FanNation - The Republic of Sport

The Atlanta Braves should sign free agent starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia because he???s a great pitcher ??? and because he???s black. There ??? I said it. And others should be saying it too. Oh ??? and they can afford him. Sabathia would give Atlanta the first long-term, larger than life African American baseball talent in over a decade. The economic and marketing impact of that should not be underestimated. Atlanta is a city that is 56% black within the city limits and 31% black within the metro area. The Michael Vick experience with the NFL???s Atlanta Falcons showed the importance of having a black superstar in Atlanta. The Georgia Dome was sold out for five years when Vick was a starter after years of television blackouts due to a lack of home attendance. It???s no coincidence that the Braves were never more popular and financially competitive than between 1991 and 1997, when they had strong African American talent and personalities like Fred McGriff, David Justice, Marquis Grissom, Ron Gant, Terry Pendleton, Deion Sanders, Otis Nixon, Jermaine Dye and Kenny Lofton. For some reason or reasons, which we can only speculate upon here, these players were never replaced with other African American stars. Gary Sheffield was briefly a Brave earlier this decade. Sheffield, however, was always seen as nothing more than a hired gun who would leave as soon as he could for the highest bidder. Folks therefore didn???t buy into Sheffield as much as they otherwise may have. And since Sheffield left five years ago, they haven???t had any African American players of note. Folks aren???t knocking down the gates to witness the likes of Willie Harris, Brandon Jones, Charles Thomas, DeWayne Wise, a washed up Brian Jordan or Daryle Ward. The sad end of the Vick experience laid bare for all to see how delicately Atlanta teams must treat the departure of popular black stars for fear of alienating the African American community and causing revenue, attendance and fan base erosion. Many believe the Braves haven???t fully recovered financially since the trade of the beloved David Justice during 1996. At the time of that trade, the Braves had the highest payroll in the entire major leagues. It seems negligent for a team in a largely African American town not to have an African American star or two, doesn???t it? The New York Yankees are widely believed to be the frontrunners to obtain the services of Sabathia, with many believing the Yankees have offered Sabathia up to $150M over six years. If the Braves stole Sabathia from the Yankees by offering him $132M over six years, it wouldn???t be an unprecedented move. The Braves stole Greg Maddux from the Yankees in similar fashion during the 1992 offseason. In that 1992 offseason, Maddux turned down a five year, $32M dollar contract offer from the Yankees to sign a five year, $28M dollar contract with the Braves. If one examines today???s salary scale relative to the salary scale of 1992, that $32M Yankee offer is now the equivalent of $147M (32*1.1^16). The $28M dollar deal Maddux signed with the Braves is now worth $129M (28*1.1^16). So $132M over six years for Sabathia now is less, on a relative basis, than what the Braves spent on Maddux in 1992. The question then becomes, does Sabathia deserve the same kind of contractual offer that Maddux received during the 1992 offseason? The answer is ???yes.??? Sabathia???s last three seasons were arguably even better than the three seasons Greg Maddux had before joining the Braves: INN W L ERA ERA+ K BB K9 K/BB Maddux 768 50 37 2.97 129 541 207 6.3 2.6 Sabathia 686.7 48 28 3.05 147 632 140 8.3 4.5 Unlike when Maddux signed, however, the Braves are no longer owned by the billionaire Ted Turner and no longer average 45,000+ fans a game. Sabathia can???t make Turner buy back the Braves, but he would help recapture some of the lost African American casual baseball fan base. If Sabathia can bring in 2,000 or so fans a game and the Braves have a budget at about $40 per fan on attendance, they could gain about $7 million annually at the gate. This would make a $22M annual salary for Sabathia effectively a $15M annual contract, for a reasonable total of something like six years and $90M. Unfortunately, the Braves are likely to continue their attempts to trade for San Diego starting pitcher Jake Peavy or sign free agent AJ Burnett and never offer Sabathia a dime. And it???s a damn shame. It???s almost as if those in charge of the Braves drive from the Ted to the ???burbs without once looking out the window to see who lives within their city.