Within minutes of the Yankees’ season ending CC Sabathia was asked whether he planned to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract to become a free agent, but the left-hander told reporters that he wasn’t ready to think about it yet.
“I can’t even wrap my head around that right now,” Sabathia said. “I’m just thinking about what I didn’t do to help us win. Maybe in the next couple days, next couple of weeks, I’ll think about that and see what happens.”
That certainly doesn’t qualify as a “no, I’m definitely not opting out” answer.
Sabathia has repeatedly said he loves playing for the Yankees and in New York, but from a strictly business standpoint he’d seemingly have little trouble securing a deal on the open market that beats the four years and $92 million remaining on his current contract. And he could always opt out and then re-sign with the Yankees anyway, for more money and a longer commitment.
Last offseason Cliff Lee got a five-year, $120 million deal from the Phillies that could be worth up to $147.5 million for six years and two offseasons ago the Yankees felt Sabathia was worth a seven-year, $161 million commitment. If he’s interested in maximizing his earning potential opting out is pretty obviously the way to go following a season in which he went 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA and 230 strikeouts in 237 innings at age 30.
