Young stars may get too expensive for Tribe to keep

	The Indians will be hard-pressed to keep both Travis Hafner, above, and left-hander C.C. Sabathia. J. Meric/WireImage.com

The Indians are building something good here. But how long can it last?

Mark Shapiro, the GM of the first-place, 15-8 Indians recently agreed to stay on for five more years, and his first big act after committing to the Indians was a wise one, signing solid starting pitcher Jake Westbrook to a three-year, $33 million extension. That's great, but there are still two big ones to go to secure Cleveland's long-term future, and the feeling is that the team will do well to go 1-for-2 in star signings.

Negotiations on both the big guns, pitcher C.C. Sabathia and designated hitter Travis Hafner, were tabled at the end of spring. Both players are free agents after the 2008 season (in Hafner's case, that's after the team exercises the $4.75 million bargain-basement option) and the sense is that it will difficult to keep both. Sabathia actually is viewed as the tougher of the two stars to fit into the Indians' tight budget, and there's already speculation about the Yankees' interest (of course, these days the Yankees are probably interested in any pitcher with two healthy hamstrings).

While both players recently expressed their happiness over the Westbrook's extension, Westbrook's signing could be seen as a signal there's only room in the budget for one more big deal. Hafner (6 HRs, 18 RBIs, .337 so far) and especially Sabathia (4-0, 3.38 ERA) should expect to command far more money than Westbrook, whether they stay or go.

"It was great to see. Jake deserved it," Hafner told me recently. "He's been a workhorse the last few years. Had he gone to free agency, he probably could have gotten more years and more dollars. I think this was a win-win situation."

"I was happy for him. I thought it was great," Sabathia said. "He's a great pitcher. I'm glad to see him rewarded."

From a distance, the more likely long-term candidate to stay would appear to be Hafner. Starting pitcher salaries have gone through the roof, and there is some sense the options are more limited for Hafner, who's strictly a DH. His first contract was reasonable, too, perhaps giving the Indians the idea that his desire to stay may outweigh an interest in testing the market. However, Hafner won't be easy, either; His numbers are huge. His .581 career slugging percentage is higher than A-Rod's (.577).

Both do appear to have sincere affection for Cleveland.

"I like it a lot in Cleveland," Hafner said.

"I love it," Sabathia said.

While neither player is thinking about leaving now, when I brought up Barry Zito's $126 million deal with the Giants, a big smile came over Sabathia's face.

"You noticed that one?" I asked.

"Yeah, definitely," Sabathia said.