The CC Watch... Latest: Who knows?

[logan82]

The whole problem is that we can't afford him at the end of the deal.

 

I somewhat disagree with that. We can afford CC throughout his contract. If there was zero chance CC would get hurt, then he would be worth every penny. The main problem is that all pitchers are high injury risks. We can't afford a player with that salary to get hurt.

[rluzinski]

Not in name recognition alone, but name + talent that leads to more wins could. And I shouldn't have said just attendance - merchandising revenue and TV ratings and all of that goes into that $10 million as well.

 

Teams pay between $4.5-$5.0 mil per win because that's around what each win is worth. CC being a huge name free agent may be worth a bit more but I don't think it's much more.

 

And offering an opt out is not a win-win for the Brewers. A team and player usually shares the risk of a contract pretty equally. The player may get hurt or perform better than expectations. A player opt out shifts much more risk to the team, however. That's fine if the player is taking a below market offer in compensation, but it's not free.

[DHonks]

Interesting to read that Jeff Passan article which theorizes what the Brewers are thinking, while Haudricourt's article basically rehashes what his blog said in a better form. I like the comment that "if he wanted the highest offer, he'd already be signed."

[endaround]

Not in name recognition alone, but name + talent that leads to more wins could. And I shouldn't have said just attendance - merchandising revenue and TV ratings and all of that goes into that $10 million as well.

 

Teams pay between $4.5-$5.0 mil per win because that's around what each win is worth. CC being a huge name free agent may be worth a bit more but I don't think it's much more.

 

And offering an opt out is not a win-win for the Brewers. A team and player usually shares the risk of a contract pretty equally. The player may get hurt or perform better than expectations. A player opt out shifts much more risk to the team, however. That's fine if the player is taking a below market offer in compensation, but it's not free.

 

Yes. Its fairly easy to see that a opt out is lose-lose for the Brewers. If Sabathia is worth more than his remaining contract he opts out meaning the Brewers lose because they could have traded Sabathia and now can't. If he is worth less that the remaining contract he stays with the Brewers with the Brewers overpaying for him.

[zzzmanwitz]

Yes. Its fairly easy to see that a opt out is lose-lose for the Brewers. If Sabathia is worth more than his remaining contract he opts out meaning the Brewers lose because they could have traded Sabathia and now can't. If he is worth less that the remaining contract he stays with the Brewers with the Brewers overpaying for him.

 

You are ignoring the part where we win... we sign CC Sabathia.

[PeaveyFury]

You are ignoring the part where we win... we sign CC Sabathia.

 

There's also nothing saying that we can't trade him in 2.5 years if it looks like he's going to exercise the 3-year opt out.

[bklynbrewcrew]

I dont understand this opt out situation at all. I am all for it if it means we can opt out as well but giving CC the right to get out of the contract is ridiculous if we receive no protection. The Blue Jays were dopes for letting Burnett have a one way opt out contract. For Burnett it was a no lose situation; pitch well and get paid even more or get injured and still have the security of a long term contract. Situations like this creates a no win situation for the team and a no lose situation for the player. If CC insists on this we should just let him walk.

[fondybrewfan]

I dont understand this opt out situation at all. I am all for it if it means we can opt out as well but giving CC the right to get out of the contract is ridiculous if we receive no protection. The Blue Jays were dopes for letting Burnett have a one way opt out contract. For Burnett it was a no lose situation; pitch well and get paid even more or get injured and still have the security of a long term contract. Situations like this creates a no win situation for the team and a no lose situation for the player. If CC insists on this we should just let him walk.

If that is the only way CC signs with us, Melvin has to include it. I would be happy if CC just stayed for 3 years, by then who knows what pitching talent we might have. I would be more than happy to sign CC to a 6 year deal with an opt out clause if it guarantees he will be a Brewer for 3 years. Its probably a more ideal situation for the Brewers anyways. I don't understand why it would be a bad thing to have CC for the next 3 years

[Roderick]

Yes. Its fairly easy to see that a opt out is lose-lose for the Brewers. If Sabathia is worth more than his remaining contract he opts out meaning the Brewers lose because they could have traded Sabathia and now can't. If he is worth less that the remaining contract he stays with the Brewers with the Brewers overpaying for him.

True an opt-out favors the player. Supposedly the team's advantage is to be able to sign him to a slightly below market value contract or in this case, less than what the Yankees are offering or a west coast team may eventually offer.

[crewcrazy]

Ken Rosenthal's live winter meeting blog today says that Sabathia plans to meet with the Giants: http://msn.foxsports.com/...ates-from-winter-meetings (scroll to the 12:50 PM entry)

 

He already met with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Brewers on Monday, but the Giants meeting probably won't happen until this weekend.

[dpapo]

In the latest blog report by Haudricourt, the Angeles may turn their attention to Sabathia,

"On yet another topic, I was told this morning that the Angels are tiring of the waiting game to sign free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira and might re-focus their efforts to sign CC Sabathia. That's what Sabathia has wanted all along, for a California team to enter the bidding."

Also, mlb.com has a report on it's blog that confirms the report by Ken Rosenthal,

"An industry source with knowledge of the Giants' dealings insisted early Tuesday morning that the Giants had a strong chance of signing Sabathia, despite their apparent reluctance to match the New York Yankees' reported six-year, $140 million offer.

The Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers, Sabathia's former club, are believed to be his other suitors, although Boston is concentrating more closely on first baseman Mark Teixeira, another premier free agent. The Los Angeles Angels also could join the Sabathia fray.

The Giants have not formally offered Sabathia a contract, but sources familiar with the talks said that the club has outlined a proposal that falls short of the Yankees' bid but exceeds Milwaukee's five-year, $100 offer..."

http://hotstove.mlblogs.c...stain_interest_in_cc.html

I've said this before and will repeat it again, Sabathia is not coming back to the Brewers. It's time they realize this and move on.

[bklynbrewcrew]

We are really in danger of having an awful offseason because we are sitting around waiting on CC. Its about time we threw in the towel and focused on Sheets and Wood/Fuentes.

[zzzmanwitz]

It sounds like the Brewers are willing to give more than the 5 years 100 million. I don't understand why we would assume that is the stopping point, especially with an opt out clause.

[LennyBrisco]

listening to Mike Francesco on wfan/yes net/dir tv -- Mike has given up on CC coming to NY, being he's had 24 days with the record offer. Mike and his callers believe CC is just using the Yankees.

They now think they should go after sheets ( 2yr @ 15 per ), lowe, and resign pettite, giving them a rotation of wang, sheets, joba,lowe,pettite with hughes as a 6th/long man.

[clancyphile]

If the Cubs get Peavy, then the Brewers have little choice: They have to re-sign Sabathia, no matter the cost, in order to have a prayer at the wild card. To have a shot at the division, they need both Sabathia AND a comparable pitcher to Sheets - or to bring Sheets back.

[rm121978]

If the Cubs get Peavy, then the Brewers have little choice: They have to re-sign Sabathia, no matter the cost, in order to have a prayer at the wild card. To have a shot at the division, they need both Sabathia AND a comparable pitcher to Sheets - or to bring Sheets back.

 

Isn't pretty much common knowledge that last year was our "going for it" year? Sure we made a token offer to CC but nobody expects him or Sheets to be here next year. Let the Cubs do what they want, give up their young guys, etc... Sure they might win the division a few more times, but in 2-3 years when we load up to "go for it" again, we'll be very happy we don't have all that $ tied up in one player. This team cannot afford to have that mentality. It's sad, but true. We have to pick our spots like last year.

[zurch1818]

The Yankees are now rumored to be out of the running for CC per mlb trade rumors.

[nate82]

The Yankees are now rumored to be out of the running for CC per mlb trade rumors.

It is an unconfirmed rumor from Andrew Baggarly the Giants beat writer. This is bad news since the Giants 1st round pick is protected and if true I don't see the Brewers having any chance in resigning CC and the picks the Brewers would have gotten from the Yankees will turn into a sandwich pick.

 

I hope the Dodgers wake up and stop going after Manny and go after CC instead. I would rather the Dodgers, Yankees, or Angels sign CC if the Brewers can not sign him. At least the Brewers will get a 1st round pick if the Dodgers, Yankees, or Angels sign him but if the Giants get him the Brewers only receive a sandwich pick.

[brwrsfan]

Blog on ESPN.com indicates that CC is indeed waiting for a west coast team. They have quotes from his good friend, Torii Hunter, where Hunter doesn't even mention the Brewers.

 

He says it's extremely important that he pitch on the west coast. We can only hope everything falls perfect:

Texiera back to Angels, Manny and Furcal to the Dodgers and the Giants don't make an offer

[And That]

If the Cubs get Peavy, then the Brewers have little choice: They have to re-sign Sabathia, no matter the cost, in order to have a prayer at the wild card.

This is not a factually correct statement. It would require foreknowledge of the events of the coming season to know this. Clancy, I'm pretty sure you do not have such foreknowledge.

 

What does Peavy have to do with the Wild Card anyway, assuming the Brewers and Cubs are the two best teams in the division?

[chuckiehacks]

Baggarly has updated his blog with a note that the "Brewers are emerging as the frontrunner."

[pogokat]

damn the torpedoes, i'll piss my pants if they actually resign CC

[Team Canada]

If the Cubs get Peavy, then the Brewers have little choice: They have to re-sign Sabathia, no matter the cost, in order to have a prayer at the wild card. To have a shot at the division, they need both Sabathia AND a comparable pitcher to Sheets - or to bring Sheets back.

Clancy, that doesn't make sense. If the Cubs are better than us, then they win the division. How good they are has nothing to do with whether we win the wild card or not. We just need to be better than the 2nd place NL East team.

[ttsather]

What an absolute roller coaster of emotions with these rumors and blog bits.

 

From certain to be a Yankee, to maybe the Dodgers to Brewers upping their offer to sitting down with the Yankees (twice) to "[Wanting] to be a Dodger" to the Giants being "Supremely confident" that they will sign Sabathia to the Brewers being a front-runner.

 

Jeez.

[fondybrewfan]

All that this speculation is doing is getting my hopes up, only to be dashed the moment SF, LAA, or LAD makes an offer. It makes me happy that CC looks like he will stay away from NY but I am realistic that a west coast team would be stupid not to make an offer considering CC is all but saying give me an offer and I'll sign.