Seven Years gets C C Sabathia $160 Mill

C C become highest paid player in history

LAS VEGAS -- One day after Brian Cashman traveled a mile up the Las Vegas Strip for a few words with C C Sabathia, the Yankees' general manager escaped to the San Francisco area for an unscheduled meeting with the left-hander on Tuesday night.
The extra effort paid off. A source familiar with the situation has confirmed that Sabathia, the 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner, relayed to Cashman early Wednesday morning that he intends to accept the Yankees' offer and wear pinstripes for the upcoming season and beyond.

A baseball official confirmed that the parameters are set, although the contractual paperwork is not yet final. No official announcement will be made until Sabathia and the Yankees complete those details, but no problems are anticipated in completion of the agreement.

An additional season and $20 million offered by Cashman sweetened the package: The deal now represents a record-setting seven-year, $160 million pact, adding to the original offer presented to Sabathia on Nov. 14, which was reported to be for $140 million over six years.

A person familiar with the Yankees' thinking and early-morning maneuvers told MLB.com that the club extended its offer to Sabathia from six to seven years at about 3 a.m. ET. The Yankees had no trepidation in offering a seventh year to Sabathia, a source indicated, and Sabathia and Cashman did not discuss financial terms in the meeting. Sabathia's agent, Greg Genske, later finalized the dollar and year amounts with Cashman.

Though $160 million would be the richest contract ever signed by a pitcher, it remains to be seen if it will be the richest by annual salary. Such a contract would average $22.85 million, while the six-year, $137.5 million deal that Johan Santana signed with the Mets last offseason averages $22.9 million.

Some of the money will likely be deferred, Newsday reported.

In addition, a source said that the Yankees believe they can top the Braves' offer to right-hander A.J. Burnett if it is for five years at $15 million per year, and that the Yankees' interest in first baseman Mark Teixeira has waned.

Tuesday's rendezvous in the Bay Area was the third face-to-face meeting between Cashman and Sabathia. The most recent visit is believed to have been made with attention to the concerns of Sabathia's wife, Amber. The Sabathias have West Coast roots -- he is a product of Vallejo, Calif., approximately 30 miles outside of San Francisco -- and a family of three young children.

"We all know what kind of ballplayer he is," Cashman said on Monday. "He's a tremendous family man and he's got a wife and three kids. He's got a life choice to make that will direct where they'll reside."

In Las Vegas, Yankees officials were privately optimistic late Tuesday that discussions with Sabathia had taken a positive turn since Cashman had again been invited back. The GM rapidly cleared his schedule.

Cashman, manager Joe Girardi and special advisor Reggie Jackson met with Sabathia and agent Greg Genske for approximately two hours at the Wynn hotel on Sunday.

Jackson took the lead in those discussions, representing a Bay Area product who went on to stardom in New York and looks back upon his Yankees time fondest.

Cashman was then invited back on Monday, answering follow-up questions in a meeting of less than one hour with Genske present. Then came Tuesday's meeting, which resulted in the Yankees landing the biggest pitching prize of the Winter Meetings.

"I have no doubt that he can play in New York," Cashman said on Monday.

Sabathia, 117-73 in eight big league seasons, will bring something to the Yankees that they haven't had in three decades: a relatively youthful pitcher at the top of their rotation.

At 28 years old, Sabathia will be the first prominent Yankees ace under 30 since Ron Guidry, another left-hander, in the late 1970s.

New York had pitchers in their 20s, notably Dennis Rasmussen and Melido Perez, at the top of its rotations during losing seasons in the early '90s, and one could argue that Chien-Ming Wang, currently 28 was the Yankees' "ace" in 2006 and 2007. But Sabathia clearly represents something different.

Traded to the Brewers by the Indians on July 7, the left-hander almost single-handedly carried Milwaukee to its first postseason berth in 26 years by going 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts.

He lost his only start in the playoffs, lasting 3 2/3 innings in a 5-2 loss to the Phillies. The Brewers lost the best-of-five Division Series in four games.

A Sabathia signing would give the Yankees the bonafide ace that many, including Girardi, have lobbied for, but it does not complete their winter shopping list. The Yankees have spoken optimistically about landing two of their top choices, if not three.

That leaves the door open to a full-bore pursuit of free agent right-handers A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets, and to the future of Andy Pettitte, who remains unsigned. As of the moment, the Yankees' only signed starters projected to be in the rotation come Opening Day are Wang and Joba Chamberlain.

The Yankees met with Burnett's representative at the Winter Meetings on Tuesday. With teams circling his client, Burnett's agent, Darek Braunecker, acknowledged that "just overall, the process is starting to advance."

The Yankees do not appear fazed by the Braves' interest in Burnett, with Atlanta prepared to supply Burnett with a four-year, $60 million contract containing a vesting option for the 2013 season. In fact, the Yankees may even be primed to top that dollar amount by surpassing the annual value of the pact.

The Yankees and Phillies have emerged as the two most prominent contenders for Lowe, according to reports. The Yankees are said to have prepared a four-year offer with a possible vesting option for a fifth year for the 35-year-old former Dodger, who has won 106 games in seven seasons since the Red Sox converted him from closer to starter in 2002.

Late on Monday, Cashman and manager Joe Girardi met with Sheets and his agent, Casey Close.

"I thought that was a good meeting," Girardi said. "Obviously, I faced Ben Sheets when I was with the Cubs and have admired the work that he's done over the years. It was good to talk to him about his health, his routines, what he likes to do. He was a very open young man and he was impressive."

The New York Daily News reported on Tuesday that the Yankees are preparing to offer Sheets a multi-year deal believed to be for two years and about $30 million. The offer was expected to be made before the Meetings wrap up on Thursday.

Sheets is 86-83 in his career with a 3.73 ERA, but has missed significant time due to injury in four of his eight seasons in the Major Leagues, all with the Brewers.

Pettitte, who has spent 11 of his 14 seasons with the Yankees, is a free agent and has openly said that he wishes to return. But there has been no reported contact between the team and the 36-year-old left-hander, who went 14-14 last season but is 215-127 in his career.

Sabathia, a first-round Draft pick in 1998, burst upon the scene less than three years later, going 17-5 in his rookie season. He had success, but without impressive records, for the next four seasons, going 52-40 with a 4.03 ERA while recording double digits in losses three times.

However, in 2006, he began to show the results of a dominant pitcher, lowering his ERA to 3.21 and reaching a career high in strikeouts with 172. He went 12-11, but the Indians were 78-84 and finished fourth in the AL Central that season.

In 2007, Sabathia pitched 241 innings, by far a career high, and went 19-7 while boosting his strikeout total to 209. Cleveland won the AL Central and Sabathia won the Cy Young.

Those career highs were extended this past season, as he struck out 251 batters in 253 innings.

The Yankees won the World Series in 1977 and '78 with Guidry leading the way. In 1978, the year he turned 28, Guidry recorded one of history's finest seasons, going 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA.