New York Yankees and CC Sabathia Agree on Record Deal

CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees are close to a seven-year contract worth around $160 million, a deal that would be a record for a pitcher and only second largest contract in baseball to Alex Rodriguez.

The Yankees and the pitcher’s agents had not yet reached a letter of agreement, a baseball official familiar with the talks said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because a deal had not yet been finalized.

An official for the Yankees said they were confident an agreement would soon be reached.

So it's basically a done deal. CC Sabathia is almost a Yankee.

On Tuesday, Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman left the winter meetings and traveled to the San Francisco area to meet with the pitcher and his wife.

Somewhere in that pitch by Cashman, Sabathia agreed to dawn the famous pinstripes.

During the last three seasons combined, Sabathia is first in baseball in wins, ERA, and strikeouts.

The Yankees missed the playoffs last season and are doing whatever it takes to make that not happen in their new ballpark next season.

For the Yankees, pitching was the weakness and that is what they are focused on in the winter meetings.  In addition to Sabathia, the Yankees are close to a deal with Derek Lowe which could also be announced in a few days.  However, the Phillies are also in the mix for the services of Lowe.

Regardless, with the addition of CC Sabathia, the Yankees are instantly a front runner with their high powered offense backed by solid pitching.

It should be interesting, to say the least, when the Yankees open up the new stadium on April 16th against Sabathia's former American League team, the Cleveland Indians.