MLB Free Agents 2012: 10 Reasons Boston Red Sox Should Pursue C.C. Sabathia

Following their epic collapse

After one of the most spectacular meltdowns

Alright Red Sox fans, I’ll spare you the agonizing intros. Lord knows you’ve read enough of that the past few weeks.

Suffice it to say Boston needs an upgrade and there are few (potentially) available players better than New York Yankees lefty C.C. Sabathia. If the ace opts out of his contract with the Bronx Bombers he’ll attract plenty of suitors.

From the tactical to the practical, here are 10 reasons why the Red Sox should join that race.

Does Anyone Here Know How To Pitch?

There’s no more obvious and more pressing reason to pursue C.C. Sabathia than Boston’s need for pitching help.

Due to injury and a subsequent lack of depth, Red Sox pitching posted a combined 5.84 ERA in September and October. The starters were even worse, going 4-13 with a 7.08 ERA during the season’s last month and change.

With the possible exception of Jon Lester, there isn’t a single Red Sox starter without either injury or performance concerns.

Sabathia would solve that problem in a big way. The 6’7” workhorse has five consecutive seasons of 230 or more innings pitched and an ERA under 3.40.

C.C. is a big dose of reliability in a rotation that sorely needs it.

Ben Cherington Needs To Make Mark

For a general manager, nothing says “I’m here” like a big free-agent signing.

Presumptive GM Ben Cherington needs to establish his own record of aggressive deal-making and do it quickly. Red Sox fans won’t tolerate passivity in their head personnel man.

Fans knew Theo Epstein could handle a high-profile free-agent pursuit or work a big trade. For Cherington to step out of his mentor’s shadow, the rookie GM must establish a bold tone.

Revive the Rivalry

The most recent Golden Age in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry ended on October 28, 2007.

As the Red Sox finished off a World Series sweep of the Rockies for their second championship in four seasons, the David-Goliath contrast that had sustained Boston-New York for the early part of the decade died.

Goliath versus Goliath doesn’t quite have the same ring.

Since then Red Sox-Yankees games have had the feel of an Aspen snowball fight, and a slow one at that. The stakes feel low, the protagonists callous and the personnel moves usually come at the expense of a far more sympathetic, small-market weakling.

The Yankees taking C.C. Sabathia from the Brewers? Joyless. The Red Sox pilfering Carl Crawford from the Rays? Business as usual.

We need these teams to engage each other once again.

Nothing stirs emotions quite like a traitor, and C.C. Sabathia walking into Yankee Stadium with a big “B” on his cap would be treated as such. That’s the game I want to see and the game this rivalry needs.

Run Up the Price for the Yankees

The only team that needs C.C. Sabathia more than the Red Sox do right now might be the New York Yankees.

He’s the undisputed ace of a staff that lacks reliable starting pitching. Ivan Nova is still young, Phil Hughes is a mess, A.J. Burnett is even messier and veterans Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia couldn’t possibly last much longer.

Sabathia and his agents know the Yankees need him—that’s why he’s opting out in the first place—and the interest of a fellow big spender like Boston will drive the negotiations toward more money and more years.

Sabathia would certainly welcome the competition and if the Yankees spend too much on Sabathia, the cost might prohibit them from making supplementary signings.

Can’t Afford Not To

The Boston Red Sox and their fans are not in the business of waiting around. The expectation at Fenway is to win every year, and coming off an all-time disappointment the pressure’s on to fix things.

Boston's organizational evolution into a baseball superpower has reached a point where not doing anything is tantamount to taking something away.

Boston fans expect some sort of compensatory move after a down year, and this offseason the urgency reaches a new level.

Much as baseball executives hate to admit it, mollifying the fanbase is part of the job.

Keep Him Away from the Rangers

If you have C.C. Sabathia, the opposition doesn’t.

A source recently told ESPN that the Texas Rangers want the lefty, and the prospect of C.C. in Arlington should scare the Red Sox brass. Texas just wrapped up their second consecutive AL pennant, has one of the league’s better farm systems and recently secured a new TV contract that will give them much more working capital.

Should they use that financial flexibility to acquire Sabathia, the AL’s best team gets that much better. That’s not a risk the Red Sox want to take.

Mood-Changer

Nothing cures the hangover of a bad loss (or losses) quite like an exciting new signing.

The Red Sox and their fans couldn’t feel worse about things right now, and aside from a Patriots Super Bowl victory the only thing capable of changing that is a momentum-building personnel move.

Now I wouldn’t advise most teams to make a big move just in the interests of ego, but the cash-rich Red Sox have the resources to treat themselves.

What do wealthy people do when shit happens? They buy a new boat/car/house/jetpack.

Go get your jetpack, Boston.

If the Red Sox indulge a bit this offseason, the vibe in Boston, which got scarily dark during the collapse, will start to rebound.

Quality Starts

Only one American League team, the Baltimore Orioles, had fewer quality starts than the Boston Red Sox in 2011.

In that same category calibrated for individual pitchers, C.C. Sabathia finished seventh.

Looks like the supply meets the demand.

Just two Boston pitchers registered more than 10 quality starts (Josh Beckett and Jon Lester), and only two other AL bullpens averaged more outs recorded per game than the Red Sox. That’s a lot of mop-up duty.

Boston had their best month in July and saw their ERA rise each succeeding month. Repeated use clearly wore the unit down and rendered it ineffective when the Sox needed them most.

Every fifth day Sabathia would help give those weary arms a rest. Over the course of a long season a few saved bullets can make a big difference.

Luring Other Players

David Ortiz’s talk about playing in New York next year makes it abundantly clear, free agents have serious doubts about the direction of the Red Sox organization.

Changes at manager and general manager make a once-certain contender considerably shakier, giving off the vibe of a sinking ship or at least a panicky crew. Players signing free-agent deals want money, stability and a chance to win.

The Red Sox still have money, but can they convince players they still have the organizational infrastructure to keep winning?

Signing C.C. Sabathia would override some of those concerns and make it easier for Boston to lure back David Ortiz or take a hard run at Michael Cuddyer or Carlos Beltran.

Land one star and you may soon have a constellation.

He Can Handle Boston

When you:

1) Play in front of sold-out crowds every night;

2) Have a local media with real teeth;

3) Hold yourself to extremely high expectations;

4) Have a fanbase that leaves little margin for error;

You need:

1) A player that can handle all of that.

As much as either fanbase would be loathe to admit it, New York and Boston are very similar places to play. If you’re not game for the pressure (Carl Crawford/Chuck Knoblauch) both cities will swallow you.

Those who can thrive in the win-always atmosphere of the Big Apple also have what it takes to conquer Beantown. For a guy who spent the first part of his career in small markets, C.C. Sabathia’s shown an incredible aptitude for the big city and the big moment.

The Red Sox should have no concerns about his ability to adjust.