A couple of days after being bounced from their first postseason appearance since 1982, quotes out of Milwaukee are pointing to the Brewers making a run at signing CC Sabathia during the off season. From the horse’s mouth:
“Who knows, maybe it’s not my last appearance,” Sabathia said shortly after the Brewers’ 6-2 loss Sunday. “Coming here, meeting these guys, making new friends, that will all factor in my decision.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say this was one of the better times I had in my career,” said Sabathia, who went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts with the Brewers. “Coming here, meeting these guys and being on this team, was a good experience.”
“Even when I was in Cleveland, I told people I want to have fun. I like to play this game and I want to be around people I enjoy, because you have to be around them eight months a year,” Sabathia said. “It’ll all factor in.”
Of course, this probably doesn’t mean much, but its something to hang a hat of hope on if you’re a Brewers fan. The story gets a little more interesting when you factor in some comments from owner Mark Attanasio and Brewers spokesperson/batsman Ryan Braun.
First, Ryan Braun’s take:
“I’m not going to tell you what he said specifically but I know he enjoyed it here,” Braun said. “He likes the guys on the team. He recognizes that we’re going to be good for a while, too.
“I don’t think he’ll take a discount financially but he might take less years for the same amount of money, which makes it less risk, less commitment from the organization.”
“If anybody ever deserves it, it’s him,” Braun said. “Just the fact that he’s young, he’s durable, what he did for us, recognizing the type of money that was on the line for him, throwing on three days’ rest four times in a row. You just don’t see guys do that these days.
“Ultimately, the player earns that type of money. It’s difficult to turn down an extra two or three million dollars. It’s a big difference. He has earned the right to maximize his money. Now, it’s up to him to decide what the major factors are, whether it’s location, money or opportunity to win.
“I know he will listen. He said the Brewers will have the first opportunity to negotiate with him. I know he wants to get it over with quickly.
Not only do Braun’s quotes back up CC’s comments about enjoying his time in Milwaukee, but they takes them a curious step forward, hinting at the fact that it’s been discussed – between the two of them, or at least in the clubhouse at some point and on some level. Seriously, Ryan? He might take less years to stay in Milwaukee? That doesn’t sound like something a) a ballplayer should be talking about publicly and b) the soon-to-be sought after free agent would want in the papers and c) you should say unless you are angling for a part time job as Gord Ash’s right hand man. Another ray of hope though, one could imagine.
Anyway, Far more interesting are comments coming from Mark Attanasio, who said: “The numbers you hear for a player like CC start to approach what we pay the team, so you have to be creative on how you structure things. But, they’ve got financial advisers and they can be creative, too, so we’ll see.”
“How you structure things” seems like a hint at deferred salary. Maybe, maybe not. Deferring salary is hardly a new idea in MLB, though it’s not without risks. But to give you an idea what kind of thing the Brewers could be thinking about, here’s the deferred salary owed to Alex Rodriguez under the contract he signed with the Texas Rangers before the season in 2001:
A few million extra dollars a year to sign a superstar to a franchise that hasn’t won in years? No big deal right? Tell that to the Texas Rangers. He hasn’t played for them for 6 years, (and they got to kick in a ton of his salary for his Yankee years) but they’ll be staring at his contract on the budget for years to come. And to put that into perspective as it relates to the Milwaukee Brewers, the combined salary of Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, JJ Hardy, Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart in 2008 equals approximately $5.157M.
And there is the story of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who sounded awfully excited about a roster full of players with deferred money in their contracts on the way to the 2001 World Series Championship, but ended up hamstrung with payroll constraints down the line.
Compounding things for the Brewers, numerous members of their core for 2008 are arbitration eligible this offseason and due raises for 2009. The full list of arbitration eligible players follows:
- Dave Bush
- Chris Capuano
- Seth McClung
- Prince Fielder
- JJ Hardy
- Rickie Weeks
- Corey Hart
Further, the following players have contracted raises for 2009 already in place:
- David Riske +250K
- Jeff Suppan +4.50M
- Bill Hall +2M
- Ryan Braun ~+350K
And finally, there are a number of club options that, if exercised, add additional money on the books:
- Soloman Torres – 3.75M
- Jason Kendall – 4.25M
- Craig Counsell – 3.40M
- Mike Cameron – 10M
Obviously, not all of the 4 club options will be picked up, though theoretically, salary will need to be taken on to replace them. On the bright side for the Brewers, the combined buyout for these options is a relatively small $1.45M, which will make the pain of shedding that salary smaller.
The bottom line for the Brewers seems to be that, unless they are willing to get creative with their offer to Sabathia, they may need to get creative with their arbitration eligible players too. Unless, of course, they’re willing to raise their payroll significantly. The Milwaukee Brewers with a $100 million dollar payroll? That would be something. Depending on how negotiations go with their arbitration eligible players, it might take that kind of budget to keep their young core and still offer Sabathia something north of $20 million a year.
When arbitration figures are exchanged, a little more math will be put behind my reasoning here, but I do believe it will take a $100 million for the Brewers to field a competitive team, with CC Sabathia. And I don’t see that happening.
