Left handed pitcher C.C. Sabathia has the option to opt-out of his contract, leaving four-years and a guaranteed $92 million on the table. However, by opting-out now, he can easily sign a new deal that will surpass the total money that he’s leaving on the table.

If he decides to opt out, the Texas Rangers are preparing to make a “strong bid” to sign the left hander reports a baseball source close to Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com.

“I hear they’re going to throw a boatload of money at him,” said the source. “But I think he’ll stay with the Yankees. He’s talked so much about how much he loves New York, and besides, the Yankees can’t afford to lose him from that pitching staff.”

Rangers’ C.J. Wilson is set to hit free agency this winter and Sabathia could be a great replacement for the left hander. Wallace points out that Sabathia, who is accustomed to high workloads, would fit perfectly with Nolan Ryan’s philosophy of “workhorse pitchers.”

Sabathia was 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA in 237.1 innings throughout 33 starts for the Yankees in 2011.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.