$500,000 Per Pound

According to Joel Sherman, the Yanks won't waste any time in their pursuit of C.C. Sabathia. Sherman pegs their initial offer at $150M/6 years and thinks that could be only the starting point. Sherman says they'll submit their first offer tomorrow.

If true, this offer may already be higher than anyone else is willing (or able) to go. As far as I'm concerned, do anything and everything you have to. He's the prize pitcher, a legitimate ace by any standard.

You're going to hear a lot of talk about the risk involved with signing pitchers to big money deals, but we aren't talking about Barry Zito or Mike Hampton here. Those guys were over-hyped when you looked at peripheral numbers. Sabathia is in the class of Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina and Greg Maddux when they hit the open market. It doesn't happen often at all that a pitcher of his caliber becomes available, at his age. No matter what the price, the Yanks need to get this done.

Hat tip to MLB Trade Rumors.