CC Sabathia announced his retirement this morning on Twitter. Obviously, this comes as no surprise, as the entire season served as Sabathia’s retirement tour.
Sabathia first appeared in the majors as a 20-year-old rookie way back in 2001 for the Cleveland Indians. In a career spanning 19 seasons, Sabathia finished with 251 wins across 560 starts, compiling a 3.74 ERA/3.78 FIP, 3,577 1/3 innings, 3,093 strikeouts, summed to 63.0 bWAR/66.5 fWAR. It was certainly an impressive career for Sabathia, who pitched for the Indians, Brewers, and Yankees.
Sabathia won a World Series with the 2009 Yankees and made 6 All-Star teams. He won the Cy Young award for the Indians in 2007 after going 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA/3.14 FIP across a league-leading 241 innings. Sabathia ranks 16th all-time in strikeouts (3,093), 37th in pitcher fWAR (66.5), and 48th in wins (251). 68.75% of MLBTR readers believe Sabathia put together a Hall of Fame career.
It certainly didn’t finish in an optimal fashion, leaving the ALCS due to injury, but Sabathia appears to have no qualms about finishing out his career. He released a retirement statement with a tweet that that read simply, “Thank you, Baseball.”
Thanks for the memories
Good player. I think if Curt Schilling gets in the HOF CC will too. I think in Curt’s case some of his off the field stuff had kept votes from him.
Sabathia isn’t close to the pitcher Schilling was … the term “must win game” never was associated with CC but “all you can eat” was.
the 2008 brewers would say otherwise, as well as any yankee year. go kick rocks chump
Thank you CC, for everything! Not only a great player, but a great person! You helped make not only the Yankees, Indians, and Brewers better, but the league itself! You always gave 110%, even when your body wasn’t nearly healthy enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you! See you in Cooperstown big guy!
Great career. Enjoy retirement.
I think his stats show it is going to be impossible for anybody to get 300 wins again.
Not particularly. I’m sure he had a solid chance if he laid off the booze.
Verlander 36 at 225
Collar bone 35 almost 36 205.
@lowtalker1
I don’t think his drinking problem lasted that long nor did it keep him from performing. I have friends at Roc and I can’t go into details but it wasn’t a long lasting issue.
Nobody who has a drinking problem would describe it that way.
I think Verlander has a outside shot ( I think he ends up with 260-280), but would agree that with the way that the game is currently played 300 wins likely isn’t going to happen….however there was a time that people thought that Early Wynn would be the last 300 game winner and there have been plenty that have followed him., though the gap was around 20 years.
As for the hall of fame, I think CC will get in though I also think that he’s part of a block of very good pitchers who could go either way. LIke Kaat, Tommy John, Dennis Martinez, Pettitte, Colon. I also believe that he’s better then a number that are already in the hall like Morris.
Verlander would need about 20 wins for the next for the next 4 years. Or 15 in his next 5. Both of those seem high unlikely considering he will be in his 40’s by then. But who knows
Wasn’t really a dominant guy with a career era of 3.74 but 251 wins are impressive.
A sub 4 ERA is pretty darn good for a 19 year career. Especially with the health problems of the last three. He was pretty dominant
But you can’t take into consideration health issues when you look at HOF players
Sandy Koufax???
He was solid but as his era shows more of a 3/4. Had a couple great years with brewers and indians but mostly just a solid everyday pitchers who gives you 200+ innings a year. Dominant definitely not.
I disagree, he was dominant in his peak. His ERA is pulled up by the earlier latter years of his career when he was more of a 3/4/5, but he was an ace at his peak.
122-57 with a 3.14 ERA, 219 Ks per year and a 140 ERA+ from 2006-2012
Yeah but the statement was dominance over the entirety of the carrer when in actually it was only 5/6 year out of the entire career. Definitely not Dominant over the entire span
I’d like to know how many SP stay dominant through their entire career. Decline with age is the natural path of every player. Not everyone is Nolan Ryan lol
@imindless
He’s not an elite HOF but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong. And he performed way above being a 3/4
From his debut in 2001 to 2012 he ranks 2nd among all pitchers in WAR behind Halladay.
And considering he did it during the steroid ERA and is a lefty that matters.
And as someone mentioned, he along with perhaps Max, Verlander, Greinke and Kershaw are the last guys we may see with 3,000 IP and 3,000 ks. In fact, he might be the last guy to pitch 3,500 IP. He’s the definition of a work horse. You look at the current list and there aren’t too many pitcher that will even reach 2,500 IP or 250 wins.
@puddles/begamin – but a HOF is expected to be great for more than 5 or 6 seasons.
That’s why it’s a hall of fame and not a hall of pretty good
Thats why Mussina got in last year, right? Never even won a CYA, only had 3-4 truly dominate seasons.
“but a HOF is expected to be great for more than 5 or 6 seasons”
– explain Sandy Koufax.
@AtlSoxFan
2nd in WAR for his entire career. Only pitcher with more WAR is Halladay who’s also in the HOF.
Hall of Fame. Probably not 1st ballot, but I would be shocked if left out.
If Mussina got in, i think CC gets in too.
Still can’t believe he is in and not Schilling. Really disgusting. CC is a good guy and will get in.
With 99% of that in the AL. That’s is an amazing career era for an AL pitcher.
He pitched when an ERA around 3.20 was good for 130 or better ERA+
Bring Brett Gardner with you.
@Louiebeans
I know you’ll say “but look at the post-season”. I’ll say 3.6 WAR, good defense at LF and CF position and good clubhouse guy. I’ll take him as a place holder for 1/$8 mil until we get someone that can out-perform him. I think Cash wanted Frazier to step up and claim it but his defensive lapses sprouted. I wanted Harper/Brantley/Markakis last winter with Gardner as the 4th OF. I don’t think there’s anyone on the FA market that we need to go for. No need to chase someone when SP should be the focus. Brining him back for another 1 year deal isn’t going to hurt anything Cash needs to do for 2020.
Really great career. Always thought I’d love to have you as a teammate—you’re a cool person and a gamer. I loved watching you evolve as a pitcher, loved how you pitched, especially the finesse and smarts. You obviously have more to give to the game and so the next chapter will be fun to observe.
Classy goodbye statement. Give the man props for going out on as much of his own terms as possible.
Definite Hall of Famer. Great pitcher and all-around good dude. Enjoy retirement.
I’m curious if he goes into Cooperstown as a Yankee or Indian? I’m leaning toward Yankee, but who knows? That’s a pretty close call.
More years, more games, more wins, more K’s, lower ERA,with Yankees, While he got his Cy Young with Cleveland I believe that he’ll go in as Yankee
More $$$$ in New York. Cleveland groomed him to be the man he became and then moved on to a highly paid stacked lineup that helped getting those numbers easier.
106-71 as an Indian, plus a Cy Young. 134-88 as a Yankee and only three All-Star appearances (none since 2012).
I hear what you’re saying, but as I said, it is a close call. He was definitely the more consistently dominant pitcher in CLE, hands-down. But he played much longer in NY.
I could really see either and think this would make a good MLBTR article.
Made the all star team 3 times iirc and won a championship with the yankees as well. I think he’s likely to go in as a yankee if he ends up there
He got CY votes though three times with the Yankees, and the start of the career for him wasn’t really great with Cleveland. His peak I would say was from 2006-2012 with four years with yankees, two and a half with the Indians, and his most dominate time with the Brewers. Really that time with the Brewers was the only time that he was truely elite.
i wouldn’t be shocked if he went in as a Inidan, but I believe that his career is more counting stats then greatness and more of his counting stats came with the Yankees.
When he was dealt away by the Inidans did you think he was a pitcher worthy of the hall of fame at that point?
It would have been nice if Mussina didn’t go in blank. I think he’s a nice comp here. I would have put him in as a Oriole unlike CC he was far better with the orioles.
Like Vlad, he’ll get his choice.
Does anyone think he’ll choose the Indians?
+mac
I personally dont think so. Unless he can do a dual team choice (im unsure about the rules regarding choosing your team when you enter the HoF), i think he is too invested with the Yankees to not choose them
@Julio Franco’s Birth Certificate
I’m 90% sure he goes in as a Yankee. He already indicated he plans on keeping his home in NY and that he wants a role with team after retirement. Plus he won his 1 WS title as a Yankee. Even from a marketing standpoint he can still bank of the Yankee association.
Maybe a Brewer? LOL I bet blank cap.
IF he gets in it will/should be a blank cap. I don’t see anyway to make everyone happy unless that is what he does. I wish Randy Johnson would have gone in like that. He has more success as a snake but learned how to pitch in Seattle. More players that have played for multiple teams should go in blank then have stats for each team listed. They should be in a alphabetical order or year they pitched. Seems like a fair way to do it.
Start of his career in Cleveland wasn’t really great? Rookie year at 20 years old he went 17-5, and those first few seasons when others are still pitching AA or AAA weren’t as good as when he reached his prime years in New York? Shocking to see somebody doing better in late 20s for a $200+ million lineup as opposed to a budget conscious team in his age 20-25 years.
CC’s brief run in Milwaukee was particularly impressive.
I was just telling a friend about CC’s Milwaukee tenure as he was asking if I thought Gerrit Cole would pitch on short rest in the World Series due to his upcoming free agency and I said it takes a guy who only cares about winning and the last guy I could remember doing it was CC, who carried that Milwaukee team that year. He definitely was a guy you could respect in the clubhouse.
So basically you create a position that Cole has never taken and a situation that will likely not come up. .
Cole will pitch the 22nd. And then are the Astros going to pitch him on short rest twice? Otherwise, what’s the point?
Cole has never had to pitch on short rest,
At the end of 2008, Sabathia pitched on short rest three times. Maybe they would have been better off having him on full rest twice and perhaps have him for two games in the NLDS.
.
I dont think he was criticizing Cole, he was just saying the last guy he remembers in that situation was CC. Its more of a compliment to CC than a knock on Cole
Cole repeatedly asked Hinch to let him pitch Game 6 on 3 days rest according to Hinch, as well as repeatedly asked him to put him in during the game. If you think Cole is less competitive than this fat guy who is an embarrassment of a physical specimen as a professional athlete, then you need to put down the bong.
CC was a good pitcher who will be In on the first ballot because he was in New York, and the writers who vote way overvalue every Yankee, especially ones that were cool with the media like CC was. Lots of guys more deserving but he’ll make it in easy for those reasons.
@astrosrock
I don’t see anywhere that the guy disrespected Cole. Relax.
And that “fat guy” is being mentioned as a HOF. Have some respect regardless of his size.. I’m sure he’s had a better career than most in his draft class and more than most of his slimmer counterparts.
Since 1989 only Clemens, Maddux, Johnson, Mussina, Glavine and Moyer are the only pitchers to throw 3,500 IP and Moyer pitched until he was 49 and Clemens was aided by PED. That’s pretty remarkable considering he thrived during the PED era.
You got your panties in a twist for no reason. I was not insulting Cole, I just complimented CC for taking the ball, for a team he only played with for a couple of months at great risk to his career and future earnings. Relax.
It could have just been a compliment to CC, but CC didn’t pitch all that great on three days rest. His middle two outings were great. The book end outings were not.
I would have been fine with it if he didn’t try to push a player down to lift another player up.
“You got your panties in a twist for no reason. ”
Why do you have to respond like that? You’re the one who brought up Cole in a derogatory manner. You’re the one who took away from your point, not me.
Just say you shouldn’t have, you made a mistake mentioning Cole, and move on.
Can you read? Where did I say Cole wouldn’t do that? All I said was someone was asking if I thought Cole would pitch on short rest, and then I brought up Sabathia. I did NOT say Cole wouldn’t pitch on short rest, I just said it takes a certain kind of guy to take the risk. Can you just stop being offended by everything?
+Jim A.
“Can you just stop being offended by everything”
Sadly, this is the era we live in. My man macstruts wants you to apologize because his reading comprehension isnt up to par. Its actually embarrassing.
+macstruts
He didnt push any player down in the slightest you fool.
Fat guys embarrass themselves and disrespect the game. Imagine how much better the fat guy would have been if he took care of himself and worked hard to stay in shape, ate right, and respected his body like 99% of the rest of the league. Taking the talent God gave you and eating 10,000 calories a day is disgusting and shameful. But again, he’s a first ballot HOF because he was a Yankee, upper echelon player and was nice to media and fans
+astrosrock
imagine being this bitter. btw, one year cc lost a bunch of weight and didnt pitch as well as he did when he had the weight on. so we literally dont have to imagine what could have been if he weighed less. not surprised you didnt know that tho
@astrosrock
Were you there counting his calories. I promise you……You can’t do what he does and not be a top athlete. There are NFL players that are bigger than him but are very athletic too. And yes, I know…two different sports but still.
His run in Milwaukee was impressive. They squeezed every drop out of him they could, surprised he did not do serious damage to his arm.
True, Polish. Speaks even more to CC’s longevity considering same. Heck of a career, hard not to see him as a HOFer.
I think you can make a pretty good case either way.
I think it’s hard to make a case he was better than Kevin Brown I think it’s easy to make a case he was better than Catfish Hunter.
It was and it wasn’t. The Brewers lost three of his last five starts, including allowing five runs in the playoffs and four runs (3 unearned) in a game on short rest.
He clearly was great for them, but down the stretch he had two good games, one bad game and one mediocre game. .
@macstruts
In those 15 starts he had a 1.56 ERA and averaged 8 IP per game. He had 6 complete games and 3 shuouts.
He allowed 7 runs total in his 3 losses. Bruh…he was a beast.
I agree with your point. He carried that team. In totality he was great. GREAT.
I’m just saying when they put him on three days rest his performances were uneven. They should have just kept him on normal rest. My critique is more about the unconditional praise that he pitched on three days rest. .
And including the playoffs he allowed 17 runs in those four loses. Yes, six were unearned, but you have to pitch around the defense sometimes.
I was thinking the same thing. He was pretty durable considering the physique, drinking and miles on that arm. Good guy too.
Thank you for making Vallejo proud!
Class act!
I remember his debut when I was 19 and now I will be turning 30 in a few months. Yeesh I feel old
Something doesn’t add up here lol.
He’s correct if he meant Yankees debut. Definitely not clear on that, but my assumption.
Could also be a typo. Maybe he meant 40 instead of 30. Would line up better I believe.
Uhhhh your math is a little off bud
I think you mean your debut in watching baseball for the first time. CC has been around a lot longer than 11 years.
Time traveler confirmed.
Suspect he means Yankees debut.
The way this game is today with pitch/ innings limits and analytics 250 wins is the new 300.
Nooiiiiiii
Over 3000 strikeouts, over 250 wins and has won a Cy Young Award no doubt first ballot Hall of Famer.
He went out the way I envisioned he would. He had nothing left in his body to give but he left it all on the field in a big pressure spot, a tie warrior
Thank you so much CC !!!! We all love you here in my and we will miss you. Please work with the organization in the near future !
@Yankeepatriot
The fact it was an arm related injury is what shocked me a little. Makes me think his knees still weren’t healthy and his mechanics weren’t sound.
We all know his knees could blow up at any minute. Even he admitted earlier this year that he may need knee replacement surgery in the future. For someone that has basically never had any real arm issues your comment may be correct
Speaking of which boone having 3 unhealthy players on the Alcs roster (Stanton, encarnacion and CC) was a huge mistake. Ford should have played instead
@Yankeepatriot
Ford can’t play the OF. They had DJ at 1B and EE as the DH. It was a glut of guys who were acquired to replace the injured but while a few made it back off the IL it’s obvious they all something nagging them (Hicks, Voit, EE, Sanchez, Tauchman, Stanton). But no excuses right? Astro’s earned it. We had our chance to score on two games that were tied going into the 9th and blew it. One in 11th and the one that Chap coughed up in the bottom of the 9th in Game 6.
Remember when he blew off the playoffs because he was drunk for days!
So long big guy….best wishes for your life after baseball. Nice career!
CC is the epitome of class act in this day and age. He truly went out everyday and gave 110% of everything he had! He never complained about blisters or hang nails, he went out and did all he could to make sure his team won. That’s what all these young guys need to learn to be about. All you guys that think he wasn’t a beast until 2012, how about when he started his games in ‘09 and showed up in relief in two games during the Yankees Series win? That’s what an ACE is! He was a beast that the Yankees, Brewers and Indians all leaned on and he toted it proudly and without whining! True HOF credentials and I hope he gets in just off his attitude alone. Enjoy retirement big guy and look forward to seeing you coaching soon!
How about quitting on the Yankees a few years ago going into the playoffs by letting his personal demons take a front seat. That’s giving 0% when his team needed him most…selfish as hell.
Youre such a tool
Show where I’m wrong Nancy. Oh yea you just jumped on the bandwagon in 2017.
Drug abuse problems are more important than sports, but since youre such a tool you obviously think a literal game is more important. get a load of yourself m8, act your age
See you a couple years from now in Cooperstown.
Thank god one NYY crybaby is gone. Wonder who’ll fill his shoes, my guess the Judge!
The biggest NYY crybaby this year by far was Gardner. It looked like textbook roid rage.
Yes I agree Popeye was a big crybaby this yr!
Finally becomes CEO of Arbys