Is C.C. Worth $160 Million?

The short answer? No. I mean, don't get me wrong, Sabathia is a great pitcher. But when you strike the biggest pitching deal in history - particularly in a down economy - that generally suggests you're the best pitcher in the game today. In C.C.'s case, that just isn't true.

Who's better than C.C.? Johan Santana, Jake Peavy, Carlos Zambrano, Roy Halladay, Brandon Webb, Roy Oswalt - to name a few. I'd also consider guys like Josh Beckett and John Lackey to be about on par with Sabathia, with young guys like Tim Lincecum, Ervin Santana, Jon Lester, Chad Billinglsey, Cole Hamels, and Felix Hernandez ready to shoot past Sabathia on the MLB depth chart. Santana and Zambrano are far and away the highest paid pitchers of that group - at $17 and $16 million respectively, a "scant" $6-7 million less than what Sabathia will see on an annual basis (a difference that just happens to be more than annual Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb makes in a year).

I know what you're thinking - how could any of those guys be better than a guy who posted 17 wins, a 2.70 ERA, threw 253 innings, 251 strikeouts, and 10 complete games? Well, Mr. Yankees Fan, you need to delve a little deeper into the numbers and Sabathia's career. While he's never logged in a terrible season, his career ERA is just 3.66. Through his career, he's consistently thrown around the mid-3's; however, 4 of his 8 seasons have been spent upwards of 4.00. That suggests you should expect more of the same - a guy who will turn in an ERA around 3.50. An impressive number, no question, but not one that will get you many Cy Young votes (that is, unless your name is Bartolo Colon and you live in 2005). It certainly isnt a number worthy of $23 million per year.

Of course, all the above assumes that Sabathia will even be able to make it through each of his 7 seasons. I'm not as wary of his 6'7, 290 lb frame as some of those talking heads are - but I am a little worried by the fact that he's thrown nearly 500 innings the past two seasons combined. He's thrown less than 200 in 5 of the 6 previous seasons. He may not break down in 2009 or 2010 - but 7 years is a long time to roll the dice.

So all in all - the Yankees got themselves a solid pitcher. An overpaid pitcher, but a solid pitcher nonetheless. Just don't expect the second coming of Roger Clemens - think more like a rotund Andy Pettitte.