Teams were able to negotiate with free agents as of 12:00 am last night. It took until late this afternoon for the Yankees to offer the coveted CC Sabathia a lucrative contract; one that, as expected, should trump that accepted by Met's ace Johan Santana a year ago.

The Yankees have made it no secret that their main objective this winter will be to acquire superior pitching and today they took the first step in meeting their goal. According to MLB.com, the Yankees have made a formal offer to Sabathia that should consist of about $140 million for six years.

Despite the fact that Sabathia has made it known that he would prefer to pitch on the West Coast (closer to his home) and in the National League, where he saw a great amount of success with the Brewers, every man has a breaking point.

Time will tell if the Yankees may have forced Sabathia to reach his. If they are successful, it would be a brilliant move, in my opinion. Many Yankee fans have criticized the Yankees' moves from last winter in not going hard after Johan Santana. Could this make up for it?

Sabathia's combined numbers between the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers this past year included a record of 17-10, and a 2.70 ERA with 251 strikeouts; not to mention that the guy won the 2007 American League Cy Young Award. The Yankees could truly boast that they have one of the game's top aces.

It has also been reported that offers to pitchers Derek Lowe and A.J. Burnett are also in the cards for the Yankees and should be distributed within the next few days. Updates will be made as more information becomes available.