Wednesday, December 10, 2008

$160 Million Reasons not to sign CC

Ok...so it looks like it's a done deal. $160 Million over 7 freaking years. Good lord.

Good for CC. Good for any man really. Nobody knows the specifics of the contract or anything, but the big fella was basically handed a pen and told..."if you sign here, and don't retire or anything...uhhh...you get $160 Million dollars over the next 7 years." Quite frankly, there's not much you can do when you think about in simple terms.

And you know what? If I were running the Brewers, I would laugh at that figure. Melvin probably heard the offer, and sent a text to CC saying: "Thx for the ride, enjoy the money, take me out to lunch next time you're in town."

Let's play with the numbers some more. 7 years $160 Million. We've got Braun under contract for the next 7 years too...but at ONE FOURTH OF THE PRICE!

The Yankees wanted him. They got him. They overpaid for him. They can absorb the wasted money if he goes down.

The Brewers obviously wanted him. They made a damn good offer for a ridiculous price, and it wasn't enough. Even if CC would have taken our 5 year, $100 Million deal, he still would have accounted for 25% of our payroll. If he would have went down, the Brewers wouldn't have been able to absorb that kind of hit and their ability on the field would be severely diminished.

Am I happy CC won't be pitching for us anymore? Hell no. But I'm also realistic. Now that all this is over, I find myself actually breathing a small sigh of relief that he didn't take the deal. The risk was just too high. I want the Brewers to remain competitive every year. The thought of one player taking up such a huge chunk of payroll and then going down with injury would just be devastating.

Stay the course Doug & Mark. Keep the nucleus in place. Keep plugging in gaps with well priced veterans (see: Mike Lamb & Jason Coffey).

We now need 1 starter. Get to work.

8 comments:

John Gardner said...

And at least going to the AL East, the chances of playing against CC are slim.

I like CC, but here's to hoping the Yankees continue to be the most expensive bad team in baseball!

Anonymous said...

Even though we couldn't afford him, I held out hope that we would get the moral victory that would come with him moving West. You know that we lost out because of geography not money, but all along I couldn't help think of the reactions that I read from Cleveland fans back when he rejected their offer for an extended contract. A nickname that he was given seems to fit now more than ever: Captain Cash.

graf said...

what about the closer woz? is that an issue with you?

i was hoping he'd go anywhere but there so i could at least root for the guy. not so much anymore.

woziszeus said...

Closers are overrated. We'll find one off the scrap heap or make one of our guys pitch the 9th (like Torres filled in last year).

Don't forget...we signed David Riske last year to be our closer...and he was prolly the front runner until Gagne showed up.

Let's sign another bullpen arm and let him, Riske, Coffey, & McClung battle it out.

D'Amico's one good year said...

I'm right there with you... I loved what CC was for us, he'll be one of my favorite Brewers ever... but he kinda did us a favor. I'd rather have a lot of above-average players than one dominate one that only plays once every five games.

Matt said...

We'll see if Melvin is allowed to use any of the money offered to CC towards other free agents. I kind of doubt it, given the arbitration raises due to Prince, JJ, Hart, Bush, etc. May have to trade a salary (Cameron?) to be able to afford any decent free agent.

Charlie Marlow said...

Let's just hope the Yankees don't sign Sheets or Teixeira. That would reduce our draft pick compensation.

Anonymous said...

As much as I loved CC this year and everything he did for the Brewers, I have been very weary about such a big contract to begin with. I think that Milwaukee provided him with the kind of environment to succeed. It's well known that the Brewers are young and have fun, and CC quickly just became the hero and the star. Over time I just don't know if that would have stuck. And I can't wait to see if he can excel with the Yankees, I sincerely hope he does, but hes not the big fish anymore so I have my doubts.

But you know that the next time he completes a game he will be wishing he could untuck his shirt and chest bump prince.