While numerous media reports have speculated that the motive behind the Yankees' offer to free-agent CC Sabathia is to "blow away" all other contenders for the left-hander's services, Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin is already certain of one thing:

New York's six-year, $140 million offer certainly blew his mind.

While in their two-week window of negotiating exclusivity, the Brewers had made Sabathia an offer pegged by industry insiders at five years for $100 million.

"If the speculation is true that we've offered CC $100 million," Melvin wondered out loud in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "why would you offer $140 million? Why wouldn't you offer $110 million?

"It sounds to me like they're overbidding," Melvin said of the Yankees.

While confirming an offer to Sabathia on Friday night -- the first day free agents could talk financial terms with all teams -- Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner had also said that proposals for free agents A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe were also being prepared.

"[The Yankees] have been pretty adamant about bidding on everybody. That doesn't mean that's what the market is. That's just one team's offer. Until all the bids are on the table, I don't know what the market is," said Melvin, who expects to get a better handle on Sabathia's market by the middle of the coming week.

Melvin plans to call the pitcher's agent, to pose a simple question: Are we in, or we shouldn't bother?

"I'll ask them ... if we have a chance or should we move on," Melvin told the Journal Sentinel. "I need to know. We don't want this to drag on. They won't tell me what the other offers are. They'll just say, 'We've got an extra year [from another bidder] or more money.'

"They'll let you know if the other offers are substantially more or a little more. We're not going to negotiate until we know where we stand."