Sabathia thought he was going to Dodgers before signing with Yankees

Before CC Sabathia signed a blockbuster seven-year, $161-million contract with the New York Yankees in 2008, he had his sights set on joining the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"That offseason I'm thinking I'm going to the Dodgers," Sabathia recently said on the Bleav in Dodgers with Brett Tomko & Josh Luke. "I'm a free agent, I'm a Cali guy. They always have a bunch of money. It's an historic place to play. So I'm looking at places in L.A. Like, I'm already locked in on living in L.A."

It ultimately came down to money, according to the 2007 American League Cy Young winner, who was fresh off a dominating half-season with the Milwaukee Brewers before entering free agency that year.

"I go to the Winter Meetings and meet with Ned Colletti, and he's like, 'We don't have enough money to sign you,'" Sabathia explained. "Because the Yankees had already offered me that deal. So he was like, 'We really don’t have enough to sign you.'"

Aside from a restaurant meeting with Colletti, Sabathia said he didn't have any formal negotiations with the Dodgers and only met with the Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels, and Boston Red Sox at the time.

After not finding a deal to his liking, Sabathia traveled home and only signed with the Yankees because of Brian Cashman's aggressive pursuit.

"(Cashman) flew to my house and met with me and my wife and I ended up signing that night," Sabathia said. "It was because he was persistent. It wasn't me going out looking for the Yankee deal."

The contract, which was record-setting for a pitcher at the time, wound up working out for both sides.

Sabathia spent the next 11 seasons with the Yankees, authoring a 134-88 record with a 3.81 ERA while recording 1,700 strikeouts over 306 starts.

He was named ALCS MVP in 2009, the same year he helped the Yankees win the World Series.