Greetings,
First and foremost, I would like to thank Mark for the excellent job that he does with the Bronx Stop.com.
As his brother and a guest columnist, I have reached a humbling conclusion tonight that some may find incorrect and and ill conceived.
This is an exciting time of year for baseball fans and I must say that coming home from work tonight to an episode of Baseball Tonight was a great feeling. While watching the show and taking in a report about what Milton Bradley ate for lunch, I realized something - something important.
The Yankees need to offer C.C. Sabathia an ultimatum. The contract is on the table until the end of the week - end of story. Not a threat, a simple deadline. I fully understand Mr. Sabathia's desire to play on the West coast and his desire to wait on the Angels or Dodgers to show him the money; however in doing so, he has made it clear that the New York Yankees are not an organization that he wants anything to do with.
One hundred and forty million is a number that the average person can not easily comprehend. Now imagine that is the dollar amount that the New York Yankees are offering you to throw a baseball 60 feet 6 inches at the brand new Yankee Stadium and in turn basically securing yourself a key to Manhattan.
All of this sounds great and Sabathia has certainly given these things consideration and has come to one conclusion-- he is still waiting for the Giants and the Dodgers.
The funny thing about the negotiations is that the offer should speak for itself. The NY Yankees should not have to sell C.C. Sabathia on coming to Yankee Stadium or pitching for the greatest franchise in the history of professional sports. C.C.'s indecision speaks for itself and I think for that reason it is necessary to impose a deadline on the offer, a firm deadline that will not be revisited.
The New York Yankees should wait for no one.
Especially not an overweight (although inarguably durable) starting pitcher that has 117 career wins. Yes Sabathia is an all star; but you could easily make the argument that he is not even the best pitcher in the league. Two seasons with 17 + wins does not make a pitcher great.
I am not against the idea of signing Sabathia, but I want to make it clear that the Yankees need to make a decision to propose a deadline and if Sabathia decides to turn it down; they need to begin working towards improving the 2009 team, leaving Sabathia and his desire to play elsewhere on the table.
