Major League Baseball

Yanks will pay handsomely for Sabathia

Published Jul. 19, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Bob Klapisch

CC Sabathia’s recent run of excellence has been both historic and daunting for Yankee officials, who are preparing to pay handsomely for their dependence on him.

First things first: the lefthander, who leads the majors with 14 wins and is on his way to a Cy Young Award, has gone five straight starts of at least seven innings each, not allowing more than one run.

It’s been 30 years since a Yankee pitcher has been that dominant; not even Roger Clemens in his prime was able to match that, as a similar streak of his lasted only four starts in 1999.

Question is, how much is this going to cost the Yankees when Sabathia exercises the opt-out in his contract? He was awarded that clause as an incentive to sign a seven-year deal as a free agent in 2008 — the right to become a free agent after the third year.

Sabathia enjoys pitching for the Yankees, and there’s no glaring reason to believe he’ll actually leave. But, given that leverage, there’s no reason for him not to use it, either. Remember, Sabathia is two years younger than Cliff Lee, who will be earning $25 million a year starting in 2013.

The topic came up in spring training, and Sabathia’s non-answers were most revealing. When asked if he was leaving, staying or somewhere in between, Sabathia said, “I’m here” and cut off further questions.

Do the Yankees have second thoughts about being so vulnerable? Hardly, says GM Brian Cashman, who said, given the circumstances of Sabathia’s free agency after the ’08 season has “no regrets” about the generous language.

The reason, he says, should be obvious to any Yankee historian. The Bombers failed to make it to the playoffs that year, and were about to move into their new ballpark in 2009. The Steinbrenner family decided it would spend whatever was necessary to ensure a busy October in 2009, and gave Cashman the mandate to load up the roster.

That meant signing A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, who was being simultaneously pursued by the Angels. Cashman feared Anaheim would turn its sights on Sabathia, figuring the come-home sales pitch to the California native would trump the lure of being a Yankee.

So Cashman told Sabathia he could leave after three years if he didn’t like New York. The lefthander has since assimilated into the clubhouse, not to mention won his first World Series ring, which means the Bombers are confident he’ll remain in Pinstripes in 2012 and beyond

But for how much? Sabathia, who’ll soon turn 31, will likely ask for $26-$27 million a year for another seven years. The Yankees would be understandably wary of any contract that takes Sabathia that close to his 40th birthday - he's thrown more innings than any pitcher since 2007, and underwent knee surgery last winter. But what choice would the Steinbrenners have except to grant Sabathia's wish to become the richest pitcher in history?

Rays' hopes dim

You couldn’t have blamed the Rays for thinking they were doomed in the ninth inning Monday night against the Yankees. An early, three-run lead had evaporated and, three outs away from a 5-4 loss, Mariano Rivera was about to remind the fans at Tropicana Field why resistance was futile.

Even before he took the mound, Rivera had converted on 58 of 59 save opportunities against Tampa Bay, and had a career 0.74 ERA at the Trop. So when the Yankee closer finished off the Rays in a 1-2-3 ninth, it felt like so many other instances of merciless, cold-blooded relief.

Only it wasn’t, at least not for the Rays, who are now eight games out in the East and, even more significantly, 6 1/2 behind in the wild-card race. While Joe Maddon wasn’t making any concession speeches, he nevertheless admitted, “it’s not a very optimal situation.”

According to BaseballProspectus.com, the Rays’ chances of getting to the playoffs have fallen to 3.7 percent. They realize the season could come down to the next three games with the Yankees — after which, Tampa Bay could either continue to live on the periphery of the wild-card or, in a worst-case scenario, start preparing for 2012.

If that’s the case — if the Yankees end up taking three of four or even sweeping — would the Rays consider become sellers at the deadline? Up until a few days ago, executives were considering the very opposite path. Executive vice president Andrew Friedman told the St. Petersburg Times, “we’re looking for additive-type moves” although that was before Sunday’s extra-inning loss to the Red Sox, followed by another one-run heartbreaker to the Yankees on Monday.

In fact, as much as the loss to the Yankees set the Rays back in the standings, it was the marathon against Boston that cost Maddon the most. His bullpen was so depleted after 16 innings, there were only three relievers available on Monday, one of whom was making his major league debut.

Alex Torres, just 23, found himself in the epicenter of the Yankees’ comeback in the ninth inning, when he walked Russell Martin with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run. It was a monstrous, if not impossible request to make of Torres, especially since Maddon had already ordered Nick Swisher to be intentionally walked, putting runners on first and third with one out.

Torres, who’d started the day in Rochester, NY, as a member of the Class-AAA Durham Bulls, proceeded to remind the Rays why he’s such a valued prospect (a lefthander clocked at 95-96 mph) and why he’s still a work in progress (walking Andruw Jones on five pitches and then Martin on a full-count).

Afterward, Maddon took the blame for the perfect storm of circumstances, knowing he might’ve removed starter Alex Cobb too soon on a night with a depleted bullpen. But no one was sure how Cobb would react to the stoppage in play after a power outage at the Trop. And, besides, a three-run lead looked safe, particularly because it represented a rare night of efficiency for the Rays’ offense.

This is a team that values defense (third in the AL in fielding percentage) and pitching (fifth in ERA), but is struggling to manufacture offense. Not only are the Rays in the middle of the pack in runs (eighth), but the bottom of the order is a virtual wasteland — the seventh, eighth and ninth spots are 11th, 11th and 14th in OPS, respectively, in the AL.

That’s why the dream of a playoff berth seemed like such a longshot to begin with. As one rival executive said, “everything (the Rays) have done is through over-achievement, which you have to respect. They’ve got talent. They just don’t have the resources (to match the Yankees and Red Sox).”

The Bombers themselves sensed Monday’s victory represented a turning point of sorts. Martin called it, “a big win, a team win … to come back like that, it feels good.”

Of course, no one would dare to say the race is officially down to two teams in the East, especially with the Yankees still trying to determine what to do about Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. While the Yankees have been monitoring Ubaldo Jimenez as a possible replacement, GM Brian Cashman continues to say he has enough pitching to get to the playoffs.

“We absolutely have what we need right here,” he said, adding he wasn’t going to overreact to two poor outings by Colon since returning from the disabled list.

Cashman sounded convincing. Then again, Cashman didn’t say how he’d feel if Colon collapsed for a third time. The 37-year-oild right-hander starts tonight at the Trop, which means the intrigue in the East is far from over.

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