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CC back in Cleveland as Yankees ace

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By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com

05/30/09 12:07 AM ET

CLEVELAND -- A traumatized fan base has already taken root in this town. If CC Sabathia encourages LeBron James to follow him to New York, fans here might go over the edge.

Sabathia will make his first appearance in Cleveland as a member of the visiting club when he gets the start for the Yankees opposite Fausto Carmona and the Indians on Saturday night. With the Yankees in town on an off-day before the start of this series, Sabathia and some of his teammates took in Game 5 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals next door at the Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday night.

Asked what advice he'd give to LeBron -- a free agent after the 2009-10 season -- about playing in New York, Sabathia said, "It's the biggest stage in the world. He's the best player in the NBA. If he wanted to come there, I think they'd welcome him with open arms."

On the verge of sounding like a pitch man, Sabathia had to pull himself back when he was asked if he'd try to talk LeBron into moving.

"I'm not going there," he said with a big laugh. "I want no part of that."

That should keep the fans off his back on one front. But it will be interesting to see what kind of reception Sabathia gets Saturday.

His appearance at the Cavs game was a sneak preview of sorts, as he was shown on the in-house monitor and received a hearty round of boos, but also quite a few cheers.

"I don't know what to expect for [Saturday]," Sabathia said.

It wasn't that long ago that Sabathia figured he'd spend all or most of his career here. But that was before he got a better sense of his market value.

"Three or four years ago, if you would have asked me that, I probably would have thought I'd stay here my whole career," he said. "It just worked out where I got older, we couldn't get a contract done, and I knew I was getting traded."

Because he got traded, it's difficult to label Sabathia a traitor -- the way the likes of Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle have been viewed in years past. So he might not be due for the type of wrath Thome, in particular, still receives to this day.

"I certainly hope he gets a nice reception from our fans," Tribe pitching coach Carl Willis said. "And I hope he gets a rude reception from us on the field."

Sabathia hopes to be successful against the club that drafted him as a raw 17-year-old from Oakland and molded him into a Cy Young Award winner who got a huge payday. After the Indians were unable to work out a contract extension with Sabathia before the 2008 season, they traded him to the Brewers for four prospects. Sabathia then cashed in on his success with a record seven-year, $161 million contract with the Yanks.

How's New York treating CC?

"It's been great," he said. "It's been an easy adjustment getting the family out there. We moved out there, and we're getting settled in. And baseball's baseball. You go out and try to perform at a high level. We have one of the best lineups and best teams, so we're having a lot of fun."

Saturday's start, of course, won't be Sabathia's first against the Tribe. That outing came on April 16 in the Bronx, when he faced them in the new Yankee Stadium opener and took a no-decision after 5 2/3 innings in which he allowed just one run.

With that start out of the way, Sabathia isn't expecting any jitters Saturday.

"The initial shock of playing the Indians, I think that's over," he said. "I'm just excited to be here."

Sabathia, who went 106-71 with a 3.83 ERA in 237 career starts for the Tribe, still calls this city a "second home." He was asked what he misses about Cleveland.

"I had been here since I was 20 years old," he said. "I bought a house here, my kids were born here, so I just miss the community, being around out where I lived. Kids running up and down the street. Just the community and the city."

And as long as he leaves LeBron alone, Sabathia will probably always have friends in this community.

Pitching matchup
CLE: RHP Fausto Carmona (2-4, 6.42 ERA)
Carmona's control problems once again got the best of him in his worst start of the season Monday against the Rays. In just 1 1/3 innings of work, he allowed five runs on three hits with five walks and three strikeouts. In one stretch in the second inning, he threw 16 of 19 pitches for balls, walking four straight batters. The command woes have been a problem for Carmona for a year now, as he's looked less and less like the dominant No. 2 pitcher who won 19 games in 2007. Buoyed by 22 runs of support, Carmona gave up four runs on six hits with four walks and a strikeout over six innings in a win over the Yankees on April 18.

NYY: LHP CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.42 ERA)
Sabathia continued his dominant ways in his last start, allowing just three runs in eight strong innings to the Phillies on Sunday. And that was his worst of his last four outings. Since May 8, Sabathia has surrendered just six runs in 32 innings (1.69 ERA) and has been every bit the ace the Yankees were hoping for.

Tidbits
Grady Sizemore remains in designated-hitter mode. Manager Eric Wedge said Sizemore will probably pick up a baseball to test out his sore left elbow on Sunday or Monday. ... Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards took batting practice with the Tribe before Friday's game and socked a 400-foot home run into the left-field bleachers. Edwards then trotted around the bases, bat still in hand. ... Thursday's 2-1 win over the Rays was the Tribe's first win this season when scoring fewer than four runs. The Indians were 0-16 in previous games in which they scored fewer than four. In fact, the win snapped a streak of 29 straight losses, dating back to last year, in such a situation. ... Saturday night's game will be on WMMS 100.7 FM because of the conflict with Game 6 of the Cavaliers' series against the Magic. If the Cavs win Game 6, then Monday night's Tribe-Yankees game will also be moved from WTAM to WMMS because of a conflict with Game 7.

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Up next
• Sunday: Indians (Carl Pavano, 5-4, 5.50) vs. Yankees (Phil Hughes, 3-2, 5.16), 12:40 p.m. ET
• Monday: Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 1-2, 7.71) vs. Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 2-1, 3.97), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Tuesday: Indians (David Huff, 0-1, 10.97) at Twins (Kevin Slowey, 7-1, 4.11), 8:10 p.m. ET

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.