CC Sabathia's New Contract a Win for Him and Yankees

On Sunday, word started circulating that New York Yankees ace lefty CC Sabathia was preparing to opt out of his contract.

So much for that. With a deadline looming on Monday night, Sabathia has instead chosen to stay with the Yankees. He announced the decision himself via Zoodig.com.

Naturally, Sabathia's continued stay with the Yankees will come with more money. Per a report from the Associated Press, the Yankees have added an additional $30 million to Sabathia's contract, which already had four years and $92 million remaining on it.

Put it all together, and you get a five-year contract worth $122 million. That's an average annual salary of $24.4 million, and there is also an option for $25 million in 2017. ESPN's Buster Olney says it's a vesting option:

For what it's worth, the deal also includes a $5 million buyout.

So just like that, the Yankees and Sabathia have saved themselves a whole bunch of trouble. This is particularly true of the Yankees, who truly need Sabathia leading their rotation. My guess is that he always was going to end up with them no matter what, but there were certainly going to be other interested parties had he opted out and become a free agent.

To boot, the Yankees get to keep Sabathia on a relatively fair deal. They paid him over $24 million in 2011, so upping his average annual salary to $24.4 million won't put that much of a dent in their pocketbook, which is quite big.

This is, of course, assuming that Sabathia continues to pitch as well as he has in his first three seasons in the Bronx. He's won at least 19 games each season, and his ERA has hovered in the low 3.00s.

Sabathia should also be happy with his new extension. I'll let CNBC's Darren Rovell explain why:

Admit it, you wish you had never given up on baseball as a kid. Had you kept it up, you too might be making over $700K per start.

Then again, it's never too late. That's what we learned from watching The Rookie, right?