Yankees southpaw CC Sabathia underwent knee surgery today, Jack Curry of YES Network was among those to cover on Twitter. It does not sound as if the news will impact the veteran hurler’s plans to pitch in 2019.
GM Brian Cashman says it’s the same procedure that Sabathia underwent this time last year, though it’s tough to find documentation of that. If Sabathia went under the knife in 2017, it may have been a repeat of a 2016 cleanup procedure. Or, perhaps, that two-year-old operation is what Cashman was referring to.
Regardless, the prior work did not prevent Sabathia from turning in a third-consecutive productive campaign. The 38-year-old has not tallied big innings totals of late, but it’s hard to turn up your nose at the output, particularly given his age. Since the start of the 2016 campaign, Sabathia has spun 481 1/3 frames of 3.76 ERA ball with 7.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.
Most importantly, those solid results have come without any significant injury troubles. Though Sabathia has taken some time off here and there, he has averaged 29 starts annually since a 2014 campaign that was cut short by knee surgery. In that light, perhaps, the newest procedure represents just another part of an ongoing maintenance regimen that has proved to be successful.
Surgery aside, whether or not another reunion is to occur isn’t yet clear. But Sabathia certainly gave the Yanks everything they hoped for when they promised him $10MM for a single-season term last winter. And with the club making clear they’re ready to move on from rotation mate Sonny Gray, it seems there’ll be plenty of room for Sabathia to fit in the payroll and the rotation if the club so wishes.
Why does this matter? Yankees don’t need him
I agree Ray, besides, he blew
2 big play off starts, or maybe more including last year, or just 2.
They need to clean up alteady
already..sorry
At least they opened up the door to close it on Gray.
eileen, you should be more grateful for great years. And for being a role model. Take it out on Boone leaving CC too long (Boone keeps repeat.. mistake)
Fickle fans….CC still has it.
He WILL be back in the spring and you WILL cheer for him
Hello true Yankee fans. He needed surgery. How many horses would have bowed out? He’s part of the Yankee team as long as he can be productive.
Stop micro managing.
xabial – Quite correct. Only the better management of a team will make them World Champs again. Raw talent got them 100 wins, but a skipper with a good head on his shoulders is needed.
Alcoholic Sports figures who intentionally hurt players they are competing against shouldn’t be role models. Tell your kids to look to someone else.
As of now they do. I mean, other than Severino and Tanaka, who’s on our 2018 that was better? I would like them to try and secure SP that are considered 1’s or 2’s but he would make an excellent #4 or #5.
He wants his 3,000 K’s to get in the HOF. Fine. Someone sign him for a month, let him get the 14 he needs and bid him adieu.
CC is getting in the HOF regardless of the 3,000K mark.
Yeah with all that GREAT starting pitching the Yankmes have, who needs another one.
Lose some weight Tubby and come back for another season in the sun!
Were you around for the season where CC lost a lot of weight and was not as effective? Before you criticize MYR, figure out your own priorities and declare them. You can’t be taken seriously with an identity that is best as described as:
TotalIdentityCrisis
Then decide if you would rather support Price or Thor.
Agreed. CC is much better when he is a fat tub of lard. If anything, he should GAIN weight this offseason.
CC and Bartolo can play on the same team and bill themselves as “The Blimp Brothers”
You three morons get offended easily. Hope to meet you all at the annual MLBTR banquet
How about the phat..az..zes
I guess it’s the biggish move that seals a WS Championship for the Evil Empire!
Time for Yankees to move on from CC, he’s been a great Yankee but how many surgeries is he going to put himself through…. RETIRE CC
Main one he truly needs is gastric bypass…
Hey Palmer and polish-hope you enjoyed your summer in Flushing. Anger management will help you avoid dumb comments.
Yeah because only somebody in Flushing can see somebody is a poor excuse for an athlete and way out of shape. And that requires anger management? You’re the one that needs help bro…
O boy. Knee surgery… over/under 40lbs gained during recovery
Would love to see him in the nl again to swing the lumber
I saw him hit one at Dodger Stadium while he was with the Indians. He looked like the Babe!
Just go full-robot-coop..
RoboCop
Your spell check MYR produces the only intelligent posts under your mixed up identity.
Happy to have the weekend off from high school, huh Mike?
CC’s ERA+, last three years: 117. (in 2018, 120. So he’s actually trending up:) )
Some of the names with the same or worse ERA+, in the last three years: Darvish, Severino, Gerrit Cole, Porcello, Tanaka, Fulmer, Jose Quintana, Gio, Corbin. And now we’re getting into “way worse” territory: Teheran, Danny Duffy, Aaron Sanchez, Kenta Maeda, Stroman, Chris Archer.
I assume all the nay sayers think those guys should retire too, not just CC? Chris Sale, Scherzer and deGrom should just pitch all 162x16x9 = 23,328 innings in an MLB season. Everyone else should just retire, because they don’t live up to your standard.
Now do Fip! Pitching in a little league park helps his ERA plus. He is what he is, a back of the rotation pitcher nowadays. Maybe I interpreted it wrong, but to apply that he’s better, or even, with those pitchers is a little misleading when only looking at one stat.
Why would I do FIP? Do fielding independent runs go on the scoring board differently than runs driven in by base hits?
Three seasons is a big enough sample size that we can dismiss FIP, and look at CC’s ACTUAL results….which are great.
But I guess we could always bring back Pineda, who routinely ranked top 10 in the majors in FIP and gave up twice as many runs as CC.
So we’re picking and choosing stats. I see. And I think you’re also ignoring the fact that he’s in one of the most hitter friendly venues in the league. His Era plus is adjusted way more than almost every other park in the league. You can’t say you’re looking at one adjusted stat due to a three year period and then ignore another over that exact same period of time.
So we’re picking and choosing stats.
————-
Yes. We’re picking out stats that reflect overall results, and dismissing stats that reflect partial results and ignore most of the game.
It’s what’s called understanding saber-metrics, and which parts make sense and which don’t, as opposed to just trusting all of it unconditionally.
FIP is by far the dumbest stat there is. Baseball is not, and will never be, fielding independent.
Half the knuckleheads on this website would have been calling for the Ryan Express to retire after he turned 38!
Umm you do realize Era plus is determined by independent factors as well. And there’s not many other stats that would make the initial comparison except for the one you chose
He was well worth the 10M this year and should be worth it again next season. Best to keep him until one of the prospects is ready to claim a spot.
He doesn’t even take up a full rotation spot. He pitches 150 innings max. So the Yankees get 20-25 stable starts out of an effective veteran, and still get to experiment, see what the rookies can do, on the days he can’t pitch.
It’s a no brainer: CC will be back another year.
It would certainly take no brains to pay that to bring him back for another year.
I second or third what real fans state
And speaking of no brainers…
Time to move on from CC and Gardy, the Yanks need to sign 2 starters and 2 relief pitdhers this winter. They should look to get 2 of Corbin Ryu, Eovaldi and Happ, and bring badk Robby and sign either Herrara/Britton/
The only pitcher on your list that the Yanks should commit a multi year contract to is Corbin. None of the other ones are good long term investments. They’re either too old, or not good enough.
Meanwhile, CC is solid and available on a low risk one year deal. No-brainer signing. Worst thing that can happen is that the Yankees waste $10M. This is a $4B franchise we’re talking about. $10M doesn’t hurt them. What hurts them is multi year contracts to aging or mediocre players.
Well said!
Yes like Giancarlo Stanton. A guy who doesn’t fit the team at all. Already have a power hitting right handed RF in Judge, didn’t need Stanton. A wast and stuck with him for 9 more years. I was killing the move back in December and still do not like it.
Stanton OPS’d .852, knocked in 100 runs, and scored 102. Now, I know scoring and driving in runs has a direct relationship with whose batting in front and behind you, but it takes a very good player to put up the numbers Stanton produced this year. Additionally, Stanton’s presence in the line-up changes the entire dynamic for the better. As for already having a similar player in Judge, yeah, so what? The AL has the DH, making it possible for the Yankees to rotate, and deploy two players who play the same position.
It also wouldn’t surprise me, and I’m assuming a lot of other people, if Stanton put up even better numbers in 2019.
It’s the length of Stanton’s deal that hurts. Might be alright for two more years, after that it’s more than likely dead money.
Yes, by his age-30 season, he’ll fall off the cliff. Cmon JD.
He just trended down by his standards Xabial. Add in all his injury woes and im not confident in his contract going forward at all.
Hey perk-if u don’t like it, then switch to the Mets. You will then have plenty to cry about
If you think they’d even entertain giving an overweight and over the hill pitcher with bad knees a multi year deal then you need to put the crack pipe down
What hurts the franchise stansfield are knucklehead make believe fans with sharp tongues and dull minds;)
You’re a narcissist
You are highly conflicted. It’s time to abandon the margins and declare your loyalties. Then you can concentrate on one team and form proper opinions
He just needs to lose some weight. He pitched better and didn’t have knee issues. He will be an ace again if he drops 30 pounds. I need to lose weight too. We can do it together
He obviously needs to lose weight but his days of being an “ace” are long gone.
He will never be an ace again. And if he drops 30 pounds you do not even know if he will be effective.
I’m thankful for what CC has done for the Yankees, but it is time to move on. He was brought back last year due to the lack of free agents not asking for the moon and the need to stay under the salary cap. Now lets see what the Yankees do in the off season market.
Angels could use him back to calif.
Free burgers inbound?
I may have an aneurysm if I read one more comment that body shames. CC has had this exact procedure now 3 offseasons running. It has become part of the regular maintenance of his chronic knee condition. In addition, he has tackled a disease in a public way. Point to a man with higher character and work ethic in the game. His effectiveness has been more than acceptable to be a 4/5 on a contending team. As far as I’m concerned, if he wants to return to the Yankees the door is open.
Truth.
Giant fatty.
TRUTH
Point us to one doctor that will endorse a “professional athlete” being in very poor shape and say it doesn’t lead to the “chronic” knee issues.
Well said. Both CC and Cashman know exactly what and who CC is right now. As long as both are cool with a relatively modest (by big market standards) 1 year deal then why not? Once CC fails to get guys out I don’t think either the Yanks nor CC himself will want to continue.
I also hope he can be sort of a mentor for Severino who I feel needs to develop a go to pitch to induce easy and quick outs. His strikeouts are great but it runs his pitch count up early. If he’s going to be an ace then he needs to consistently take us into at least the 7th inning. CC still strikes out guys and he doesn’t go past the 7th inning much but he has learned to induce weak contact and has a strong GB rate,
Justice Sheffield should be given the 5th starter spot. The Yanks need another top starter. Severino will be number 1. Pick up Corbin to be #2. Tanaka at 3. C.c. could be the number 4 guy. Or give another rookie a shot and build up the pen.
I definetly would like the Yanks to go into ST as if there’s a battle for the 5th spot. I’d like to see Sheffield, German, Loisaiga and King compete. I think the first 3 can be real mlb starters (2-4 guys).
bigkempin – If he gets in the HOF I’m sure it will be on his terms, and I’m pretty sure that means with 3000 K’s,
The ONLY issue that I have with CC is that he will always be a drain on the bullpen. However, for the Yanks, that’s not really an issue with the depth they have in the bullpen. It would help matters if the Yanks can strengthen the rotation 1-4 and reduce the wear and tear they have on the bullpen. Severino has to turn the corner and become a pitcher who can get batters out with easy outs, such as week contact, as opposed to having high K rates and finds himself at 100 pitches by the 6th inning). Replacing Gray with a true #2 or #3 would help too.
That being said, CC has been a top 50 pitcher in WAR, IP and ERA over the last 3 years. His ERA has improved each of the last 3 years. Yes, his FIP and xFIP are much higher but people really misuse those numbers. ERA is a reflection of what happened. FIP is a reflection of what factors played into the results and xFIP is used to project what SHOULD happen. That being said, over the course of nearly 500 IP ERA matters. His performance is not a fluke. He’s learned how to pitch with reduced velocity and has been a productive and effective pitcher over the last 3 years. Think about what it means to rank inside the top 50 in WAR, ERA and IP. In a league with 30 teams it means that he would probably be at worst, a #3 on most staffs. Unless we have a super staff like the Astros or the Indians where we’re strong 1-5 then as long as he’s willing to sign a modest contract year-to-year then I’m good with CC on a 1 year deal. That #5 spot should be his until he’s forced out by a better FA or trade acquisition or one of the rookies forces Cashman’s hand.