Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Complaints against officer keep coming
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Region makes way for latest batch of snow; cancellations rise
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Garfield at Buchtel basketball
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Only risk for Tribe is if Carmona injured
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Friday, Apr 11, 2008
CLEVELAND: There can be no argument or quibble with the move the Indians made Thursday.
Well, there can be — if you're the kind of person who complains about the beds at the Ritz.
The signing of Fausto Carmona to a new contract is significant for many reasons.
The deal — some call it a seven-year contract, others a four-year deal with three one-year club options — keeps one of the Tribe's bright young pitchers on the team for years to come. How is that thought in the least upsetting?
Know this about Carmona: When he's on, there's no pitcher in the league hitters would rather not face than him. His sinker leads to broken toes and bruised ankles when guys swing over the top of it.
In the playoffs last season, Carmona faced the New York Yankees and pitched masterfully. About the sixth inning, a veteran writer who has been following the Yankees for years asked: ''How do you hit this guy? I don't know how you hit this guy.''
Locking up a pitcher with that talent is more than logical, especially at the rate of $15 million for the first four years, even though the next four years could cost as much as $33 million. With Johan Santana making about $23 million a year, Carmona's contract could look like a steal six years from now.
Pleasant dreams
The other good thing about the signing of Carmona is that it allows Indians fans to dream.
And dream big.
As in: What if C.C. Sabathia really means it when he says he would like to stay in Cleveland, and what if he really does — (gasp) — stay?
This does not seem likely. No sense pretending otherwise. But until he signs elsewhere, it's possible.
And from the Tribe's point of view there's no reason it can't happen.
General Manager Mark Shapiro correctly pointed out that all contracts have an impact on others, but the Indians are not out of the Sabathia market just because they signed Carmona.
''Nothing we've done is prohibitive of that,'' Shapiro said.
Prohibitive was the key word used when relating the contracts of Carmona and Sabathia, as in one does not make signing the other prohibitive.
Prohibitive.
In fact, the team still could give Sabathia the same deal it offered him in the offseason — and that averaged $18 million per season.
That contract would have an effect on future payroll, but the thought of Sabathia and Carmona one-two in the rotation for at least the next five years is dadgum tantalizing.
As it has been from the beginning, the (base)ball is pretty much in Sabathia's hands.
If he wants to break the bank, he can go to free agency and take money from the Yankees or the Dodgers or Giants and pitch there. If he wants to stay where he said he's happy, where he's grown up, in a place he calls home, he can take the Indians' money and be set for life.
Carmona said through first-base coach Luis Rivera that keeping Sabathia is his preference.
''He wants C.C. to stay here,'' Isaac said after Carmona was asked about Sabathia. ''He wants C.C. to be No. 1. If he's No. 2 that's fine with him.
''But he wants C.C. to be part of this. We've got a good thing going on here and he wants C.C. to be part of it.''
There are reasons to be optimistic about the Indians' future financial position.
Their television network is doing well. Attendance might be up. Money from national TV deals will increase. The stadium has a new name, which brings money. None of that changes the team's market size, but it does add up.
Still, other contracts will increase, so it's likely the Indians' offer to Sabathia of $18 million per year might not improve greatly. It's hard to figure a guy turning down $18 million a year and saying there isn't enough common ground between team and player, but that's the way of the sports world these days.
Which is another reason the Indians' signing of Carmona is such a good move. Though Shapiro said it did not enter the team's thinking, Carmona's presence means the team has an ''ace'' if Sabathia leaves.
With Carmona under contract, and with the Indians completely confident in his abilities — and assuming the team is right about his future — injury conceivably is the only thing that might derail him.
That's the risk. But what contract does not have risk?
You take your good players, the ones you trust, the ones you want to keep, and you give them a deal to keep them. That's the way a team maintains its winning ways.
The Indians did it with Jake Westbrook and Travis Hafner last year. Next year it might be Ryan Garko.
This year, it's Carmona's turn.
It's a smart move, a wise move and a good move.
That's true if Sabathia leaves, but it's even more true if he stays.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: There can be no argument or quibble with the move the Indians made Thursday.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
