Let the CC Sabathia Debate Begin

Now that the Brewers are officially out of the playoffs, it's time to officially begin speculation on where the top pitcher in the free agent market will land.

CC (stands for Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger) Sabathia is looking for Santana-type money, but may be willing to accept a 5 year deal. Rumored teams of interesting include the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants. Sabathia is a West Coast guy and he likes to swing the bat so to me the Dodgers appear to be the front runners.

I'm actually against the Mets going after Sabathia for a couple of reasons. First he's out of shape. Look at Santana compared to Sabathia. Santana is an athlete. Sabathia is your uncle with a fastball.

Second reason is he's just dying to get hurt. The Brewers were smart and used Sabathia for as long as they could. Combine his weight with his inning pitched last year and you've got a guy who's just waiting for a trip to the DL.

Third, I'm not sold he's a top notch pitcher. Don't get me wrong. Sabathia is a great starter and would be an asset to any team, but let me ask you, would you rather have Sabathia or Roy Halladay? What about Sabathia vs. Roy Oswalt? Or Scott Kazmir? Or Josh Beckett? Or Brandon Webb? Or Dan Haren? Or Tim Lincecum? Or Carlos Zambrano?

I think I'd rather have one of the guys listed above before Sabathia if they were available.

Sabathia had an amazing year and is worthy of a new contract. He'll be a tier 1 pitcher for pretty much any team he joins, but if we're looking at the long term here I'm not confident Sabathia can maintain his current performance over a 5 year span.

Unless Mike Golic gets him on Nutri-System. Then that's another story.

C153B14E-B836-E368-66E7-85F26573D0BD

1.02.05

Don't Pitch Garbage on Saturday

I'm sorry Jerry Manuel, but on this topic you're dead wrong. Manuel went on WFAN yesterday talking to Mike Francesa about who the potential starter will be on Saturday. Manuel said he will not use Johan Santana on short rest.

That's almost the dumbest thing I've heard all year.

I understand why Manuel is saying this. The plan is to use Santana on Sunday for the last game of the season, but unless something providential happens I think the Mets need to win Saturday's game first before they worry about Sunday.

There is no reason not to pitch Santana on short rest. Do you honestly think Santana will say no he can't pitch? Of course not. Look at how the Brewers are using C.C. Sabathia. You don't think we can do the same with Santana? He's got the whole winter to rest.

The Mets have to win Saturday's game. They have to win all their games at this point. If you send out Figueroa or Niese or Stokes, you're basically settling for second best when you've got filet mignon sitting their in the fridge. You can't pitch garbage in one of the most crucial games of the season. Haven't we already learned our lesson from Niese's last outing. The kid may be great some day, but he's not ready for prime time yet.

Pitch Santana on short rest on Saturday and then all hands on deck for Sunday. I'm telling you if you don't win these next few games it won't matter who you pitch on Sunday because we'll be out of it by then.