No matter what, the New York Yankees are committed to CC Sabathia from a financial stand point for the next two years. But is the team committed to the pitcher from a playing standpoint for the next two years? Much has been made about Sabathia's future with the Yankees after he struggled for much of the season before checking himself into a rehab center and missing the short-lived playoff stint. As the Yankees aim to refine their pitching rotation, they are making no guarantees about Sabathia's spot.
According to general manager Brian Cashman, Sabathia must earn his spot in the lineup. That is certainly an interesting stand for a player who is set to earn at least $30 million or at most $50 million over the next two seasons. Cashman told the media that he is looking to put the best five players in the starting rotation and Sabathia must prove that is him.
"We've got a lot of guys who are going to be vying for those five spots,'' Cashman said, via ESPN.com. "I'm not guaranteeing anybody anything. I like what CC did for us down the stretch in September, once he got the knee brace perfected. He was a successful pitcher for that short period of time and very effective. We took notice of it. So certainly the hope is that he would be a viable member of that rotation. Let's just see how the winter shakes out first.''
The Yankees have a lot of pitching questions to answer this winter. Masahiro Tanaka is coming off of elbow surgery. Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda struggled. Louis Severino appears to be the only ace in the lineup right now. According to Wallace Matthews of ESPN, the Yankees want to add an arm to the rotation, but will not be spending big or trading big in order to do so. The MLB analyst believes players like Davis Price and Zack Greinke will be too high-priced while a trade for Matt Harvey could be costly.
The Yankees will have temptation to spend big or blow up the roster. Matthews believes that both Pineda, Nova and Adam Warren could be trade bait this offseason, but that might be to secure a right bat or a closer and not a starting pitcher. Instead, the team could look the players like Mike Leake, Jeff Samardzija or Jordan Zimmermann for help.
Sabathia will be a hard player to get rid of if that is the route the Yankees want to take. Given his contract, no team will make a trade deal. Given how much money he is owed, releasing him makes no sense. If the pitcher does not play well upon his return, a spot in the bullpen could be in Sabathia's future.