C.C Prefers Money; Starters, Cano Wanted

This must be the shock of the century, but it turns out that people actually prefer money to, well, less money. At least CC Sabathia. SI's Jon Heyman reports that CC Sabathia will not limit himself to West Coast teams on the free agent market.

Sabathia was reported as saying:
"All those who say I only want to go back to California to play, that's not true,'' and "I'll play anywhere."

Speaking of which, somewhere in Florida Hank Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman both just thanked Jesus and did a little dance.

It seems clear that his revelation has immediately made the Yankees the frontrunners, assuming Brian Cashman is willing to open the Yankees' checkbook to bring him to New York. They definitely have the money. Cashman should think of it this way, the money they no longer have to pay Kyle Farnsworth and Carl Pavano with will go straight to paying for CC Sabathia.

I honestly do not see a situation where CC Sabathia does not become a New York Yankee. There are so many things supporting him coming to New York: the possible retirement of Mike Mussina and/or Andy Pettitte, the move to the rotation of Joba Chamberlain requires the Yankees to pick up an innings eater so as not to kill the bullpen, the negative press that Cashman and the Steinbrenners receive from not pulling off a Johan Santana deal, the significant payroll loses this offseason, and mostly, the failure to make the playoffs this year.

Speaking of good starting pitchers, ESPN'S Buster Olney reports that several of them may be avaliable for trade this winter: Jake Peavy, Edwin Jackson, Matt Cain, and Zack Grienke. Peavy would likely have the most trade value considering his impressive track record and affordability; he is only due $59 million over the next four years with a one year $22 million option. Of course, Cain and Grienke will have a lot of value as well; they are cheap and very good pitchers, but do not have the same track record. Jackson is not awful, but is by no means anywhere near the others; despite his first good season he had a 1.51 WHIP, and a low strikeout and walk rate. With the amount of starting pitching that Tampa has however, he is probably the most likely of the four to be traded.

Now this trade speculation leads me to talk about (one of) the most valuable trade cheaps that the Yankees own, Robinson Cano. The second baseman is coming off of the worst season of his four year career, but just signed a relatively affordable deal. Perhaps he could be the centerpiece of a deal for one of those starters (except for Jackson). They could replace Cano at second base with a free agent (Orlando Hudson), an in-house option (Wilson Betemit), or a trade (Luis Castillo, with the Mets eating most of the contract.) However, I suggest that the Yankees only trade Cano if they can get an elite starter back. And, if they trade Cano, that means that they probably have to bring in Mark Teixiera and possibly bring in Bobby Abreu (or Manny Ramirez) to make up for the lost offense.