The Yankees are being patient while their top pitching prospect makes up his mind:
LAS VEGAS — The Yankees are seeking a long-term union with C. C. Sabathia, and conveniently, there is a wedding chapel in the Bellagio Hotel, the site of baseball’s winter meetings. After two sit-downs with Sabathia, the Yankees are more smitten than ever, although Sabathia left town Monday without a commitment.
That is fine with the Yankees, who also met Monday with Sabathia’s Milwaukee Brewers teammate, Ben Sheets, and planned to meet with the agent Scott Boras about Derek Lowe. The Yankees like Sheets, who started the All-Star Game in New York last July but finished the season with a muscle tear near his elbow. They also like Lowe, a proven postseason performer.
But Sabathia stands out among his peers, and the Yankees will be patient as he makes his decision.
“These free agents, especially when they’re the high end, they get the chance to dictate the pace,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “I think by pushing, all that’ll do is push them away.”
Cashman took Manager Joe Girardi and the special adviser Reggie Jackson to Sunday’s two-hour meeting with Sabathia and his agents at the Wynn Hotel, where Sabathia was staying. Cashman met with Sabathia and the agents for another hour on Monday.
The Yankees did not raise the six-year, $140 million offer they made on Nov. 14, and the meetings focused more on lifestyle.
That is an important issue for Sabathia, who is enticed by the idea of playing in his native California and reportedly told the Dodgers’ general manager, Ned Colletti, that he wanted to play for his team.
Colletti’s main priority is to re-sign outfielder Manny Ramírez, but he said Boras had not responded to his offers. Asked if the Dodgers could have interest in Sabathia, Colletti said: “It’s a possibility. It’s an interesting dynamic with anybody that is long-term and a salary that’s higher than most, if not all.”
Cashman said he talked about New York with Sabathia, who has played in the smaller Midwest markets of Cleveland and Milwaukee. The Red Sox also met with Sabathia in Las Vegas, but the Brewers are the only other team known to have made an offer.
“Clearly we talked about everything we have to offer,” Cashman said. “I’m selling the Yankees, I’m selling New York. But I wasn’t talking about other locales at all. His questions were focusing on us.”
Maybe we need Lebron to step in.
