LAS VEGAS -- Brewers GM Doug Melvin is expected to meet here, perhaps today, with Sabathia's agent, Greg Genske, and people familiar with the situation say Milwaukee is open to a few enhancements to try to retain the star free-agent pitcher.
The Brewers, according to sources, are open to adding a sixth year for Sabathia, which would likely raise their offer from $100 million to close to $120 million (a source said deferred monies could make the actually value closer to $110 million), and possibly even agreeing to a dreaded opt-out clause. I have heard the opt-out clause could be after two years -- though the New York Post, which first suggested that possibility, speculated it might come after three years. If they do offer it after two years, Sabathia could hit the open market again when he's 30 if he chooses.
The Brewers also have an advantage they have no control over. People who know Sabathia well from Cleveland say he absolutely hated spring training in Florida, which means the market-leading Yankees, who train in Tampa, might have a hurdle to climb, even beyond the fact that they are as far as possible from California, Sabathia's home state and the place he'd prefer to play if all else was equal.
The Brewers loom at least for now as the biggest threat to the Yankees, who offered $140 million over six years. It was reported here last week that Sabathia had received two additional offers from unknown teams before Thanksgiving.
Sabathia's hometown Giants could well be one of those teams, but baseball people would be shocked if they could match the Yankees dollar-for-dollar and assume any offer by them would be closer to the Brewers' initial bid.
The Red Sox have shown interest in Sabathia but seem more focused on their pursuit of star free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira right now.
The Dodgers would likely have a difficult time squeezing Sabathia into their budget, as they have multiple openings to fill, and would have to forego pursuits of needed offensive players if they went for Sabathia.
The Angels are also concentrating on Teixeira for now. Sabathia would likely want to wait to see how that, or anything else in California, plays out before signing with either the Yankees or Brewers. His wait time may depend on his meeting here with Yankees GM Brian Cashman.
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