It's been three weeks since the New York Yankees offered him a six-year, $140 million contract, but chances are that free agent CC Sabathia will likely pitch in the Bronx.

Despite reports that Sabathia would prefer to play in his home state, teams in California either have other free agent priorities or simply don't have the money.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Sabathia signs with the Yankees.

New York will feature the two highest-paid pitchers in baseball, with the Mets' Johan Santana at $137.5 million over six years.

That's a salary of $23.3 million for Sabathia and $22.9 million for Santana per season, for a combined total of $46.2 million.

It's an understatement to say that it's a big investment for the New York baseball teams in two pitchers. In contrast, the entire payroll for the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays was $43.4 million in 2007.

So who would you rather have as the ace of your pitching staff?

CC Sabathia or Johan Santana?

Sabathia went a combined 17-10 with a 2.70 ERA for the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers last season, and was 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA after getting traded to the Brewers in June.

He led the majors with 253 innings pitched, finished fifth in the National League Cy Young voting and sixth in the MVP balloting.

Sabathia is a durable pitcher capable of supplying his team with quality starts and 200-plus innings each season. His fastball is explosive and his slider is an excellent out-pitch to left-handed hitters. His change-up has improved significantly.

Santana has three dominating pitches—a mid-90s MPH fastball, a high-80s MPH slider and a change-up. The change-up is devastating because Santana throws it to hitters like he's throwing his fastball.

Santana also throws his slider with different breaks at different speeds, giving him a slurve-like alternative to his other pitches.

He finished the 2008 regular season with a 16-7 record, posting a 2.53 ERA with 206 strikeouts. His 2.53 ERA led the majors and was a career best. He also set a career high in innings pitched.

Santana finished in third place in the National League Cy Young award race.

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