The New York Yankees and pitcher CC Sabathia have reportedly agreed to a 7-year deal worth $161 million, a record contract for a pitcher.

“I’m sure every team in baseball would love to have him. He’s a guy who’s an intimidating factor on the mound,” Yankees captain Derek Jeter said.

Many people around the baseball world believe this is a move of desperation by the Yankees.

“With the Yankees, they desperately want to make sure that they have a championship-caliber team to open the new stadium. They spent so much on the stadium that they need to drive so much revenue,” said Mike Cramer, former president of the Texas Rangers. “They have gone out on a limb here, and are saying we are going to do what we can to drive revenue.”

I couldn’t expect anyone to turn down that much money, but Sabathia will never be able to live up to the expectations set by Yankees fans.