Sabathia’s Future Unsettled, but Bright

Yesterday Johan Santana was introduced to the Big Apple media as the newest Met as well as the newest (and richest) member of the infamous $100-million pitcher club. I’m done debating the merits of the trade—the Twins were devoid of leverage and thus were robbed—and I’m opting instead to look beyond the lopsided deal to the fall-out…beginning in, of all places, Cleveland.

Like Santana, the Indians C.C. Sabathia is one of the best starting pitchers in the game. Like Santana, he is a left-hander with Cy Young distinction on his resume. Santana will be 29 in March. Sabathia will be 28 in July. They were both set to become free agents after the 2008 season. Now that Santana’s extension is done, Sabathia is in line for his huge pay day and the Indians offer, believed to be in the $17-million per year range, is looking a tad small.

Will Sabathia and his agents get creative and find a way to get things done with Cleveland—the organization Sabathia has been with since he was a teenager? Will he back off what the market set by Santana is dictating and give a discount to Cleveland, a place he considers his second home? One thing seems pretty certain: barring a total collapse, the Indians will not trade him. The Tribe has a team that came within a whisker of the World Series last year and should contend again this season. Moreover, the Indians have let it be known that they fully intend to get something done with their ace and not let him get away as others like Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez did.

My guess is that Sabathia falls a little short of last year’s Cy Young numbers and winds up staying in Cleveland in a discounted fashion like Jake Peavy in San Diego when all is said and done. If he approximates or somehow exceeds last year’s numbers, all bets are off. There are not many teams that can afford Sabathia if he hits the open market. The Yankees and Red Sox would clearly have interest, but a move to the more pitcher-friendly National League (C.C. reportedly likes swinging the bat) is not out of the question. Sabathia is from Vallejo, CA and he might like pitching in Dodger Blue… what pitcher wouldn’t like pitching in that stadium?

The good thing in all of this for fantasy owners, especially those that have Sabathia’s rights in keeper leagues, is that none of the above scenarios are negative. If the big fella holds up to the increased workload (last year was just his second with more than 200 innings) he should be embarking on a nice string of seasons in which he is an elite fantasy hurler.