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Indians: Five things
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Great thing this summer for the Cleveland Indians is they no longer have to plow through Johan Santana in the American League Central en route to 96 victories.
Terrible thing for the Indians is, with Minnesota having conceded that Santana became too rich for Twins blood, the next ace with a one-way ticket out of the division very well could be their own C.C. Sabathia.
"No one in this locker room wants to see C.C. go," center fielder Grady Sizemore says, voicing the very real fears of both an organization and an entire city. "He's been here since 2000, he's established himself as a player and he's established himself as the leader of this team.
"He's our workhorse, and he's the core of this team. Thinking about losing him right now. ..."
Right.
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| Many in Cleveland are concerned that C.C. Sabathia might leave. (AP) |
Everyone around here agrees on one thing: Sabathia, a teddy bear of a guy at 6-feet-8 and just a bit south of 300 pounds, is a keeper.
What the Indians and Sabathia cannot agree on -- so far -- is exactly how valuable he is to the club when his contract expires following the 2008 season.
Talks for an extension broke down after Sabathia this winter declined a four-year offer from Cleveland believed to be worth around $60 million (he's signed for '08 at $11.25 million).
Coming off a Cy Young season, in which he went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA and led the AL with 241 innings pitched, Sabathia is said to be eying a deal similar to that of Santana (six years, $137.5 million with the Mets) and Barry Zito (seven years, $126 million with the Giants).
Other comparables include the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano (five years, $91.5 million) and San Diego's Jake Peavy (who signed a three-year, $52 million extension that begins after his current contract expires following the 2009 season).
The average annual value of Santana's contract is $22.5 million. The AAV of the Zito and Zambrano deals is about $18 million a year, and Peavy is at $17.
But long-term deals for pitchers historically have come with diminishing returns (see Kevin Brown and Mike Hampton), and the mid-market Indians aren't eager to jam themselves up. Though, if they would ever close their eyes and throw caution to the wind, they think that Sabathia is as good a risk as any.
"This is our guy, so we know the type of person, player and teammate he is," Indians general manager Mark Shapiro says.
Though Santana and Sabathia each were on target to become free agents following the '08 season, Shapiro notes that the Indians' situation was vastly different than that of the Twins given their division title last summer and deep push into the AL Championship Series against Boston before falling one victory short of a World Series berth.
"We could not conceive of any scenario in which trading C.C. would not damage our chances of contending this year," Shapiro says. "The thought was that where this team is, the most important thing for this year was to give us a fair chance to win.
"He has a strong relationship with his teammates and with the city. He wants to stay here. We're going to remain positive."
Though Sabathia, 27, has tabled discussions -- contract talks with the Indians and updates for the media -- until after the '08 season so as to limit distractions, he did allow the other day that "everyone realizes how I feel about the organization and the city."
That's what figures to make for such a jittery summer, one that Clevelanders -- and perhaps some Indians players themselves -- undoubtedly will spend reading between the lines and analyzing the margins while Sabathia aims for a second Cy Young award while likely taking a final farewell lap.
"C.C. and I have been together since rookie ball," Indians pitching coach Carl Willis says. "To be truthfully honest, I'm really proud of him. I'm really happy he's put himself in this situation. If we do our jobs, we're going to be in this situation with other players."
How Sabathia handles the relentless unknown of his future will play hard into both his and the Indians' season.
When we last saw him, of course, he was searching for mysteries without any clues in October. As the Indians dispatched the Yankees in the first round and then built a 3-1 lead against Boston before losing three in a row, Sabathia looked overwhelmed. He won his only start against the Yanks despite surrendering three earned runs in five innings, then went 0-2 with a 10.45 ERA in two ALCS starts.
Even given his heavy in-season workload, he didn't look gassed. His fastball still sizzled in the mid-to-upper 90s. He simply didn't have his usual finely tuned touch.
"I think I tried to do too much," Sabathia acknowledges with that October wreck now in his rear-view mirror. "I worked too hard. I kept trying to blow the ball by hitters. It's something I haven't done in a long time."
Sabathia makes it clear that he does not want this to sound like an excuse. It's not an excuse, I tell him -- it's an explanation.
"Pitching in big games down the stretch," he continues. "It definitely will do nothing but make me and the team better."
We can't know exactly how he will handle the follow-up to his Cy Young while in the walk year of his contract until it begins to play out.
But there's no question that this summer, like last fall, will be another learning experience.
One member of the organization who knows Sabathia as well as anyone thinks he will handle it all just fine.
"He seems to be at a great place right now," Willis says. "He wants to win. He wants us to win. I think that what's right in front of him right now, he knows he's going to take care of himself no matter what."
