New York Yankees: Does CC Sabathia Fit into Future Plans?

All things considered, CC Sabathia has had a pretty good year pitching for the New York Yankees this season. Now, reports are saying that he expects to pitch not only next season, but beyond that as well. But his bravado may have hurt his chances to pitch for the Yankees again.

In a story published in the New York Daily News that may have taken the New York Yankees by surprise, CC Sabathia announced that not only does he want to fulfill the final year of his contract in 2017, but he wants to pitch even beyond that. And maybe it’s just possible that he can.

Carsten Charles Sabathia has won 223 games in a major league uniform. He closed out his season last night with a stellar pitching performance against the Boston Red Sox tossing 7.1 innings and allowing just one run on four hits in a Yankees win.

While none of his stats this year will blow anyone away (9-12, 3.91 ERA, 1.32 WHIP), his season as a whole has been a surprising success. The fact that he’s managed to stay on the mound for 180 innings is an accomplishment in and of itself given the health issues he’s had over the last year or two.

How Much Is Left in the Tank?

But the fact remains that this bulk of a man stands 6’6″ tall, carries 300 pounds with him, and will be 37 years old next season. Wherever he’s been in his career, Sabathia has been the workhorse of the starting staff. He has logged more than 3,000 innings and has made nearly 500 starts. If you figure that he’s averaged 100 pitches per start, that means 50,000 pitches over his career. How much then does he have left in the tank?

For Sabathia though, it doesn’t seem to be about his physical capabilities as much as it’s about his mental state of mind. Here is how he put it to the Daily News’ Mark Feinsand, “I feel like this is just the beginning of what I’m trying to do. I feel like there’s a lot more still to learn and a lot better to get. It’s exciting.”

That’s all well and good but unfortunately it doesn’t have anything to do with getting major league hitters out. Sabathia has been a competitor for his whole life. Without that nature, he could never have achieved the heights in baseball that he’s reached. And professional athletes themselves seldom know when it’s time to call it quits. Alex Rodriguez didn’t, but Mark Teixeira did and he gets to go out on his own terms, while A-Rod had to be shown the door.

How Sabathia Hurt Himself with the Yankees

But here’s the crux of the problem. By going public with his intentions, regardless of how admirable they may be, CC Sabathia may have seriously imperiled his chances to ever pitch for the Yankees again. Because in all probability, the Yankees have to be thinking about extending their move to becoming a younger and more athletic team.

More from Call to the Pen

And it’s far more likely that their plans for Sabathia next year (and forget about beyond that) are to execute another A-Rod with him. That is, talk to him during the offseason and try to ease him out with a sweet deal that includes a move upstairs. Treating him with the respect he deserves, have a ceremony for him sometime in May or June, and everyone moves on.

Now though, is there any wiggle room for the Yankees to make that happen? Sabathia is helped by the fact that the Yankees don’t exactly have a plethora of reliable starting pitching. Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi are iffy at best. Bryan Mitchell and Chad Green are mostly raw and untested talents. With that being said, Sabathia could sneak in the slightly ajar door, but even if he was able to do that, it would only be temporary until the Yankees could acquire the pitching they need to fortify what is bound to be a potent offense.

Next: Blue Jays Becoming Easy to Hate

The Yankees have clearly set their sights forward. CC Sabathia, in his enthusiasm for baseball, did himself no favors by going public with his intentions. Regrettably, Sabathia is a last vintage piece of the old Yankees and he no longer fits into the their plans.

Home/New York Yankees