New York -- CC Sabathia will have a deadline to accept the New York Yankees' contract proposal.
"We've made him an offer. It's not going to be there forever," Hal Steinbrenner said Thursday after he was approved as the team's new controlling owner during a meeting at Major League Baseball headquarters.
New York offered a six-year contract to the pitcher last Friday, the first day teams were allowed to start talking money with free agents. The proposal exceeds Johan Santana's $137.5 million, six-year contract with the New York Mets both in total and average, a baseball official familiar with the negotiations said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details.
Greg Genske, Sabathia's agent, did not return a telephone message seeking comment.
The Yankees also are interested in pitchers A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe. While the team has discussed parameters of contracts for the pair, it had not made formal offers.
Following the end of its streak of 13 consecutive playoff appearances, New York intends to make a major push for starting pitching. Mike Mussina announced his retirement Thursday, and the team intends to add several starters to a rotation that includes holdovers Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain.
Mussina walked away from baseball after his only 20-win season, a month shy of his 40th birthday with a still-potent right arm.
"I don't have any regrets with what I decided. This is the right time," Mussina said on a conference call.
Mussina finished 270-153 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 seasons with Baltimore and New York. A thinking man's pitcher who relied on sharp control and did more than overpower hitters, he ranks 32nd on the career wins list and 19th in strikeouts with 2,813.
Andy Pettitte has said he wants to return, but the Yankees want him to take a cut from his $16 million salary last season.
The elder Steinbrenner has gradually withdrawn from the Yankees' day-to-day operations in recent years as his health faded, and brothers Hal and Hank were appointed co-chairmen in April.
George Steinbrenner, now 78, headed a group that bought the club in January 1973 for an $8.7 million net price and became one of the most high-profile owners in all of sports.
- Phillies Utley (hip), Feliz (back) to have surgery: At Philadelphia, three-time All-Star Chase Utley, who anchored the middle of the lineup for the World Series champion Phillies, will have surgery and may not be ready for the start of the 2009 regular season.
Utley will have surgery next week to repair any bone or cartilage damage he may have in his right hip. He will be able to begin baseball activity in three to four months. But depending on the extent of the damage, full recovery could take until May, team officials said Thursday.
Utley was bothered by symptoms during the season but still hit .292 and led all second basemen with 33 home runs and 104 RBIs.
Third baseman Pedro Feliz also was having surgery Thursday on his back. He spent 26 days on the disabled list last season with a lower back injury. The operation will be followed by an eight- to 12-week rehabilitation program.
