Friday, June 13, 2008

Kepner: Yanks Would Have Interest In Sabathia

From Tyler Kepner:

OAKLAND, Calif. — A painful swing by the Cleveland Indians’ Víctor Martínez on Wednesday could have significant ramifications for the Yankees. An elbow injury to Martínez all but ended the Indians’ flickering playoff hopes, and will probably lead to a trade of the ace left-hander C. C. Sabathia.

If Sabathia is on the trade market, the Yankees will have strong interest. The Yankees rank last in the American League in innings pitched by their starters, and Sabathia led the league in innings last season while winning the American League Cy Young award.

Martínez will have elbow surgery Friday and will miss at least six weeks. Designated hitter Travis Hafner is also on the disabled list, along with second baseman Josh Barfield and starters Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook, who is out for the year after reconstructive elbow surgery Thursday.

Sabathia has not had a great season so far (4-8 with a 4.34), but his numbers are inflated because of four bad starts to begin the year. Since April 22nd he's 4-5 with a 2.09 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 73.1 innings pitched.

Earlier in the week Peter Abraham speculated that it would take something like Jose Tabata, Dellin Betances and Robinson Cano to land the big left-hander.

Sabathia's weight worries me a bit, but when he's on he's one of the best pitchers in the game. Another issue would be signing him, which they'd have to do. To give up as much as they'd have to for a few month rental would be mindless. But giving pitchers 6+ years is so risky, and the last thing the Yanks need is to get wrapped up in a Barry Zito type situation, I don't think Sabathia fall off that quickly, though.

I'm very torn on this one, what about you? If you were Brian Cashman would you go after Sabathia?

7 Comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd definitely try to get him. He's a great pitcher, and the Yankees need all the starting pitching they can get.

Anonymous said...

well not really, where would he fit in the rotation?

CC
Wang
Petitte
Moose
Joba

That is a great starting rotation.. i guess you can put rasner as the long man..but what would they do about 2B? i guess alberto gonzo or maybe making a trade for an infielder as well... interesting to see what is gonna happen but if rasner has a good start his next time out i would say no to the trade, but we do need a big game pitcher if we make the playoffs that rotation is nastyyy...

final answer, No i wouldnt do it

Anonymous said...

The Yankees made (another) huge pitching mistake in not signing Santana. C.C. is no Santana; like Wang, C.C. is just not a big game pitcher and I'm not convinced that he can/will even be as good a pitcher in the pinstripes. How many times do we have to see a good pitcher who struggles in big spots come to NY to fail? It's not just his size that concerns me, it's his demeanor. Have you ever listened to him talk about Cleveland and being with the team since he was 17, etc?
6 years + tons of money to get to the post season but not get beyond it - no, please no.

Anonymous said...

I would do this only if a we could work some things out.

1. I'd try and see if we can replace Cano with some other minor leaguers in that package.

2. Seeing as how Sabathia is a whale and we'd probably have to sign him for at least 6 years, I'd put it in his contract after this season he must drop at least 20 lbs by the beginning of of 09 Spring Training and at least down to a respectable 260 when it's all said and done.

Anonymous said...

personally I'm not really in love with Sabathia. If we did put Cano in the deal maybe we can try and pry Polanco from Detroit, or wait until the off season- I heard that Orlando Hudson is a free agent, I don't know if that is true. This past year I've heard alot of bad things about Tabata so I wouldnt mind throwing him in a deal. Depending on the other teams I think we could get him cheaper than expected, like how the Mets got Santana- quantity over quality.

Anonymous said...

-and we could either put Joba back in the pen or try Hughes in their when he gets back.

CC or - CC
Wang - Wang
Pettitte -Pettitte
Joba - Mussina
Mussina -Hughes/Rasner

- For what it would take to get Blanton they might as well throw in a couple more/better prospects to get a reining Cy Young winner. Over the past month Sabathia's ERA is 2.15 and WHIP is 1.02. Becketts ERA for the year is 4.22, Sabathia's is 4.34. I believe hecould be a dominant post season pitcher every year like Beckett.

Greg Cohen said...

Well almost everyone is against this, which I can understand.

Like I said in my post, I'm torn on this.

Also the "offer" that Peter Abraham suggested was just speculation, so don't make too much out of it. Nothing has been spoken about between the two teams. As least nothing that has been made public.