Some saw the Yankees signing of CC Sabathia as the team’s way of making up for a mistake.
That mistake was not trading for Johan Santana the previous offseason, when the than Twins’ ace could likely have been in pinstripes for Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera (or less). All three of those Yankees struggled mightily last season and were sent down to the minor leagues. The Steinbrenner clan was not going to pass on an ace again — signing Sabathia to a seven-year, $161 million deal.
The Mets didn’t let Santana slip through their grasp, trading four prospects to Minnesota for the dominating lefty.
Sabathia, who won the Cy Young Award in 2007, is one of the reasons Santana and the Mets didn’t make the playoffs last season. The hefty lefty was traded from Cleveland to Milwaukee in July and dominated the National League for three months.
While in Milwaukee, Sabathia went 11-2 with a staggering 1.65 ERA, which made him the most sought after pitcher in this year’s free-agent class. The Brewers went 14-3 in Sabathia’s starts and edged out the Mets by one game to win the NL wild card on the season’s last day, with Sabathia twirling a complete-game victory against the Cubs.
The Mets coming up short of the postseason was far from Santana’s fault. Santana was awesome in his season finale, throwing a complete game, three-hit shutout against the Marlins in the season’s second to last day to give the Amazin’s a chance to win the wild card. The next day a shaky outing by Oliver Perez and Sabathia’s gem ended the Mets season.
While still in the American League, Sabathia was far from dominant with the Indians. He went 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA before being traded. Santana was solid for the Mets all season, as he was with the Twins (his highest ERA after 2001 is 3.33), going 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA.
The big question about Sabathia is if he will remain motivated now that he has his big payday. That wasn’t a problem for Santana, who signed a six-year, $137 million extension with the Mets before last season.
So now that both aces are in New York, which would you rather have leading your team’s rotation?
