MLB Free Agency: The Yankees Should Re-Sign CC Sabathia Now, Avoid Opt-out

We all know that CC Sabathia has an opt-out clause in his contract that would make him a free agent this winter.

We've heard that Sabathia will likely use the opt-out and void the remainder of his four years and $92 million deal with the Yankees.

According to George King of the New York Post, the Yankees are forming a plan in order to sign Sabathia.

The Yankees are getting ready to offer Sabathia a contract extension so they can avoid him opting out and becoming a free agent this winter.

This is a smart move on the Yankees' part to try and get this done now rather than later.

Sabathia has three days after the 2011 World Series ends to exercise the opt-out clause in his current contract, which then would only give the Yankees two full days of having exclusive rights to negotiate with Sabathia before he hit the open market.

Of course, if the World Series ends on Friday or Saturday, Sabathia could opt out the very next day and then the Yankees have five days of exclusive negotiating rights.

According to King, the Yankees front office feels comfortable enough about raising Sabathia's current annual salary of $23 million and giving him a five- or six-year extension to his contract.

Sabathia originally signed a seven-year, $161 million deal with the Yankees in December of 2008 and has done a great job in the three years with the Yankees.

He has gone 59-23 in three seasons, won 21 games in 2010 and has finished in the top five of the AL Cy Young voting.

Sabathia is also 5-1 in the postseason with the Yankees and won the 2009 ALCS MVP Award when the Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels en route to the World Series.

The last thing the Yankees need is another Alex Rodriguez case from 2007. They don't need Sabathia opting out and causing a great deal of concern as to the future of the team.

And Sabathia knows that A-Rod drew a lot of negative press to himself when he did opt out during Game 4 of the 2007 World Series.

The Yankees know that without Sabathia in the rotation, they are in deep trouble in 2012. The only certainty in the rotation is Ivan Nova, who was a rookie last season and pitched beyond expectations.

Sabathia just turned 31 and people have wondered if his durability and his weight will be a cause of concern once he starts to gets older.

Right now though, Sabathia is still one of the best left-handed starters in the game and need to lock him up immediately.

If they gave him a six-year, $162 million offer, which would put Sabathia at $27 million per season, I think that would be more than enough to get Sabathia re-signed and done with the situation.

Sabathia has said over and over again that he loves pitching in New York and his family loves the area.

Lets face it, CC doesn't want to play anywhere else because New York is where he will make the most money to go along with being on a contender every season.

The Yankees need to move now and sign Sabathia now before the opt-out ever comes into play.