Sabathia may be gone, but other top pitchers hit free agency

The free agent pitching class took a huge hit before most negotiations even started.
Left-hander CC Sabathia agreed to a one-year, $30 million contract extension cheap jerseys with the New York Yankees on Monday night in lieu of opting out of his deal and becoming a free agent. The extension also includes a vesting $25 million option in 2017.
"My goal the whole time was to be able to finish my career as a Yankee, and hopefully I can do that," Sabathia said when he announced the agreement in YouTube video. "We seem like we got that accomplished today."
Sabathia had four years and $92 million remaining on the seven-year, nfl jerseys cheap $161 million deal he signed three years ago that was the largest contract for a pitcher in major league history. But the market still includes four former All-Star starters and seven former All-Star closers.
Among the top starters are Texas Rangers ace C.J. Wilson, former 20-game winners Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox and Roy Oswalt of the Philadelphia Phillies, Edwin Jackson of the St. Louis Cardinals and perhaps Japanese sensation Yu Darvish.
"There's a lot of quality out there," said Scott Boras, Jackson's agent. wholesale soccer jerseys "The demand for youth and innings is something you want at the top of your short list. You're talking about starters who have real value. And guess where (three) of those starters ended up? In the playoffs. Look at what those guys all did for their teams."
And those guys — Wilson, Oswalt and Jackson — are expected to be pursued by teams with the deep pockets.
The Rangers would like to keep Wilson but fear they may be naty outbid by the Yankees or Boston Red Sox. Wilson was 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA during the regular season but struggled in the postseason.
"This is a whole new world for C.J. Wilson because he has not been a starring pitcher," Boras said. "I think C.J. has tremendous upside. You can't put a cloud over him because of the postseason.
"And you look at Edwin Jackson; he has a growth cycle there. How many times do you see a guy who has six years of service, can throw 94 to 97 mph and is just coming into his own?"
Darvish, 25, may be the X factor of the group. He has spent his steelers jerseys cheap career pitching for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan, going 98-38 with a 2.12 ERA. He has expressed interest in coming to the major leagues next year, which will require him to go through a posting system in which teams offer sealed bids for the rights to sign Darvish.
"He's a good one, brother; I'd put him right up there with any of those guys," said Dodgers bench coach Trey Hillman, who managed Darvish for four years in Japan. "There's no doubt in my mind that he's a No. 1 pitcher. Somebody is going to get a heck of a product. You never know how a Japanese kid is going to adjust over here, but I think he'll flourish."
This is also the first time that Buehrle, 32, is a free agent. He has 11 consecutive seasons of at least 200 innings.
The seven former top closers available are Francisco Rodriguez of the cheap nfl jerseys Milwaukee Brewers; Jonathan Papelbon of the Red Sox; Heath Bell of the San Diego Padres; Brad Lidge of the Phillies; Francisco Cordero of the Cincinnati Reds; and Joe Nathan and Matt Capps of the Minnesota Twins.
"It's something we're going to need to talk about as a staff," newly hired Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said about Papelbon. "Closers can evolve out of nowhere sometimes. You don't know who the next closers are. We need as many good pitchers on the staff as possible, and we'll find a closer in that group."
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