Expectations will be high and if he can not deliver every cent of his $161 million dollar contract, l think he might turn out to be the ''Barry Zito'' of the East Coast. He is good but l do not think he is worth the face value. At least not yet.

And where are the Yankees getting all this money?! It seems like every year they have unlimited revenue to sign these big names yet they can not seem to pull the trigger when it comes to winning a world series. Now they're thinking about extending AJ Burnett is contract for $91.5 million?!

l do not think he will be a bust, but l think he will opt out when he can, because he wo not like it in new york, & he will wanna go to the west coast. he wo not be barry zito, because he is a completely different style pitcher than barry. l think he will struggle with living in new york & the attention & pressure. he is never been on a team that was expected to dominate before, & now he is got a record contract & the expectations that go with that. l think opt out & sign with the dodgers or giants

the yankees get all the money from the YES network, & from their new stadium, which has a lot more luxury suites & other revenue-producing features.

Lots of big-name, big salary players do not do well in New York City (Randy Johnson & Johnny Damon, l am lookin' at you). If he is not ready for the giant microscope that will be focused on him, he may long for the days of Cleveland & Milwaukee. Perhaps he had that in mind when they built in his opt-out clause.

l am a big Sabathia fan, so on the one hand I'd like to see him do well, but on the other hand (the Yankee-hating hand), I'd like to see him come back down to Earth.

Sounds like sour grapes over the bill of goods that Boras sold the Giants in the form of Barry Zito. Actually, although l like Sabathia, as a Red Sox fan, l hope he hates New York & exercises his option to opt out after 3 years.
As pointed out, the Yankees have their own sports network, which broadcasts the Knicks & Nets as well as the Yankees. In his priceless book, The Devil Wears Pinstripes, ESPN is Jim Caple describes the Yes Network as something out of an Iron Curtain country from the 50s. If u hate the Yankees, the book is funny. You forget that the World Series became a bad habit for the Yankees from 1998 through 2000. Let is hope their frustration continues.

l hope he isnt a bust but cant say im not worried about it, he has never faced the pressure he is about to feel and if he doesnt get close to or over 20 wins next year, get them to the playoffs, AND pitch well in the playoffs it will be hell in NYC.

l agree with what you said on top. But l still do not think they can compete with the Rays and The Red Sox. l do not know how CC will deal with the pressure in New York. But we will see what happens. But the pressure will be on him to try to get the Yankees into the playoffs in 2009.

Yes & no. l think he will perform well for the short term & be a bust over the last three/four years of his contract. He is a short-term solution in a long-term contract.

And, the Yanks panicked when they signed him. Because Mike Mussina retired & Andy Pettitte is a free agent, they did not have anyone but Chien-Ming Wang at the top of the rotation. With the failure of Phil Hughes & Joba Chamberlain to become solid starters -- & they r young & still might reach their potential, even though Chamberlain looks to have a glass arm -- The Yankees were faced with the prospect of Wang, who is coming off a foot injury, & then who? Currently, Chamberlain & Hughes r penciled in as the second & fourth starters. The other three starters on the Yanks' depth charts r Alfredo Aceves, with four career starts; Ian Kennedy, who was 0-4 with a 8.17 ERA in 10 games, nine starts, last year & has just 12 career starts; & Chase Wright, who has three career starts. With 254 starts, Sabathia has over 100 more career starts than all six of the current Yankees starters COMBINED & Wang has 95 of those career starts. Aside from Wang & Sabathia, the other five Yankee starters have only 52 career starts.

As the Yankees has found out over the last few years, u do not have to have a great pitching staff to make it to the playoffs, but ur pitching staff has to be solid. Pitching is still the name of the game. And, it really does not matter how many times Derek Jeter gets on base & how many times A Rod knocks him home if Yankee pitchers can not keep those crooked numbers off the scoreboard. They need someone who can at least throw binary (0s & 1s in runs, instead of 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, etc.) innings.

And, l agree that the Yankees r going to pay BIG time on the back end of this seven-year monster contract. But, right now, Sabathia is not a bad option, with a career 117-73 mark & 3.66 ERA. Even with his size, he still goes deep in games, averaging 6.53 innings per start over his career. Now, when he is getting paid $23 mil a year over the last three/four years of his contact for serving up walks, hits & dingers, the deal is going to be questioned. But, for the next year or two or three, he will be ''worth'' -- noting that NO ONE is worth $10 million a year, much less $23 million a year -- the contract.

He is good when healthy but pitchers are usually injuries waiting to happen and his physical stature is against him.

He could turn out to be another Irabu or Ed Whitson. When the Red Sox tatoo him for the first time, they will boo him in Yankee Stadium.

personally im just glad to have him out of the national league, and if the yankees paid him that much they better hope he is the best flipping pitcher that ever lived, not going to happen though, just watch he will be on the DL after opening day, now that would be the highlight of the baseball season

l do.

That is a good possibility, he is got a lot to live up to and he might just choke. This might turn out to be just like the barry zito deal but we will see.

two weeks ago every Giant fan was in here praying their team would sign CC,You ppl are a joke.He will never be the bust your team signed ''ZITO''for 120mil And the best part of this deal is CC can opt out of his contract after 3 yrs! So if he STINKS? BY BY CC.

l agree with u about CC Sabathia. I've always thought he was over rated from the days he & Bartolo Colon where to top two pitchers in Cleveland. A friend & l actually refer to him as CiCi.

As for the Yankees money. I'd love to know where they get all this money when they ask New York City for $350 million more in Tax Free US Federal Bonds, bringing the total up to $900 million, in order to completel Yankee Stadium. Sounds like u & me & everybody but the Yankees r actually building this new palace.

l do not think he will be a bust in New York & Yankees once again will be very competitive

OVERRATED!! to much money. He will not play for the amount of pay but will keep ERA under 4.00

here is hoping