C.C. Sabathia

Last year all the talk was about a trade for Johan Santana. This year its all about the #1 free agent pitcher on the market, C.C. Sabathia. C.C. started last year with the Cleveland Indians but he did not get off to a good start. Before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers he started the year with a poor 6-8 record with a 3.83 ERA. However once he got to the National League his year turned completely around. An 11-2 record along with only a 1.65 ERA had him in the running for National League Cy Young without even pitching in the league for the whole season. The Yankees have already offered him more money than Johan with a contract offer of six years at 140 million. This would make him the highest paid pitcher in baseball. C.C. however has not accepted this deal. The Yankees have recently stated this deal will not be on the table forever but that doesn't mean the deal will be pulled any time soon. This is the only official offer that we know of but there are other teams that would certainly love to add Sabathia to their rotation. First and foremost we have the Milwaukee Brewers. They would certainly love to have him back after his phenominal second half performance from last year but they don't have the cash to match this deal. Honestly nobody really does and Sabathia knows this, so why hasn't he taken this deal yet? From what we hear he wants to play on the west coast. That also brings a couple more teams into the mix. The Giants name has been thrown around, but with all the money they have invested in the under-achieving Barry Zito can they really afford a deal close to the Yankees? The Angels name is another one we hear a lot about and as much as I believe they would love to have him it seems like they are just using C.C. to help bring down Mark Teixiera's asking price. Tex is currently looking for a 10 year deal. Could any team, even the Yankees, actually afford to sign both? When we break this down it almost seems like Sabathia will be signing with the Yankees out of necessity. He certainly does not want to play there or else he would've taken the deal by now. But how close to the Yankees price can these other teams come? Will he be willing to sacrifice that much money to play elsewhere? Only time will tell. Personally I believe if he can receive an offer even in the 130 million range, possibly even lower from another team he will take it but the question is where will this offer come from? What do you think? Where will C.C. sign this offseason? My money is on the Yankees even though its not his first choice. Or is it?