There has been some talk recently that the MLBPA is suggesting or pressuring C.C. Sabathia to accept the Yankees offer of 6 years and $140 million. For the MLBPA to even get involved in this issue sets a horrible precedent for baseball and its players. I understand that the MLBPA exists to watch out for its players and to fight to put them in the best situation possible, but there comes a point when you cross the line, and for the union to suggest that Sabathia sign with a particular team is that line. While it may bode well for future pitchers, it does not necessarily benefit C.C.
As hard as it is to believe, it’s not all about the money. For some players, staying on their current team, or going to play for their hometown team is worth taking a pay cut (see Darren’s most recent post for a good example). Let’s not forget that regardless where C.C signs, he’s going to sign for a ton of money. I understand $140 million is an extraordinary amount of cash, but $100 million and playing on the team of your choice is a pretty good gig also.
Furthermore, let’s not forget what happened to other big name players that came to New York for the money. Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Giambi, A-Rod, Kevin Brown…none of these players had, or in A-Rod’s case have, a smooth, successful duration in pinstripes. New York is a different beast and for some, something they don’t want to deal with.
While I believe it’s way out of bounds for the MLBPA to try and dictate where a player should play, it’s even more egregious that it would suggest money is the end all for the American Pastime.
11 replies on “STAY OUT OF IT!!!”
paul your a sniffy, the reason those players didnt do good had nothing to do with being a “yankee” randy johnson was old as hell when he came, kevin brown had past arm problems so it was a risk they took, same thing with carl pavano, A rod and giambi have both put up big numbers stop hating on NY. i am proud to be from NY and will stand by my team 100% u guys just need to stop hating. i agree its a problem that the yankees fork over so much money to veterans past their prime but sabathia is only 28 he still has great years ahead of him. your a fool to criticize the yankees and say it wont benefit him. get off of us.
Jason, it seems you missed the point of this article. I believe the intent of the author was to speak in support of player autonomy in selecting the team for which they will play. The MLBPA is certainly overstepping its bounds if it is indeed pressuring CC to sign with the team that offers him the most money without consideration of any other factors. Like Mr. Schackman noted, Sabathia will be bringing in a very nice paycheck regardless as to where he signs.
If CC signs with the Brewers (for example) he will do so for a significantly smaller annual salary than he would have received had he signed with New York. What I think Mr. Schackman was trying to say, and correct me if I’m wrong, with his comments regarding former/current stars who have signed FA contracts with NY, is that the pressures, media spotlight, expectations, etc. associated with the Yankees are very different from those associated with the Brewers. The “problems” experienced by some of the FA Yankee signings may indeed be attributed to an inability to deal with unique experience that is New York Yankee baseball. That being said, much of those problems are due to other reasons.
The point is that Sabathia should be given the latitude to take into account whatever factors he deems to be important-be it salary, team chemistry, World Series contention, etc. The MLBPA needs to respect whatever decision he makes.
nick,
what jasons saying is that paul cant say maybe ny isnt a good situation for cc cause others players did have a “smooth duration” in the cases of giambi and arod they have had off field issues that have nothin to do with being a yankee. if they were on the brewers they would recieve the same exposure for steroids allegations and havin an affair with madonna. sometimes i wonder why people write articles like this, i like how jason called him a sniffy cus its a perfect example of butt sniffin the yankees. cc will prolly sign with ny and then we will see another article from paul about how the yankees over spent and how cc will have a bad career cause of kevin brown and randy johnson. did mike mussina not have an outstanding career after he was given millions when he left the orioles? roger clemens? instead of stop snitchin like the game says, STOP SNIFFIN
I’m confused. What is the MLBPA’s interest in Sabathia’s contract? Yes, Sabathia is a player and the MLBPA is the players’ union, but what does the MLBPA get out of Sabathia signing with the Yankees for $140M?
“I understand that the MLBPA exists to watch out for its players and to fight to put them in the best situation possible, but there comes a point when you cross the line, and for the union to suggest that Sabathia sign with a particular team is that line.”
I agree. But has the MLBPA made it clear WHY they publicly support Sabathia signing w/the Yanks?
Also, I bet Professor Karcher would have something to say on this issue considering his idea of players’ unions taking over contract negotiations for players.
Miguel and Jason,
Sorry to say but neither of you are helping your cause with any degree of valid arguments. You are furthering the negative stereotype of Yankees fans in general and the only people who could at all agree with what you’re saying are other narrow-minded Yankees fans.
Not only have these comments completely gotten off of the original topic Paul was bringing up, there is a lot of validity to the statement that NY is not player friendly. I am not going to restate what Paul was saying because you can find that out by just re-reading what he wrote or reading the comment by Nicholas. I am here not to purely bash the Yankees as I have nothing against them and actually grew up in Tampa going to the Spring Training games very commonly. As an objective onlooker, here are some clear stats just showing why CC may not want to go to New York.
Roger Clemens- was pitching just as good as he had in the 80’s, winning back-to-back Cy Young awards (20 and 21 wins, ERAs of 2.05 and 2.65). He then went to the Yankees and had 2 of his worst seasons of his career, 13 and 14 wins with ERAs of 4.6 and 3.7 (Avg. ERA increase of about 1.85)
Dwight Gooden- Went form having a fairly long, successful career with the Mets, with his last three full seasons having ERAs of 3.60, 3.67, 3.45. He was with the Yankees for 2 seasons and had ERAs of 5.01 and 4.91 (Avg. ERA increase of about 1.39)
Denny Neagle- Came off an 8-2, 3.52 ERA short season with the Reds to joining the Yankees for a year and going 7-7 with a 5.81 ERA (increase ERA of 2.29).
Carl Pavano- Went from an 18-8, 3.00 ERA season to three straight seasons for the Yankees with records of 4-6, 1-0, and 4-2, and an average ERA of 5.1 (increase of 2.1).
Kenny Rogers- Last three seasons with the Rangers, he had a total of 44 wins(avg=14.67) with an avg. ERA of 3.98. In his two seasons with the Yankees, he had 18 wins(avg=9) and an avg. ERA of 5.17 (increase of 1.19).
There are some pitchers that made New York their home but if you look, most of these are pitchers started in New York near the beginning of their career. Granted there are probably a few exceptions out there, but there have been more than enough cases to at the least, put doubt in a pitcher’s mind when thinking about joining the Yankees just for the money.
dude u need to just stop talking, u have no idea what your talking about. you mentioned roger clemens name are u serious??? 1993 and 95 in boston were garbage seasons for him too, nobody has a perfect career with one team. look at clemens other years with the yanks, he also had 17 and 20 win seasons and mind u he came to the yanks at the age of 36, do u expect him to perform the same way he did when he was younger with the redsox? your a fool man. david cone didnt start with the yanks and had a good career with us, david wells, mike mussina, u cant say these dudes started their careers with the yankees and thats why they were good, if you think they started their careers with us u dont know baseball. kenny rogers name being mentioned? he was never that great of a player until later in his career years after he left the yankees how can u say the NY atmosphere is resposnible for him not doing good. out out his 4 all star appearences 3 came after 2004. every team signs players that never pan out, dont just single NY out cause we havent won a world series recently. for paul to say that NY isnt a good situation for cc is non sense and pure playa hatin. yes NY brings added pressure but plenty of players have shined in the spotlight he didnt give good examples of how cc wont succeed in NY.
Justin,
Do you think the coke had anything to do with Doc Gooden’s performance for the Yanks.. Also, if you are going to do a detailed post about how a players statistics change from team to team, there is more than wins, loses, and ERA. Look at quality starts, a teams W-L when that pitcher started and look at run support. Jason I think you hit it on the head with your post. What about Paul O’Neil, Mariano Duncan, Jimmy Key, David Cone or Tino Martinez? Also, Pavano was injured most of the time he was in the Bronx. Was that because of NY? Finally, I think Denny Neagle was good for the Yanks. He did after all win a ring with them and was a part of that. What did he do after that season in NY? He did nothing!
Pressure gets to each person different. the MLBPA is not out of bounds in their thought process. If you remember, they wouldn’t let AROD renegotiate his contract when the Red Sox were trying to obtain him from Texas. The MLBPA must protect the interest in the players, not just one player.
Re: the MLBPA’s interest in CC signing with NY
If I understand the situation correctly, the MLBPA’s interest is not in the particular team with which CC signs; rather, it is in the amount of money for which he signs. If CC signs with the highest bidder, he will be setting a new baseline upon which to value other pitching contracts. This is why we hear offers for Sabathia being worth at least the same amount as Johan Santana’s contract. Johan’s salary is the upper benchmark against which all other pitching salaries are measured… If Johan had taken a smaller contract, then the bidding for CC would probably start at that dollar value, if that makes sense.
Of course, then, the MLBPA wants CC to sign for the biggest contract he can-it raises the bar once again, and pitching contracts continue to rise.
I’m sure I could have worded that better, and if anyone has a better explanation (or correction) please post it here.
Jason, I think you are way off base with what you are taking out of this article. It has nothing to do with the Yankees. It’s about the MLBPA and pressuring C.C to accept an offer, it just so happens that the Yankees are the team that offered the contract. I’m also a New Yorker and Yankee fan so it is by no means me being a hater. I just think you missed the main point.
Jim Thome could not be reached for comment.
Why is this news? Because it’s the Yankees making the offer and not the Phillies? This has been the standard operating procedure of the MLBPA for some time.