CC Sabathia’s Return to New York Yankees Official!
By Manny Gómez
After declaring “this team is going to win a World Series,” on his podcast, R2C2, CC Sabathia definitively said, “I know i’m going to pitch in 2019 and it’s going to be my last.” A one-year deal made official today assures CC Sabathia will retire as a member of the New York Yankees.
On Tuesday, New York Post’s Joel Sherman announced that the Yankees and CC Sabathia agreed on a 1-year deal worth $8 million, pending a physical. Today, the deal was made official. Sabathia will return to the Yankees for an 11th season in hopes of bringing the Bronx Bombers a 28th world title.
Sabathia 1-yr, $8M deal is complete pending physical. #Yankees will hope Sabathia can give another solid 150IP and, at worst, perhaps tag-team a season with Jordan Montgomery who should be able to return from Tommy John surgery around midseason
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 6, 2018
The move to bring back CC is just as much about retaining a veteran pitcher who has reinvented himself as it is about preserving one of the greatest leaders the Yankees organization has ever seen.
The greatest example of the type of leader CC is came on a Thursday night game against Tampa in late September. After Rays pitcher Andrew Kitteredge fired a 93 MPH fastball behind the head of Austin Romine, CC immediately responded the following inning by drilling Jesus Sucre with the only 90 MPH pitch he threw that night.
CC was well on his way to collect a $500,000 bonus, needing just two more innings to trigger a contractual bonus for reaching 155 innings on the season.
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“I don’t really make decisions based on money, I guess,” CC told the media after the game, “It just felt like it was the right thing to do.”
That is the definition of CC Sabathia, and that is why the Yankees decided to bring him back.
As per Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, this is what Yankees GM Brian Cashman had to say about his decision to bring back Sabathia and Brett Gardner:
"“We know exactly who they are in that clubhouse, who they are dealing with our press and our fans,” the GM said. “And obviously most importantly, competing on the field of play. So that would be the most vital component of the willingness and the interest in bringing them back.”"
CC Sabathia came to the Yankees in 2009 and delivered a championship in his first year with the team. Since then, his performance has seen some ups and downs. After struggling with the fact that he wasn’t the hard throwing left-handed pitcher of his youth, Sabathia has reinvented himself as one of baseball’s best pitchers.
Last season, CC put together his best season since 2012. He placed fourth in all of baseball in soft contact (soft%) behind Chris Sale, Noah Syndergaard, and Jacob deGrom, and placed in the top 10 in infield pop-ups (IFFB%). He finished the season with a 3.65 ERA in 153 IP.
Next. Addressing Yankees starting pitching. dark
What this season will look like for CC Sabathia and the Yankees, given the reports that the Yankees are in pursuit of multiple arms, nobody knows. One things for sure, one day #52 will hang alongside the greatest Yankees to ever put on the uniform, and monument park will have itself one heck of an addition.