Friday, October 3, 2008

CC staying here?

Last Friday, I received a phone call from a guy who told me that he heard that CC Sabathia approached the Brewers, and said he would resign with them for $100 million dollars over 4 years. I said, "no way, who is reporting that?" My guy said he knows a guy who knows a guy in the upper levels of the Brewers front office. CC approached the team with that figure, and that the team was in the process of working the numbers to find out if the deal was plausible.

Oh ok, "knows a guy that knows a guy." Whatever right? EVERYBODY knows that the Brewers had no chance at resigning CC right? Whenever the topic gets brought up, all that gets said is the Brewers have "no chance."

Well, looks like Buster Olney has heard some of the same rumors in some capacity.

Others in the Brewers' organization say Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio will try to make it very difficult for Sabathia to leave -- maybe to the point of risking a colossal mistake.

Through a clear-eyed, fiscally responsible lens, the idea of Attanasio competing with a Yankee offer is probably a little nuts. If he were to give Sabathia $22 million to $25 million a year, for argument's sake, that would probably represent something in the range of 25 to 35 percent of the team's payroll -- and if Sabathia were to get hurt, well, his dead salary could become a debilitating albatross for a team with a mid-level budget.

So ok...there appear to be two ends of the spectrum here. We've got Doug Melvin vs Mark Attanasio...in a matter of speaking. Doug is conservative. Mark is aggressive.

Doug understands the economics of baseball and the danger of a mid-market team shoring up a third of the payroll on 1 player (albeit potentially the best pitcher in baseball who's in the prime of his career).

Mark understands economics in general, knowing that with CC here, the Brewers are a contender every year, and that will keep 3 million fans coming to Miller Park every year. If that's the case, the attendance pays for the player. Everybody knows the effect 1 playoff appearance does for a team's revenue stream. 1 year in the playoffs equals several years after of increased revenue from everything: merchandise, increased ticket-prices & parking, & tv advertising.

Is it a gamble? Hell yeah it is. It's not one that I'm qualified to answer, because basically, it all boils down to 1 thing: Will CC get hurt? Obviously, there's nobody that can answer that.

This story is probably the most interesting subplot of the offseason, and much more will be written about it, since it can't be fully analyzed in 1 blog post. I guess we can leave it at this for now. With Gagne not going to be re-signed, and if they deny Cameron's option, they DO have the money to sign him. But...WILL they actually sign him?

I guess it depends on how Mark A's 401K is looking in a month or so...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gagne will and Cameron could come off the books, but you also have arby guys in line for big raises.

Clown said...

Even if CC stays he will want to leave by the start of next year. I think a major factor of him wanting to stay is the Brewers have a lot of black players. If we dump Hall, Weeks, Cameron... He's not going to want to stay. I think the same goes for Fielder. That group of players is very tight.

Anonymous said...

Hey Woz, this was the same source that said that Ben Sheets would never pitch for the Brewers again right?

Anonymous said...

Clown:

#1 they won't dump hall they won't be able to get a used condom for him.
#2 Cameron will be back he has done a fine job playing CF this year, and there is NO ONE ready to replace him. The thought of Hart moving to CF I think has died after he has laid a turd the last month.
#3 Dick Weeks, not sure about him.
#4 Remember Sheets is getting 10 mil this year and that money is off the books
#5 if they could somehow trade soupppppppppppppp a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooop that is another 10 million saved.
#6 CC will be a Dodger/Angel/Yankee next year.

Anonymous said...

I only hang out with white people.

woziszeus said...

Anonymous,
Yes, that is the same source.

And yes, they were basically right. Dude has no elbow.

Rubie Q said...

I think you're giving Melvin a bit too much credit in terms of understanding the economics of baseball and the impact of a big contract on a mid-market team.

This is the same guy who signed Jeff Fucking Suppan to a $40+ million contract, no?

Anonymous said...

i know one of the brewers clubhouse guys. said cc gave him a $7500 tip last week. biggest of any player on the team despite only being here a few months. class act.

Anonymous said...

For 25 Million you can get two or three of these guys. This is a pretty good list of B level names on the market this off season,( http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/12/2009-mlb-free-a.html )

Plus even if CC likes Milwaukee and is willing to discount his services there are too many people around him that won't allow it to happen. Namely the players union.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for signing C.C.!! Sheets gone...Gagne gone...Cameron??...Weeks can die of alcohol poisoning at Jo Cats for all i care. and i assume some bullpen money will disappear after gagne is gone. with that being said i think its reasonable to pay C.C. 20-25 mil to replace Sheets as 'ace'. the guy single handedly revived brewer baseball from the toilet at the midway point this year. fans love him, players/management ditto!! whats the problem. we need to make a run at being a contender over the next 6 years!! and this kind of signing interests other FA's to consider the brewers in the future. i know its alot of $ and i don't do the books for big mark but i LOVE the idea. get it done baby!!!

-SANCHEZ