Sabathia and Tex paying dividends

The two biggest offseason signings have been worth every penny, that is if you consider $23 million/year a legitimate contract for a baseball superstar.

CC Sabathia ($161MM/7-years) is on pace to win the team triple crown, as he is leading the Yankees in wins (15), ERA (3.56) and Ks (158). If he can duplicate his August in September, he immediately becomes a worthy Cy Young Award candidate. He has made every single one of his scheduled starts (I think), and has only left one start before the fifth inning as a precaution to a possible injury on June 21.

Then there is Mark Teixeira ($180MM/8-years), who leads the Yankees in homers (32), RBIs (101) and SLG (.547). He has also been on an RBI tear since Aug. 19, totaling 15 in 10 games. He has only missed four games this year, and has completely solidified the first base position. After dealing with a guy like Jason Giambi, Teixeira means a lot.

Like I said in the beginning, both contracts involve an astronomical amount of money and I don’t think any athlete should make close to what they do. But I’d say both are doing the best they can to live up to their contracts.

As for A.J. Burnett ($82.5MM/5-years), he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. But a good September, and an even better October would erase any negative thoughts of him.