Brewers offer arbitration to Sabathia, Sheets
Sports Network | December 01, 2008
Milwaukee,,WI (Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Brewers have offered salary arbitration to free agent pitchers C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets.
The decision to offer arbitration is mostly procedural, as both will likely command multi-year deals on the open market. If the players sign elsewhere, the Brewers will receive compensatory draft picks.
Sabathia has already been offered a six-year, $140 million contract by the New York Yankees.
The 28-year-old left-hander won the 2007 American League Cy Young Award with Cleveland after going 19-7 with a 3.21 earned run average and 209 strikeouts in 241 innings. After struggling to a 1-5 mark in his first seven starts for the Indians this year, the Tribe dealt Sabathia to Milwaukee in July. He went 11-2 in 17 starts with a 1.65 ERA for the Brewers.
Sheets, a four-time All-Star with a history of injuries, was 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 31 starts last year.
The Brewers also offered arbitration to pitcher Brian Shouse, while declining to offer arbitration to reliever Eric Gagne. Gagne, who earned $10 million in 2008, was just 4-3 with a 5.44 ERA in 50 games and lost his closer's role to Salomon Torres.
