"I sleep with my TV on," explained Melvin. "I heard the breaking news about 3:30 a.m."

Melvin heard reports the previous evening that Yankees manager Brian Cashman had left the winter meetings to go to San Francisco to meet with Sabathia for the third consecutive day. Melvin, who has a good relationship with Cashman, placed a telephone call soon afterward to Cashman's hotel suite to see if the report was true.

Indeed, Cashman had gone to San Francisco to meet with Sabathia, wife Amber and his agents to hammer out a deal.

"They said, 'He's unavailable, but he may get back with you,' " said Melvin. "So, I figured he was gone."

Melvin received official confirmation of the deal about 7:30 a.m., when Sabathia's lead agent, Greg Genske, contacted him via telephone.

Melvin had no way of knowing the Yankees would actually bid against themselves in the finally negotiations, boosting their six-year, $140 million offer to seven years and $161 million, with an "opt-out" clause after three years.

The deal is the richest ever given to a pitcher, topping the six-year, $137.5 million extension given to Johan Santana by the New York Mets last winter. Sabathia can opt out of the contract after the 2011 season, with four years and $92 million remaining.

Because the Yankees gave Sabathia $161 million instead of $160 million, his annual average salary will be $23 million, topping Santana's average of $22.9 million. Thus, Sabathia and his agents can lay claim to receiving the top salary of any pitcher.

Finally confirming his offer to be for five years and "slightly over" $100 million, Melvin said his delegation had been debating whether to add a sixth year to that bid. Before hearing of the Yankees' deal, Melvin said adding another year was under serious consideration.

"We had put some numbers together with our financial people," said Melvin, whose original offer also included two club options as well as built-in tax advantages. "We were working some numbers for a sixth year. We hadn't totally decided, because we were trying to figure out who the other 'players' were. But it was the Yankees."

"I'm obviously disappointed but not surprised. I'm happy for CC. He did a great job for us. We got to the playoffs, and it wouldn't have happened without him. I remember how exciting that was.

"We were aggressive with what we had available. We did all we could do, and then some, with our budget. I think our fans know that."

Melvin said he spoke to team owner Mark Attanasio, who was similarly disappointed.

"But he felt we gave it our best shot," said Melvin. "You've got to stay in it, because you don't know if negotiations might break down and somebody falls out of it."

Melvin refused to knock the Yankees for bidding against themselves to convince Sabathia to abandon hopes of playing on the West Coast.

"I guess they paid a surcharge to get him to go to New York," said Melvin. "That's fine. I'm happy for Brian and the Yankees."

Melvin reaffirmed that he had no regrets about trading for Sabathia in early July, sending top prospect Matt LaPorta to Cleveland along with three other minor leaguers, including highly regarded outfielder Michael Brantley. He knew at the time that he might lose Sabathia to free agency after the season, but felt it would be worth it if the Brewers got to the playoffs.

Almost single-handedly, Sabathia did lead the Brewers to their first playoff berth in 26 years. He made his last four starts on short rest to help a disintegrating starting rotation, tossing a complete game against the Chicago Cubs on the final day of the season as the Brewers clinched the NL wild card.

"I remember making the trade, how exciting that was," said Melvin, "from the moment we traded for him and he walked in the clubhouse and pitched that one extra game before the all-star break. That was a difference maker."

Melvin said he was not surprised to hear that the Yankees' deal included an "opt-out" clause after three years.

"(Sabathia's agents) told us the other day they were going to ask for an 'opt-out' no matter who (the signing team) is," said Melvin. "So, we were prepared to do an 'opt-out' also.

"We always felt there was a chance of losing him," said Melvin. "We'll go back to the drawing board. We've got some holes to fill."

New manager Ken Macha said the loss of Sabathia, and most likely free agent starter Ben Sheets as well, didn't mean the Brewers would be unable to compete in 2009. Macha said he expected Melvin to find pitching help at some point.

"In the room today, they were looking at different options at how they can add some pitching and stay within their budget," said Macha. "I think they'll be able to do some things in a little while."

Macha said he and his staff must help young pitchers Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra get better, as well as get the most out of Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan and Seth McClung. But he admitted that starting pitching is dangerously thin at the top of the organization.

"You need depth in the organization, too," he said. "You're going to have to have guys pitching in Triple-A in case you have injuries and stuff like that. That's thin.

"I'm pretty confident they'll be able to get something done. We're going to have a team that's going to compete."

161

Millions of dollars the Yankees offered to Sabathia in a seven-year contract.

23

Sabathia's new average yearly salary in millions, just ahead of the Mets' Johan Santana's $22.9 million

11

Victories by Sabathia in 17 starts for the Brewers

7.92

Sabathia's earned run average in five post-season starts

8.61

Sabathia's ERA with a 1-4 record at the old Yankee Stadium

SABATHIA'S STATISTICS

Team Year W L ERA G GS CG IP H R ER HR BB SO

Cleveland 2001 17 5 4.39 33 33 0 180.3 149 93 88 19 95 171

Cleveland 2002 13 11 4.37 33 33 2 210.0 198 109 102 17 88 149

Cleveland 2003 13 9 3.60 30 30 2 197.7 190 85 79 19 66 141

Cleveland 2004 11 10 4.12 30 30 1 188.0 176 90 86 20 72 139

Cleveland 2005 15 10 4.03 31 31 1 196.7 185 92 88 19 44 161

Cleveland 2006 12 11 3.22 28 28 6 192.7 182 83 69 17 37 209

Cleveland 2007 19 7 3.21 34 34 4 241.0 238 94 86 20 59 251

Cleveland 2008 6 8 2.70 18 18 3 122.3 117 54 52 13 34 123

Milwaukee 2008 11 2 1.65 17 17 7 130.7 106 31 24 6 25 128

Totals 117 73 3.66 254 254 26 3.66 1541 731 674 150 1393 523

HIGHEST Baseball SALARIES

Player, Club Years Avg. Salary

Alex Rodriguez, NYY 2008-17 $27,500,000

CC Sabathia, NYY 2009-15 $23,000,000

Johan Santana, NYM 2008-13 $22,916,667

Miguel Cabrera, Det 2008-15 $19,037,500

Derek Jeter, NYY 2001-10 $18,900,000

C. Zambrano, Cubs 2008-12 $18,300,000

Andruw Jones, LAD 2008-09 $18,100,000

Vernon Wells, Tor 2008-14 $18,000,000

Barry Zito, SF 2007-13 $18,000,000

Ichiro Suzuki, Sea 2008-12 $18,000,000

LARGEST PITCHERS CONTRACTS

Player, Club Years Total

CC Sabathia, NYY 2009-15 $161,000,000

Johan Santana, NYM 2008-13 $137,500,000

Barry Zito, SF 2007-13 $126,000,000

M. Hampton, Col-Fl-Atl 2001-08 $121,000,000

Kevin Brown, LA-NYY 1999-05 $105,000,000

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