Truth & Rumors > MLB

Will D-Backs lose Webb?

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Last week, the New York Yankees introduced left-hander CC Sabathia in pinstripes, officially making him the latest nouveau riche ace in the baseball world. His seven-year, $161 million contract exceeds Mets lefty Johan Santana's in length and dollars, and it brings into stark clarity something the Diamondbacks have known for months, if not years: Their ace, Brandon Webb, is in line for a huge payday. In the past three seasons, no pitcher has more wins or innings pitched than Webb, and only Santana and Sabathia have posted weighted earned-run averages as good as the Diamondbacks' sinkerballer. With two years left on his current deal - at $6.5 million in 2009 with an $8.5 million team option in '10 - there is a sense throughout baseball that if the Diamondbacks don't extend Webb's contract this winter, they eventually will lose him to free agency, where a nine-figure contract might await, or trade him. Diamondbacks officials won't comment on the situation, unwilling even to say whether they plan to broach the subject this winter with Webb's agent, Jonathan Maurer, who also would not comment for this story.

Arizona Republic

Brandon Webb, Jeff Gross/Getty Images Brandon Webb, Jeff Gross/Getty Images
December 22, 2008  08:31 AM ET

In other news, the D-backs are looking for a bailout.....

December 22, 2008  08:35 AM ET

Come to Atlanta. . . .




Please?!?

December 22, 2008  08:40 AM ET

It's going to take an organization's left and right arm to get this guy in a trade. Then they gotta think about breaking the bank to sign him to a long-term deal. This limits the options to only a few teams. I could see the Mets, at the trading deadline, making a big run at him when their rotation is suffering through the brutal NL East.

December 22, 2008  08:58 AM ET
QUOTE(#3):

It's going to take an organization's left and right arm to get this guy in a trade. Then they gotta think about breaking the bank to sign him to a long-term deal. This limits the options to only a few teams. I could see the Mets, at the trading deadline, making a big run at him when their rotation is suffering through the brutal NL East.

What brutal NL east? The Phillies and the Mets. Thats it. Surely you don't mean to include the Marlins, Braves and Nationals in that "brutal" division right?

December 22, 2008  09:06 AM ET

WEBB ALL THE WAY

December 22, 2008  09:17 AM ET
QUOTE(#1):

In other news, the D-backs are looking for a bailout.....

absolutely....

plan A: apply for bailout money

plan B: trade our best player

December 22, 2008  11:24 AM ET

I was confused when Webb signed this contract extention prior to last season. Lets see... Wang will be gone after 2010. Hello Yankees!

December 22, 2008  11:38 AM ET

Why don't you go wax a carrot?

December 22, 2008  11:41 AM ET

The Dbacks cant afford him ... their only hope is to play MoneyBall like oakland. Their owners just cant afford to play with the big guys. :/

December 22, 2008  11:55 AM ET
QUOTE(#7):

I was confused when Webb signed this contract extention prior to last season. Lets see... Wang will be gone after 2010. Hello Yankees!

How is Wang gone after 2010? I think the Yankees are more than satisfied with his pitching. They can keep Wang and still get Webb. I just don't see the correlation in your statement.

December 22, 2008  12:17 PM ET

WANG IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE THE YANKS WILL RESIGN HIM THIS YEAR PERIOD...THEY DONT NEED WEBB..BUT WOULD TAKE HIM ..AS WOULD ANYBODY...YANKS NEED TEX AND PET OR SHEETS THATS IT ...

December 22, 2008  12:18 PM ET

2010. That's two years. He's a pitcher. Let's stick with the here and now. In two years the guy's arm will probably be hanging on by a thread and no one, not even his mother, will want him. There are too many reporters and too many fans with way too much time on their hands.






mmnmmmmm

December 22, 2008  12:19 PM ET

AND IT APPEARS YOU ARE 1 OF EM!!

December 22, 2008  01:11 PM ET
QUOTE(#12):

2010. That's two years. He's a pitcher. Let's stick with the here and now. In two years the guy's arm will probably be hanging on by a thread and no one, not even his mother, will want him. There are too many reporters and too many fans with way too much time on their hands.mmnmmmmm

Thank you... no need to get excited about Webb yet... I agree 100% Sinkball throwers wear out... remember Roger Craig and the team in SF?

December 22, 2008  03:22 PM ET
QUOTE(#2):

Come to Atlanta. . . .Please?!?

From one Braves fan to another if Frank Wren can pull that off, I'll go pack Brandon Webb's bags.

December 22, 2008  06:30 PM ET

Webb, along with Sabathia, Santana and Halladay, is one of the four best pitchers in baseball. The D Backs need to keep him for the next three years if possible. He and Haren are probably the best one-two punch in baseball.

December 22, 2008  07:33 PM ET
QUOTE(#14):

Thank you... no need to get excited about Webb yet... I agree 100% Sinkball throwers wear out... remember Roger Craig and the team in SF?

How so? Webb has gone 180+ innings in every single year of his career, including six straight over 200. As for another well known sinkerballer in baseball, Derek Lowe, he has also gone 180+ in seven straight years, five of which were 200+.

December 22, 2008  09:35 PM ET

The D-Backs need him, but unless they make some major cost cuts, another team is gonna pick him up.

December 22, 2008  10:02 PM ET

I'd love to have Webb on the Yankees, Joba could back to the bullpen. What do you think the Yankees would have to give up? Hughes, Jackson and maybe Kennedy. Tough to part with.

 
December 22, 2008  11:19 PM ET

I can tell you this I live about 30 miles from Brandon Webb and see him quite often in the offseason at his home in Ashland Ky, and he has told me that he is looking at signing with Cincinnati, a team he grew up watching, and a team he would love to play for

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