C.C. Sabathia and the Texas Rangers

Get on board the C.C. Sabathia rumor train

OK, C.C. Sabathia and our beloved Texas Rangers have been mentioned one too many times together to ignore.

First, it was that crazy Bob Sturm on his blog. Today, it's Peter Gammons (via MLBTR) saying that the Rangers may be in the running to trade for the hefty lefty this summer as it becomes more and more clear that he will not sign and extension with the Indians.

Of course, there are the usual players: Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Gammons calls the Rangers a dark horse.

Sturm queried Jamey Newberg on who the Rangers would need to give up for Sabathia:

maybe Andrus, Feliz, Kiker, and Madrigal?

That would be shortstop Elvis Andrus, starting pitchers Neftali Feliz and Kasey Kiker, and Warner Madrigal, a reliever. That would be Nos. 1, 5 and 7 of the Rangers prospects and Madrigal was in the top 10 in the Angels' organization last year. So, essentially, four top 10 prospects for one guy.

Granted, this "one guy" is a legit No. 1 starter. He turns 28 this summer and had 19 wins last year. He's had double-digit wins since 2001 but also double-digit losses in four of eight years, which isn't bad, it just shows that the guy eats innings. Of course, part of the problem is that he eats a lot of things like birthday cake, enchiladas, baby seals and butter sandwiches. His weight is an issue. And despite his inning-eating ways, he's only topped 200 innings twice.

He's not a sparkling pitcher, but that doesn't mean he won't turn into one. His ERA isn't sub-2.00. His K/BB ratio isn't stellar, but still good. He's a fantastic pitcher.

Of course, the other issue, and the same issue the Indians are running into, is that he's a free agent after the year and we can assume he'd get huge money, like Johan Santana cash. Remember Carlos Lee: The Rangers made a move for the slugger, who didn't seem like he had any intentions on signing long term. Certainly, GM Jon Daniels has learned his lesson and should he trade for Sabathia he'd have an extension in line.

This is a huge rumor. Something that could impact the Rangers for years in the vein of Chan Ho Park or Alex Rodriguez.

Frankly, I say make the trade ... if it includes the guys mentioned above.

I question how impactful Andrus is going to be in the next two years. No doubt he should be in or around the big leagues next year, but does he have enough to be a not-miss player? Sabathia's proven, Andrus ain't.

Kiker, from what I've been told, could be moved to the bullpen, but he's another No. 1 pick that the Rangers would be giving up on. Madrigal was a steal in the Rule 5 draft anyway. He's gravy.

The hang-up on the Rangers end should be Feliz, the most unproven of the aforementioned names. But he's absolutely dealing in Clinton, and he's only 20 years old. Then again, who knows? It all depends on how the Rangers value their young talent and what the opinion is of the last year. The Rangers did a lot to rebuild their farm system, a tactic that would impact 2009 and 2019 in Arlington. Dumping Kiker, Feliz, Madrigal and Andrus would unravel that a little.

It's times like these that you hope the Red Sox or Yanks just blow the Indians out of the water in a deal. Of course, the Rangers, we found out, were in on Johan Santana.

Juicy, juicy stuff.