How did Sabathia land on the Yankees? NY’s Last Big Hiring

It was the afternoon of December 9, 2008, approaching the midpoint of the Winter Baseball Meetings in Las Vegas, and Brian Cashman, general manager of Yankees felt his cell phone vibrate. One of the representatives of CC Sabathia he was calling with an invitation.

By dusk, Cashman had escaped and was on a commercial jet bound for Oakland International Airport. He was authorized to offer the left-hander free agent $ 161 million from the Steinbrenner family fortune. When the general manager woke up about six hours later in a San Francisco hotel room, Sabathia had agreed to become a Yankee.

“We had the opportunity to [reunirnos] in Las Vegas, but I also wanted the opportunity to meet family if possible, “Cashman said at the time.” I told them that I would be more than willing to fly from Las Vegas to continue our efforts and meet in California. They welcomed that idea, so I took advantage of it and ran. “

When he arrived at Sabathia’s palatial estate in Vallejo, California, Cashman said he was impressed by the familiarity of the residence. In a random coincidence, Cashman had been browsing the channel a few months earlier and came across the episode of “MTV Cribs” that featured Sabathia’s house. There was little time to tour the hall, the high-tech theater, or the cabin.

Then, at 28, Sabathia was the most coveted free agent in the game, going 17-10 with a 2.70 ERA in 35 combined starts for Cleveland and Milwaukee during the 2008 season. He was 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA. in 17 starts for the Brewers, shooting seven complete games and three shutouts while catching the ball multiple times with a short rest, and would be rewarded with what was then the richest contract ever awarded to a pitcher.

Talks had stalled for weeks before Sabathia and the Yankees met twice during those Winter Meetings, with Sabathia in Las Vegas to attend a boxing match between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. One night after watching Pacquiao’s eighth round TKO at the MGM Grand, Sabathia met with Cashman, then-manager Joe Girardi and special counsel Reggie Jackson in a hotel suite.

That two-hour discussion piqued Sabathia’s interest, and the pitcher’s representatives, Greg Genske and Brian Peters, suggested another question-and-answer session with Cashman the next day. When that encounter was also positive, the general manager suggested that he could follow the southpaw back to California and reunite with Sabathia’s family. With Sabathia’s wife, Amber, who is now a CAA Sports agent, and their three children in the living room, Cashman sold the family what life in New York could be like.

“When given the opportunity, I had to take a flight,” Cashman said.

Watering-eyed, Cashman returned to the Las Vegas hotel shortly after 9 a.m. local time on December 10. The Yankees weren’t done buying. Those meetings also saw the foundation for signing right-hander AJ Burnett to a five-year, $ 82.5 million deal, with the team featuring Burnett and Sabathia together on the afternoon of December 18, 13 years ago Saturday, at the Original Yankee Stadium.

“I think it is urgent to get back to where this organization is supposed to be,” Sabathia said. “I wouldn’t say it’s pressure. I’d just say people will play with a sense of urgency in the new stadium, coming back to that. It’s definitely exciting.”

Those transfers, plus the eight-year, $ 180 million contract extended to first baseman Mark Teixeira in January and a November trade with the White Sox for outfielder Nick Swisher, would help the Yanks claim the 27th World Series championship. in franchise history in 2009.

“It was a somewhat stressful deal,” Sabathia later said of the free agency process. “I was just trying to make sure I made the right decision. To be here now and come here and see what people are like, I definitely made the right decision.”

Bryan Hoch / MLB.com