LOOK, we’ve all been around the block a time or three, all of us, so let’s not pretend to be offended by the hand wringing CC Sabathia put everyone through the past few weeks.
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HARDBALL AT THE WINTER MEETINGS
This isn’t the first time an A-List pitcher took issue with our fair burgh, after all – see also Maddux, Greg – and it isn’t the first time one of those A-List pitchers pointed to family concerns when factoring in New York’s livability quotient – see also Hampton, Mike – and it isn’t the first time a staggering pile of dough turned someone’s mind – see also Rod, A-.
Of course, there is something Sabathia should know about what’s in store for him across the next seven years – or, at the least, the next three, before the possibility of an opt-out and a national economic surge can vault him on his merry way west, to the land of sun, low-expectation fans and In & Out Burger joints, where the only back page of note is the Chevy ad on the last page of Variety.
It is a simple bargain, really, and it goes something like this:
It would be wise to start making a habit of seasons such as 2007 – 19 wins, 7 losses, 3.21 ERA, 1.141 WHIP – and to shy away from seasons such as, say, 2004 (11-10, 4.36, 1.319). It would be wise, starting next April, to more closely emulate the version of himself that last season wore a Brewers uniform (11-2. 1.65, 1.003) whose 3-X dimensions made him look merely husky, as opposed to the one who wore an Indians uniform (6-8, 3.83, 1.234) and had people wondering if he was eating all the cheesecake.
It’s ridiculous to pretend anybody’s feelings are hurt here, beginning with the Yankees, who have thrown too much money around over the years to ever act like any kind of conscientious objector, and Yankees fans, who yesterday didn’t seem nearly as bothered by Sabathia’s deliberations as they did the day before.
And that certainly includes Sabathia, too. We questioned Maddux back in 1992 when he took a lower offer from Atlanta, and we lampooned Hampton in 2000 when he made those absurd comments about school systems on his way toward Colorado oblivion, but it is worth pointing out: Neither ultimately was swayed by New York money. They walked away.
Sabathia had little choice. Unless he wanted Don Fehr to send Luca Brasi after him, he wasn’t about to leave $60 million on the table. Give him this: He never made any pretense about his New York ambivalence, never talked about his options or his intentions with anything but absolute candor.
“I like it there,” Sabathia told The Post’s Brian Costello in October, speaking of New York, “but we’ll have to see what direction the teams are going and would my family be uncomfortable being on a whole other coast? We’ll have to see.”
We can act with silly sanctimony at Sabathia grabbing the easy tourist view of New York, especially because it’s probable the Sabathia family will find life in Greenwich, Saddle River, Manhasset or Chappaqua just as agreeable as Santa Monica or Sausalito. But what’s the point of that? He is a great pitcher who immediately brings the Yankees a lot closer to the Red Sox and Rays than they were yesterday. His happiness, and his family’s comfort, is really beside the point.
He is here now. He is in New York. If it is fair to wonder about how someone can expect to succeed in New York when he puts in an opt-out because of his own clear reservations about playing in New York . . . well, that’s beside the point, too. If he is a bust after three years, he is protected. If he is a star, then there’s one team certain to throw a heavy set of golden handcuffs on him.
He is here. The reasons don’t matter. The reservations don’t matter. Were the Yankees desperate? Did they grovel? Doesn’t matter. They are in this together, starting now, where just one thing matters. Check back in October to see just how much.