There is a particularly large left-handed pitcher I'd like to talk to.
He's been really trendy this year, and not in a good way. In his first two starts the trend was 5.1 innings of awful baseball. In his last two starts he gave up nine runs each. These are hardly good trends.
Do you know his name?
Chances are if you don't, one of the last people you'd guess is the supposed ace of the Indians: C.C. Sabathia.
Big left-hander kind of gave it away though; who else could I be talking about? Jared Lorenzen?
Not quite, he doesn't throw a dominating fastball or own a Cy Young Award.
However, Sabathia does. When you think Cy Young, typically you don't think of high ERA pitchers.
That talk is usually reserved for Barry Zito—sorry Giants' fans.
So, with Sabathia's ERA up above the number of cookies he ate yesterday, I think it's time for someone to speak up.
I'll do it, and with pleasure.
C.C., I think it would be the perfect time to talk about something you said wouldn't be discussed for the rest of the season.
No, not donut glaze, but the big ugly elephant in the room.
That contract you don't have for next year.
You claimed that you didn't want it to be a distraction, and that your full focus wanted to be on winning in 2008.
Well, guess what. It has become a distraction, and you need to do something about it. We aren't winning in 2008, and that my friend is a bigger problem.
I may get blasted for this, but these thoughts stem from something ESPN's most hated personality Skip Bayless said. I can already hear Cleveland sinking their teeth into my back. I apologize LeBron James fans, really I do.
Sabathia should have taken the deal and put this contract fiasco to rest. Stop playing around, take the security and be happy in a city that you claim you love.
It's quite obvious that Sabathia isn't suffering from anything but a case of trying way too hard.
His fastball is still there, his stuff is still moving, and no he doesn't look tired. He has pitched a lot of innings in a season before and has come back just as good, if not better.
The name of the game is location, and C.C. is not hitting his spots. Everyone knows when that starts happening there can only be one reason.
He is trying to hard.
We've seen it in the past; in fact we've seen it only a few months ago in the playoffs.
How do I know all this?
Simple, look at how many people he has walked this year compared to last.
Only 37 walks the entire year of 2007, while this year in only four games he's walked 11.
Last year in the playoffs, he walked 13 batters in three games.
When Sabathia gets excited, and pressured, he misses his location and starts walking an insane amount of people.
Then with him behind and people on base, he tries to be too fine, and looks for the perfect pitch.
That pitch typically ends up hitting surfaces behind the yellow line, like it did Wednesday night.
It's the equivalent of a batter being down 0-2 in the count, and in a 10-0 game with the bases loaded.
Instead of taking the single and knocking in two runs, he tries to put a quick four spot on the board and gets nothing.
I believe this is enough of a reason for me to tell C.C. to sign on the dotted line.
Think about it for a quick second. If you sign a contract with the Tribe, all those worries go away. Pressure is off, all you have to do is pitch. The contract situation goes away.
Sure you can put off talking about it to the media, and tell your agent to break off talks with Mark Shapiro and company. But that doesn't mean the situation goes away till the end of the season.
Ever hear your Mother say to you, "Now C.C. don't bottle up all your emotions."
Then again this is C.C. we are talking about, he isn't afraid to show his emotions. The point is though, by not talking about it, he is only making it worse.
Sabathia needs get this deal done. He may miss out on some cash, he may not get the ideal contract he desires. And I know you all think I'm a lunatic, for not only listening to Skip Bayless, but suggesting someone take less money.
But the fact of the matter is this: Sabathia is proving he tries to hard, just imagine how much of a meltdown he will go through if he does take that New York money.
Think about that for awhile, and then get back to me.
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2 months ago
I was thinking this last night as well. I wonder if he is now playing back into the Indians hands. He may want to take an extension to make sure he is secure past this season the way things are going, but it would take a bigger catastophe for him to do this.
I agree, I don't see a tired pitcher who is now throwing softballs, he is just missing spots and now battling confidence. His velocity is still up, he is still striking out seven batters per nine innings (just under career average) and is having terrible luck with luck stats, BABIP, LOB% and HR/FB%. He will be fine, it may be awhile as he sweats through this confidence issue, but you see it, I see it, his stuff is still there.
2 months ago
Good article, but this will not happen. Early-season negotiations are rare as it is, and Sabathia's agent knows that if he calls Shapiro now, he's in a complete position of weakness in the negotiations. Even if Sabathia's play would benefit from a one-year extension or something, I don't think we can expect it.
I posted a scathing article on Sabathia here -- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/18179-Tribe-in-Trouble-Why-It-s-Time-for-the-Cleveland-Indians-to-Worry-170408 -- but what I will do is admit that in 2005, Sabathia was paltry for most of the year until coming on in August and September to win like 6 straight starts and post a sub-2 ERA. Last year really was the best year of his career. In just about every other season, he's had a patch where he has struggled -- and badly.
2 months ago
Naw, I don't really expect it to happen. I just want to get the point across that he could have avoided all this pressure by getting a deal done and perhaps its the cause for his struggles so far. His location is awful and hes trying way too hard.
2 months ago
I have been a die hard Indians fan since I was born, I am tired of putting up with people nagging me about how bad Cleveland is, this is our year and no one can take it away from us!!!
Go TRIBE!!!
2 months ago
he's gotta get on track. luckily every other starter for the tribe has been dialed in. borowski going down with an injury may actually help them in the long run. he's been flirting with being as inconsistent as jose valverde for a couple years now, and getting the likes of betancourt and kobayashi experience in that closer role will be really important for the team i expect to take the central (yes over the tigers.)
2 months ago
Good article, but we both know that the reason C.C didn't sign yet is so he can come to the Yankees next year.
from 2 months ago
Haha, we'll see.. But I'm glad you replied.
Jeremy, since you are a Yankees fan and I'm almost positive you've seen guys like Carl Pavano come through. That might be a bad example because he is more injured than anything. But like Javier Vazquez. He came in and wasn't very good. But when he was with the Expos and then when he went to Arizona and Chicago, he's seem to go back to the form he had when he was with Montreal.
Do you think some of those guys have wilted under that New York pressure? Because watching a guy like Vazquez today, I'd say he did and that big media market exists.
I just look at CC and see how he handles big pressure situations, and I don't see a good mix.
from 2 months ago
Very good point, I would be pretty nervous about signing him, considering what happened with Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Javier Vazquez, so on. I still feel like its likely to happen tho, especially if the Red Sox make an attempt at signing him first.
2 months ago
Nino, it doesn't matter if it is a good mix, all that matters to C.C right now is the amount of money he can get so he can buy more CHEEZEBURGERS!! (zing!)
If he was dedicated to the Tribe he would have signed, but he isn't. Sorry to say this but expect him to go the Andruw Jones route and still get the big bucks for a crappy year
from 2 months ago
Who are fans to say that he doesn't take the Jake Peavy route though?
Peavy won a Cy Young, and signed for a hometown discount(according to what people like Santana get).. He is just as good and hell he's younger..
Yeah I sound like a wishful Indians fan.. Sue me for giving a guy the benefit of the doubt.
I've followed the situation pretty closely, and read a lot of stuff on it. But it seems to me like money isn't the hang up on the deal and wasn't the reason the talks were broken off.
Its the years. CC Wants an extra one than the Tribe offered.. They might not be willing to go past it.
Look the whole purpose of the article was to suggest that his struggles might be caused from this situation still hanging over his head. He said he didn't want to talk about it, but that isn't going to stop him from thinking about it.
Also I have to know.. Was the Cheezeburgers just a zinger or a homage to a particular show on adult swim that I enjoy watching?
2 months ago
C.C. needs to suck it up and just sign. He's not going to get that much more money from anyone else besides maybe 2-4 mil extra. Too many teams don't completely think that CC will be a strong ace-like pitcher for much longer since his weight, and the only team I honestly see just giving out big money for him is the Yankees or maybe the Dodgers or A's.
CC will get his extra year that he wants if he can prove that he will will durable over a long duration of time.
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