Jonathan Papelbon leaving the Red Sox for the Phillies not only sent reverberations through both Boston and Philadelphia on Friday - it hit the Bronx, too.

"I just saw that about an hour ago and I'm not going to miss him," Yankee ace CC Sabathia said while at the kickoff party for his "CC Challenge" charity scavenger hunt Saturday. "He's a great pitcher and he was good for them. It just makes the Phillies that much better.

"If our ultimate goal is to win the World Series, I'm sure we're going to have to see them (Philadelphia) at the end of the season."

Papelbon agreed to a four-year, $50 million deal with the Phils that has a vesting option for an additional $13 million. It is the most guaranteed money ever given to a reliever, eclipsing the five-year, $47 million deal B.J. Ryan got from the Blue Jays in 2005.

Papelbon was always a lightning rod of sorts in the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry, which was not a surprise, Sabathia said.

"He was a good player," Sabathia said. "In that rivalry, if you're a good player, people hate you, whatever side you're on. I think that's just a tribute to his talent."