Brewers offer Sabathia, Sheets arbitration

Dec 1, 2008 - 9:09 PM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- In what amounts to a procedural move, the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday offered pitchers CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets salary arbitration.

The Brewers also failed to offer reliever Eric Gagne arbitration.

It's more than likely that neither Sabathia nor Sheets will accept the offer since both players will command huge deals on the free-agent market.

The New York Yankees already have reportedly offered Sabathia a six-year, $140 million contract which would make him baseball's highest-paid pitcher. Earlier this offseason, the Brewers reportedly offered a five-year deal in the range of $100 million.

Acquired in June from the Cleveland Indians, Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA, helping lead the Brewers to their first playoff appearance in 26 years. The portly lefthander finished fifth in National League Cy Young Award voting.

The oft-injured Sheets, who has spent his entire eight-year career with the Brewers, went 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 31 starts this past season.

In his lone season with the Brewers, Gagne was a huge disappointment, going 4-3 with a 5.44 ERA in 50 appearances. He also lost his closer's job along the way.