C.C. sinks Tribe again
Posted April 16th, 2008 by Ron
C.C. Sabathia is showing no signs of the pitcher who won the Cy Young last season.
And now with latest loss, the Indians have fallen into a tie with the Tigers at the bottom of the AL Central. That might be the saving grace of this April, that the Tigers have been just as bad as the Tribe. Unless, of course, the Chicago White Sox run away and hide from the rest of the division.
Back to C.C. Unlike Joe Borowski, Sabathia seems to have his velocity; it is his command that is way off. Patrick McManamon points out in his column today that since the playoffs, Sabathia is 1-5 with an 11.34 ERA (42 runs, 33 innings) in his past seven starts.
Can the Indians win the division without a great Sabathia and a solid bullpen, no way.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Maybe the big fella will realize what a greedy schmuck he was in turning down Cleveland's very (overly-) fair offer of $18-mil per season. Any team that offers a contract even remotely close to that is setting itself up for a Zito-like disaster!! Great pitchers do NOT pitch like CC did in the playoffs or in these first 4 starts. He's worse than any pitcher on the staff right now, period. And sadly, much of the team takes its que from him. Some leader.
So Shapiro, three hits tonight for your sluggers. Got any contingency plans for when the entire lineup sucks, like it did for literally WEEKS on end last year? In your "fantasy world," did you really think these stiffs would all become .300 hitters? We're well on our way to becoming the worst team in MLB this season–congratulations! Way to overrate your roster, bud.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I'm almost glad that Sabathia has started the year the same way he ended last season for Tribe fans. Maybe this will finally shut up all of the whiney complainers who just insist on ranting about how the owners won't pony up the billions for our homegrown mediocre players. Funny…prior to last season's breakout year, no one ever called C.C. an "ace" with a straight face. So one season, after six fairly good (but often inconsistent) years warrants a Santana-like contract? Ha ha!
Step into the real world, folks. Does anyone seriously believe Sabathia is better than Fausto? Offer them both to another team, at the same price, and see which pitcher the opposition has more respect for. Case closed. Do NOT pay CC's demands.
April 17th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Who says Sabathia was offered $18 million a season? The same folks who lied about Varejao demanding a trillion a season? Fact is, we don't really know what dollar figure Sabathia was offered by the Indians, if anything. And given the fact that both his home and his family is on the West Coast, all things being equal, I think he's always been intending to head back out there anyway. Can't blame the guy. For Christ's sakes, just click on those photos. Given the choice, why in the world would anybody in his right mind choose to spend half of his year swatting midges next to Lake Erie?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/04/HOGA7Q75RG43.DTL
April 17th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I believe Mark Schwab has reported the $18-mil figure. Either way, the fact that CC says there's not enough "common ground" tells me he wants to break the bank. Don't do it here, man. I agree, Alan, I've always felt he would head back West, but he pitches SO poorly there, his career will be shortened. Still, I salivate at the thought of the Giants offering him $120-million, and then having two sorry players (Zito and CC) sucking them dry for a quarter-billion dollars! So laughable, yet so possible!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Tribe fans, meet your true ace, Fausto Carmona. Same team, same lineup that C.C. faced. Uh, results a bit different, eh?
Funny how opposing players talk about Carmona's pitch being possibly the toughest they've ever faced. Sure don't hear anyone (even last year) saying that about Sabathia. The big guy is jovial, but highly overrated and most definitely not a big-game pitcher. Thus, "ace" does not apply to C.C., no matter how many shills in the media keep forcing that label upon us. It's simply not true.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:32 am
He pitched poorly in the playoffs last season but that was his first post-season series since he was about 20 years old so I can't see labeling him a career choke artist.
In the regular season, C.C. is the best Indians pitcher since Sam McDowell. If he signs another contract with the Tribe, he'll wind up being the best Indians pitcher since Bob Feller.
Realistically, Carmona is C.C. five years ago.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Okay, Carmona is CC five years ago, if CC's ERA was two or three runs lower. You gotta be kidding, if you think Carmona is not a far better pitcher than CC was early…and certainly NOW. It was a flip of the coin as to which Tribe pitcher won the Cy Young (although Beckett truly deserved it). Prior to last year, CC never demonstrated Cy Young capabilities. In fact, I heard more complaints against him on radio shows than praise for him.
But, as usual, when Cleveland fans see the end of a contract, whether the player warrants big money or not, they're screaming and crying that we'll never sign him. What a sucky way to go thru life, always complaining about something in the future.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I don't listen to Cleveland radio stations Sammy but reading these blogs I get the exact opposite impression. When a player has the nerve to ask for market value on a contract, local fans and journalists start foaming at the mouth trying to prove how terrible and selfish the player is.
C.C. has won 100 games plus a Cy Young award at the age of 27. He's on pace to make the Hall of Fame.