May 21, 2013

“PTBNL”

Taylor GreenBuckle up, Tribe fans.  That simple acronym in the title is something that you’re bound to see and hear an awful lot about over the foreseeable future.  The missing information on the C.C. Sabathia deal that we’ve talked about nearly all day long – and possibly the most important part – is that Player to be Named Later.

What do we know?  Well, not too much.  From the (live-blogged) press conference from earlier today, Mark Shapiro has until the end of the season to come to terms on said player.  Typically, we tend to case aside all PTBNLs as they’re just throw-ins to even out a deal here and there.  But this one could make or break the ultimate assessment of this huge deal.

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More Questions Than Answers…

sabathiacleans3.jpgDriving home last night with the trade announcement buzzing in my mind, I tried to answer the questions that kept popping up in my head. Unfortunately, I had more questions than I could answer… the biggest one being how long are the Indians going to suck? 

I will concede that C.C. Sabathia and the Indians were not going to be able to work out a deal to bring #52 back next year and beyond. I have come to terms with that already-

The Indians are willing to pay Sabathia around that type of money, but do not want to invest it past 4 years. Why not? Well, Barry Zito, (forget the start against the Indians this week) Carl Pavano, Pedro Martinez…or even Travis Hafner. All received the big payday, and all have struggled for one reason or another since getting the deal.

If Sabathia decides that he will not sacrifice the security of those extra 2 years, then he will go elsewhere. If the Indians decide that they can’t tie up that kind of money long-term, then they will trade Sabathia to get something in return.

Right now I have no ill feelings towards Sabathia or the Indians for not agreeing on a contract. I don’t really have a problem with trading Sabathia either. We have already run the white flag up on this season. It makes perfect sense to get the best you can for Sabathia. [Read more...]