Some Opinions On the CC Deal

Many people have been giving their opinion of this big signing by the Yanks, here are some of those opinions.

First from the captain, Derek Jeter:

"Nothing's final, so I think it's premature to comment on it," Jeter said. "All you can say is how great of a pitcher he is. Any team in baseball would love to have him. He's a guy that's an intimidating factor on the mound, and hopefully, we can get things done.

"He throws upper 90s and he's a big guy. He's got a power slider and he knows what he's doing. When he first came up, he used to just rear back and throw. Now, he tends to pitch a little more. I think that's why he's become a lot more successful throughout the years. He can pretty much do anything. He's a great athlete, and the list goes on and on."

"There's always work to be done, and there's always ways to improve teams," Jeter said. "I think Cash has been pretty vocal about wanting to improve some things this offseason. If this were to happen, it's a great first step, but I'm sure he's not finished."

Johnny Damon:

"I'm shocked because I went to bed last night not hearing much and then I woke up and there were reports that he's a Yankee. I think that's great. We're out there rebuilding our team and we're going to get back into the playoffs. We needed to have a horse and now we have our horse."

I think he's one of the premier guys in the game. He's one of the most durable guys. He can pitch deep into games. There's no down side to CC. He's a good guy on the team and he'll be a leader and a guy younger pitchers can look up to. He's kind of a throwback guy in that he likes to pitch pretty deep into the game. I think this is great."

"Well, it's not easy to get guys to play in New York, so maybe signing CC helps us with other guys."

Yankees fan LeBron James:

“As a Yankees’ fan, we’ve struggled the last few years with our pitching, our starting rotation. It’s good to get a pitcher in there that can make things happen and don’t need many runs to win a ballgame.”

Manager Joe Girardi:

“Its exciting to think about.”

CC's former manager Eric Wedge:

“I think about his leadership and the strength that he has as a person and what he does for those around him,” Wedge said. “I get this question a lot and I think CC is going to be fine, I really do. He has perspective and a tremendous belief system in himself.”

Super-agent Scott Boras "on how Sabathia's agreement might affect interest of other players in joining Yankees":

"I think it gives more of a road map of where the Yankees are going. I think any player would want to be on a team with CC Sabathia. I think from the Yankees perspective, certainly it adds a star player and helps their chances to win."

A-Rod:

"I am super-excited."

"He has three well-above-average pitches - fastball, slider and change. He is a handful. He is a monster. He changes lineups and is a horse. He is exactly what we needed."

CC's other former manager Dale Sveum:

"[Ben] Sheets went down with 12 games left and we decided to ask [Sabathia] about going on three-days' rest," Sveum said. "He said he was about to come into my office and tell me he wanted to do that. If there is one person who deserves this [contract], it's this guy."

Asked how Sabathia and New York will get along, Sveum said that won't be an issue.

"He will handle it," Sveum, a former Yankee player, predicted. "He is a pretty confident guy and down to earth. He won't get caught up in all that stuff."

Former teammate Jason Michaels:

"He knew he wasn't going back to Milwaukee and he came back on three-days' rest," Michaels said. "Not many guys would do that because they have a career to think about. But that's the type of person and player he is. When he was on the mound, we knew if we put a couple of runs across, CC was going to make them stand up."

If anyone else opines I'll add it here.