CC Sabathia Would Be Foolish to Leave New York Yankees

CC Sabathia should opt out from his current contract but he should not leave the New York Yankees.

Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract with the Yankees back in December 2008 but he has an opt-out clause that he can exercise and most likely will tomorrow morning.

That would leave four years and $92 million left on the table but would allow him to tear up that current deal and find a better one.

Right now, CC currently has an AAV of $23 million, second only to Cliff Lee who makes $24 million. Many believe that CC could garner as much as $25 million AAV and that would be a fair price for a pitcher of his caliber.

I don’t think any other team but the Yankees would even be willing to pay that price for Sabathia.

Look at how other monster contracts have turned out for pitchers around the age of 30 who were given that big of a payday.

The Giants signed Barry Zito to a 7-year, $126 million deal and he absolutely stinks. Mike Hampton signed a 8-year, $120 million deal with the Rockies in 2000 and had a losing record and an ERA of 5.75 in just two seasons.

John Lackey was given a five-year, $82.5 million contract and is more famous for drinking beers and eating fast food in the dugout than his performance on the mound.

The names go on and on, but the reality is that pitchers sometimes start to decline after signing these massive deals in their 30s.

I’m not suggesting that Sabathia is going to join this list of busts who signed big deals, but the reality is it could happen, and teams are very leery of doling out huge contracts now because of it.

Sabathia needs to re-sign with the Yankees, as they will be willing to take the financial risk on him, and he also stands to gain the most for his loyalty to the team.

Not that there are too many teams lining up to pay him $25 million+ as a season for the next 5-10 years.