New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia is expected to announce his retirement from MLB after the 2019 at a press conference scheduled for Saturday at the club's spring training facility in Tampa.
Sabathia underwent a heart procedure in December and will take things slow.
Sabathia, 38, is entering his 19th big league season and his 11th with the Bronx Bombers. The large left-hander began his big league career with the Cleveland Indians in 2001 finishing runner up in AL Rookie of the Year balloting to fellow future Hall of Famer and later Yankee teammate Ichiro Suzuki. While with the Indians, Sabathia earned the AL Cy Young Award in 2007. After splitting the 2008 season between the Tribe and the Milwaukee Brewers, Sabathia signed a long term contract with the Yankees prior to the 2009 season and earned a World Series ring in his inaugural season. He has been a mainstay of the Yankees rotation ever since although his form has declined since the 2013 season.
Despite his performance over the past five seasons, I think Sabathia will be a Hall of Famer. He is four victories shy of 250 (he reached double digits in wins in his first 13 MLB seasons) and only 14 strikeouts shy of 3000. Aside from his World Series ring and Cy Young, Sabathia was also named to six AL All-Star teams. If he wasn't the best pitcher in the AL during his decade plus peak, he was always in the top five and 13 years is a long time to be at or near the top of anything. Sabathia might not get in during his first year of eligibility in 2025, but I don't think he will have a very long wait.
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