because he "wanted to bat." I'm amazed the radio host didn't hang up on him.

Why is that hard to believe? If I was a pitcher who dropped 400 foot bombs I'd want to swing it too

[mothershipconnection]

Any time a player is happy at all about a trade, he'll talk about how great the new team and city are. It's posturing and salesmanship. "See, potential buyers, I'm a happy affable guy who rolls with the punches and isn't afraid to go to a new place. I'm a great guy, and a great pitcher, so I think your piles of cash would look great in my bank account".

[cwolf2012]

"Any time a player is happy at all about a trade, he'll talk about how great the new team and city are. It's posturing and salesmanship. "See, potential buyers, I'm a happy affable guy who rolls with the punches and isn't afraid to go to a new place. I'm a great guy, and a great pitcher, so I think your piles of cash would look great in my bank account"."

 

Well put. I agree.

 

Still doesn't make me wish we could afford him any less or make me any less happy to have him on the team for a few months.

[pitchleague]

I'm absolutely positive that CC would want to re-sign with the Brewers long-term. He could make more money that way. Plus, being a backup middle infielder and bench warmer while getting paid to do so has GOT to be the most awesome job on the planet.

 

Oh, you meant Sabathia.

 

I don't think there's much chance he comes back unless we win it all or he develops personal man-crushes on his teammates in Milwaukee and takes a slight discount to stay with a team with (supposedly) good chemistry.

[BillScottCanRake]

To answer the question "[is] CC willing to stay long-term?", I think the answer is "Absolutely!" Milwaukee is competitive and from all accounts they have a great clubhouse.

 

That being said, he's still going to be after a huge deal. And while he might consider playing here but not, say, Minnesota or Pittsburgh, that doesn't mean Milwaukee will get a discount. If he turned down 18 million per year from the the Indians, I doubt he'd take 18 million to play here.

[kmcasper23]

It would be nice to have him and Sheets long term. If we can get rid of some big salaries this would be great. Unforunately it is unlikely however.

[brewmann04]

It will be a small Miracle if they could keep both,and they will have a lot of free Money next season.

[T B0NE 10]

It would be awesome to have Sheets and Sabathia in our rotation for a while.

 

Having them two almost guarantees us to be competitive.

 

A true "ace" starting in 40% of your teams games!

[paul253]

I think we should do all we can to sign them both. Take the money coming off the books from Cameron and Gagne and put it right towards that. Unfortunately if they do that they wont have much left for bullpen help, but hopefully Stetter and Pena, along with Shouse, Riske, Villanueva, Bush/Capuano, and a closer (Torres?) would be good, and cheap. They dont need much help on the current roster, position player wise. Gwynn could replace Cameron, but the main part of the roster, Hart, Hall, Fielder, Weeks, Hardt, Braun, Kendall...will still be a place. Can you imagine a rotation of Sheets, Sabathia, Gallardo, Parra, and Suppan? It would easily be the best rotation in the bigs. Plus you have Bush, Capuano, McClung possibly, and Villanueva to fall back on.