Manny vs CC

Many big names are set to hit the free agent market beginning this off season, but arguably the two biggest names that could give teams many headaches on deciding between the two are Manny Ramirez and C.C. Sabathia. I have heard many debates on national TV shows on which of the two big name free agents would be a better investment. Due to the type of money both players will get, only a handful of teams will have to make this torturous decision. If any of these teams' general manager's read this blog site, I will help reach a verdict.

The two players up for debate are basically opposites in every aspect of the game. Position, throwing hand, work ethic, etc., the players are literally night and day. Sabathia's advantage lies in his age and his complete domination the past two years. Plus he is left handed and many of the big market teams are dying to land an ace pitcher.The thing that might hold teams from shelling out a monster deal for C.C. is the many past big name free agent pitchers that have literally done nothing for their teams (see Mike Hampton or Carl Pavano).

Manny's main strength is that he can flat out rake, and justified this during his stint with the Dodgers. He is one of the greatest right handed hitters of all time and really shows no sign of slowing down. An AL team my drool of the option of having him be able to DH for years to come because his defense is lackluster to e say the least. Clearly Manny's question mark is his work ethic. It is what many believe drove him out of Boston (I believe it was Scott Boris, and my facts to support this lie in this wonderful piece by ESPN's Bill Simmons http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=manny).

So when it comes down to it, should the Angels, Mets, Yankees or any other big teams pay for the pitching or the hitting? I personally believe pitching is the most important aspect of baseball, for one pitcher can take over a game better then any position player can. I mean Manny defined a baseball player putting a team on his back in this past postseason and all it got him was a crushing defeat to the Phillies. But spending big money on free agent pitchers hasn't worked out so well in years past. I still say it would be smarter to land Sabathia for two reasons. First off he is easily better then what most FA pitchers have been in the past. It seems to me that lately there hasn't been somebody this consistently good in the market and therefore mediocre pitchers sign mega deals since big market teams just settle. Also Sabathia is younger then most pitchers are when they sign lucrative free agent deals, so teams should be very confident that they will get the numbers to back up the dollars they shell out for him. And if one thing is a guarantee in this whole debate it is that money will be shelled out, and lots of it.