Brian Cashman offered the world to CC Sabathia to try and persuade the monster lefty to forget about his California roots and head to the East Coast to help the Yankees christen their new stadium with a World Series championship. And after weeks of weighing his options, CC decided that $161 million was just too much money to leave on the table.
And he's proven himself during his first regular season in the city that's the focal point of the sports world. But if Sabathia doesn't bring his best stuff to The Stadium in his postseason opener, he might not get another chance until next October.
Barring a drastic turn of events between now and the end of the month, the Yankees will draw the Tigers in the ALDS — the club viewed as the weakest of the AL playoff teams. And while the Tigers offense doesn't appear to be overly lethal, their starting rotation of Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Rick Porcello and Jarrod Washburn is enough to be worried about.
As it stands now, it likely will be Sabathia vs. Verlander in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, where Sabathia has a 3.40 ERA and the Yankees are 51-22. But after Sabathia, the Yankees have some question marks. The inconsistency of A.J. Burnett, the age of Andy Pettitte and the hit-or-miss starts of Joba Chamberlain have raised eyebrows and created endless hours of debate as to how the postseason rotation should be shaped.
It is likely that Joe Girardi will go with Burnett, who has struggled on the road, to pitch Game 2 in the Bronx and then turn to Pettitte, who has struggled at home, to take the ball in Game 3 in Detroit. But nothing is guaranteed from Burnett or Pettitte. Both of them could be coin flips in a short five-game series.
Right now Sabathia is the only sure thing the Yankees have, but he will have to face the Tigers' sure-thing in Verlander. And if Sabathia were to be outdueled in Game 1, well, the Yankees could watch their season spiral out of control.
Burnett has zero postseason starts on his resume and Pettitte isn't exactly the October guarantee he was a decade ago. In other words, the Yankees' postseason plans rest on the shoulders of CC Sabathia. And if he can't find a way to beat Verlander in the first playoff game ever played on the other side of the street, the Yankees' 2009 playoff campaign might be over before it really even starts.
