New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia announced during a press conference on Saturday afternoon in Tampa that the upcoming 2019 season, his 19th major-league campaign, will be his last. According to Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, the 38-year-old southpaw had already made up his mind regarding his retirement after this season, even before he underwent surgery to implant a stent in a blocked artery in December.
Over 18 seasons, the Vallejo, California native owns a 246-153 win-loss record with a 3.70 earned-run average, 3.72 fielding independent pitching rating, 2,986 strikeouts, 1,060 walks, 1.25 WHIP, and 67.8 wins above replacement (FanGraphs).
Sabathia spent the first eight years of his career with the Cleveland Indians, pitching to a 3.83 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.27 WHIP, and a 115 ERA+ rating, as well as taking home the 2007 American League Cy Y0ung Award and notching three AL All-Star appearances.
After a half-season in Milwaukee (2008; 11-2, 1.65 ERA, 2.44 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 255 ERA+), Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract to come to the Yankees, leading the team to a 2009 World Series victory (two starts, 3.29 ERA, 12 strikeouts, three walks versus Philadelphia).
Since coming to New York, Sabathia has pitched to a 3.74 ERA, 3.82 FIP, with 1.26 WHIP, and 2.97 strikeouts-to-walks over ten seasons. Sabathia is playing out the 2019 season on a one-year, $8 million deal after earning $10.5 million for the 9-7, 3.65 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.31 WHIP season he put up last year.
According to Jay Jaffe’s JAWS system, Sabathia’s 62.7 bWAR and 51.0 JAWS score fall just shy of the average Hall of Fame pitcher’s marks (73.4 bWAR, 61.7 JAWS), but there is little doubt that CC Sabathia will get more than a fair shake once the six-time All-Star and AL Cy Young Award winner’s candidacy for enshrinement in Cooperstown rolls around.
James Wagner of the New York Times tweeted out two pages of adoration from many of Sabathia’s former teammates, as well as a wide-ranging list of notable names who were compelled to send well-wishes to Sabathia, including Yankees brethren Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Joe Girardi, as well as NBA/global superstar LeBron James and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
