New York Yankees: CC Sabathia Wants to Pitch Beyond 2017

CC Sabathia hopes to continue playing after his deal with the New York Yankees ends in 2017. After a healthy, serviceable season from the veteran left-hander, it could happen.

Not long ago, it didn’t even seem like a sure bet that CC Sabathia would see out his current contract with the New York Yankees. After four top-flight seasons in the Bronx, the wheels sort of fell off for the big lefty, both in terms of health and on-field performance.

Between 2009 and 2012, the former Cy Young winner posted a 74-29 record for the Yanks along with a 3.22 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 3.34 K/BB ratio. He was a durable ace, making at least 30 starts each year except 2012, when he took the hill 28 times. Add a World Series ring into the mix, and Sabathia was earning every penny of his big money contract.

However, things turned ugly from 2013 to 2015. Sabathia mustered a 23-27 record, 4.81 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 2.88 K/BB. He made only eight starts in 2014 due to a serious knee injury and continued struggling upon returning the following year. His fastball, which averaged around 95 mph in his prime, was now sitting in the 88-89 range. It was as if the one of the game’s best starters had suddenly transformed into one of its worst.

Though CC hasn’t been his “vintage” self by any stretch in 2016, he’s been a heck of a lot better than he was the past three seasons. Over 29 outings, Sabathia has put up a 4.02 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 2.29 K/BB. He actually carried a 3.17 ERA into the month of July, when he hit a bit of a rough patch. The veteran southpaw has hit stride again in recent weeks, however, turning in a quality start in six of his last nine outings. In his previous start, he held the high-powered Blue Jays offense scoreless on four hits over seven frames.

No doubt encouraged by his improvement this year, Sabathia has voiced his desire to keep pitching beyond the 2017 season, when his deal with the Yankees ends. “I know I want to pitch after next year,” he told the New York Daily News, “but I haven’t thought about where or what. Hopefully it will be here. We’ll see.”

Whether CC will have any suitors for a potential 2018 campaign will naturally depend on how he holds up next season. If he can more or less replicate this year’s numbers while staying healthy, he should be able to catch on somewhere. He’s definitely not an ace anymore, but an ERA around 4.00 isn’t bad for a back-end starter on the right team.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

For Sabathia, his recent struggles – tortuous at times – and newly rediscovered success were all about reinventing himself as a pitcher. A noticeable decline in velocity is something many pitchers experience with age, and for a power pitcher it can be a frustrating adjustment. It’s taken CC a few years, but he seems to have found a formula that works for him. Instead of relying on his fastball to blow by hitters, he has taken to throwing a cutter and sinker more to keep them off balance and induce weak contact. He had a little help from some former Yankees with that.

Nevertheless, Sabathia will turn 37 next July, meaning he would be 38 in the 2018 season. Even with his new approach, general decline along with all the wear and tear on his body have to be taken into account. There’s still a sense of not knowing exactly which CC you’re going to get each time he takes the mound. And even when he posts a good line in the box score, it’s often a laborious process to get there, needing 100 pitches or more to get through five or six innings.

Despite Sabathia’s stated preference to remain in New York, where he’s widely respected amongst his teammates, the Yankees’ ongoing youth movement makes it difficult to see a place for him beyond next year. With some of the young arms the team will be taking a close look at in Spring Training, there’s no guarantee Sabathia keeps a rotation spot for the duration of next season either, unless his performance dictates otherwise.

Next: Workmanlike Teixeira Takes Final Cuts

But for a veteran number-five starter, you could certainly do worse than the current version of CC Sabathia. If he maintains his present form throughout 2017, he should be able to get a one-year deal somewhere. Don’t discount the Bartolo Colon career path.

Sabathia will face off against the Red Sox tonight at Yankees Stadium in the 2016 finale between the rivals.