Fresh off their first postseason appearance in 26 years, the Brewers reportedly want to keep the momentum going. And that means they might throw their hat into the ring for the services of CC Sabathia, who nearly single-handedly pushed the Crew into the playoffs.

SI.COM’s Jon Heyman says that the Brewers may even be willing to go over $100 million to keep Sabathia, though it seems unlikely they could compete for him if the bidding gets into the Johan Santana range ($137.5 million for six years). The Yankees, with their fancy new job-creatin’ ballpark, are seen as the prohibitive favorite to land CC because they can essentially give him a blank check.

Sabathia has been saying all the right things about Milwaukee, and MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL reporter Michael Hunt (don’t call him Mike) thinks he’s being genuine:

Not long after the Brewers were eliminated, 6-2, by the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, Sabathia was saying that it wasn’t all about the money where his future was concerned.

“I want to have fun,” he said. “I want to be around people I enjoy. This has been one of the better experiences of my life and my career.”

Hunt notes that several salaries, like those of Eric Gagne and Ben Sheets, will be off the books, and attendance has never been better at Miller Park. But with Jeff Suppan still drawing $10 million for next season, it’s hard to envision the Brewers going into the stratosphere to keep one player:

Even with revenue sharing and the attendance figures and all the contracts that will go away (Eric Gagné, Ben Sheets and Mike Cameron come immediately to mind), the Brewers could not possibly afford Sabathia unless he decided to take a deep, deep fun-and-contentment discount.

Heyman’s story, however, indicates that Sabathia is indeed open to listening to the Yankees, which will probably drive the Brewers out of the bidding:

Sabathia also said, “I’ll play anywhere,” and kept the Yankees in play, saying of New York, “I enjoy that city. They’ve got a brand new stadium. We’ll have to see what happens.”

“‘Coming to a new city showed me it’s pretty much the same anywhere,” he said.

The Dodgers, Giants, Mets and hometown Giants are among many other possibilities. Some surprise teams could enter the picture, as well, for a pitcher who went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA for the Brewers.

Let’s just stop for a moment to admire Heyman’s fine journalism here. He clearly establishes the Yankees as the leaders, but then makes it clear that he wouldn’t be shocked if any of the other 29 teams got in on him. So, when the Royals make him a $200 million offer in December, Heyman can go to the “see, I told you a surprise team could get involved” card and he looks like a genius. Well played.

The biggest financial hurdle for the Brewers seems to be local TV revenue, which only pays them $7 million per year. That’s not even enough to feed Prince Fielder.

In the right situation, Sabathia is a potential Hall-of-Famer with an outside chance of winning 300 games (of course, he has to stay healthy and pitch until he’s like 42). But he’s also a guy with a 7.92 ERA in 25 postseason innings and he’s kinda large. And that’s why it’s tough for a team like Milwaukee to make a serious run: if it doesn’t work out, the team’s competitiveness could be compromised for years (see Mike Hampton in Colorado).