Good news with a splash of possible bad news

[love_that_reefer]

Per MLBTR

Yankees ace CC Sabathia has shed 30 pounds this offseason in an effort to reduce the load on his surgically repaired right knee, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Typically, we don't get too excited over this sort of Spring Training cliche, as we're bound to hear quite a bit about who's in shape and who's not over the next couple weeks, but 30 pounds is a lot of weight, and we're especially mindful of the opt-out clause in Sabathia's contract after the 2011 campaign. If he's healthy and has a big season, Sabathia could be in for another big payday next offseason.

The good news is Sabathia seems to be in fantastic shape and I for one can't wait to see the new look CC. That bad news is it looks like a real possibility Sabathia could opt out. Sabathia would be the cream of the crop in next year's FA pool of starting pitchers and if this new look Sabathia pays off in another CY worthy season, he can make even more money than he already is believe it or not. It will likely come from the Yankees again like the ARod deal but I can see other teams getting in on the bidding. If Pujols does in fact get a deal done with the Cards, I can definitely see Sabathia testing the waters once again.

[General]

I can't see Sabathia leaving NY, even if he does decide to opt out.

[Mach]

Likely he gets a bump in AAV a couple more years added on and that'll do. It's not like they don't have 20+ MM to work with.

[love_that_reefer]

Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News heard from a source Monday that CC Sabathia plans to use his contract's opt-out clause after 2011.
Alex Rodriguez did the same thing a couple of years ago to command more money from the spend-happy Yankees. General manager Brian Cashman has advocated against issuing irresponsibly large contracts in some recent cases, but the Steinbrenners would probably buck up if Sabathia puts together another workhorse-type season. He's owed $23 million per year through 2015. Maybe he can push that to $25 million.

It will be interesting to see how Cashman and the Steinbrenners both value Sabathia.

[catman]

Hmmmmmmmm............... Not good news for the Yankees. Maybe he sees what they did, or didn't do, over this off-season and is not impressed.