When we awoke this morning to the news CC Sabathia had agreed to a seven-year, $161 million deal with the New York Yankees, no one should have been surprised.

In fact, as I sipped my first cup of coffee and wiped the sleep from my eyes, the first thing that came to mind were the prophetic words of about a month ago from Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who after learning of the Yankees' initial free-agent offer to Sabathia (6 years, $140 million) remarked how the Yankees were bidding against themselves.

Guess what?

Melvin was right.

And guess again.

The Yankees won the bidding war with themselves.

Those foolish enough to think the Brewers' original offer to Sabathia of five years, $100 million might be able to lure the left-hander back to Miller Park were banking on the notion he might be willing to settle back in the area that so appreciated his 3 1/2 months in a Brewers uniform simply because he liked Milwaukee, its fans and his teammates so much.

Guess what?

There is no doubt Sabathia liked Milwaukee, its fans and his teammates. I also do not doubt that this was a well-intentioned proposal from the Brewers.

But how do you begrudge someone making a decision in favor of a proposal that is going to ensure his immediate and extended family's financial well-being for a lifetime before he even reaches the age of 35.

More power to you CC. You've earned it.

One can only guess the Yankees were worried that the longer it took Sabathia to come to a decision, the easier it would be for West Coast teams like the Angels, Dodgers and Giants to enter the sweepstakes. Or, heaven forbid, that the ties to the Brewers might rekindle and make Milwaukee a possibility.

Yet, the Yankees must have known that the Angels' interest is in first baseman Mark Teixeira; that the Dodgers' interest would appear to be in Manny Ramirez, though it's never clear what the Dodgers are trying to do; and that the Giants could barely afford the depths of a Sabathia proposal as long as Barry Zito and his deadweight contract continued to pull them down in the National League West.

Which leaves us with Milwaukee. Melvin said Wednesday he was working on a new proposal, one that likely would have added another year and another $20 million to the club's offer. That still would have put the Brewers in outskirts of the neighborhood of the Yankees' original deal.

As unfair as it might seem, though, there is no way the Brewers can compete with the Yankees checkbook-to-checkbook. So when the Yankees came up with another year and another $20 million or so, apparently the contest was over.

One should not hold any of this against Sabathia. He's a talent who understands his worth on the market, even if that market should start to crumble over the next season or two like the rest of the national economy. He stayed clear of any self-promotion during his free-agent period, letting others do the fighting over him without any instigation on his part.

The big question now: What'ss next for the Brewers, whose playoff run last year hinged on Sabathia pitching, seemingly, every day?

"We'll have to scramble a bit for pitching now,'' Melvin said Wednesday morning to FoxSports.com.

You think?

But where do they scramble?

Assuming they are healthy, the Brewers will start spring training with Yovanni Gallardo and Manny Parra at the top of the rotation. They are young, promising pitchers, but their combined experience is barely equal to what Sabathia did in September. Sure, that's an exaggeration, but you get the point. Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan and Seth McClung round out the probable rotation. By all indications, there is no immediate help on the farm unless Jeremy Jeffress takes the express lane to the major leagues.

The bigger issue could be in the bullpen. A rotation without Sabathia and an occasionally healthy Ben Sheets is likely to tax a bullpen now in flux without any apparent late-inning lineup or formal closer. It won't make the masses happy, but Melvin may be better off shoring up his bullpen before making a move for the starting rotation.