Company

Okay.  We’ve mentioned the Red Sox and Cubs in the same post.  Not long thereafter, we touched on the Yankees.  Then just yesterday, we talked about the Phillies, Brewers and Rays.  Well, how about another team?

The Cleveland Indians.

You read that right.  Though we’ve run up the flag, and the team apparently did the same over the past two nights, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that the Indians are feverishly looking to re-sign the big man before July.

According to a major-league executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing a player not on his team, the Cleveland Indians are making a last-ditch attempt to sign ace Sabathia to a contract extension before trading him.

There are major obstacles to signing Sabathia. Negotiations halted in spring training, and Sabathia has said he does not want to work on a deal during the season. And the smaller-market Indians are not interested in matching Johan Santana’s $137.5 million, six-year contract with the Mets.

Major obstacle is right.  That’s actually the biggest part of this whole thing.  The team can toss out the whole “home team” aspect, but the last time I checked, there were no “Bird rights” in the Major Leagues. 

Factor in other things like the desire to hit, be closer to home and maybe get the occasional run support, and I can’t imagine that Mark Shapiro and company have a lot of leverage in this.

As Tom Fornelli points out, one shouldn’t put too much thought into this one as the rumor is coming out of a New York area paper.  Plus, as a fan of the Indians, I would firmly hope (and expect) the team to at least try to sign Sabathia as the trade deadline approaches.  But as we’ve learned in the past, I’m not about to get my hopes up on this one.