Erstwhile Yankees ace CC Sabathia will miss the remainder of the 2014 season as he is set to undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his injured knee next week, the Yankees announced this afternoon. On the bright side, Sabathia isn’t undergoing microfracture surgery yet, and the team is calling this procedure a “clean up.” But with a degenerative condition in his knee, it may be a matter of when, and not if, CC needs a more serious operation. Sabathia had consulted with four doctors — Neal ElAttrache, James Andrews, Yankees team doctor Christopher Ahmad, and Rangers team doctor Keith Meister — before making the decision. Although the Yanks and CC hope for a Spring Training return, the team and its lefty hurler are heading into a bit of an unknown with this latest surgery as the scope could lead to a more dire diagnosis.
For the Yankees, looking forward, this decision ultimately confirms what they had expected: They will get no more innings from Sabathia this year. With Masahiro Tanaka on the shelf indefinitely and Michael Pineda ever so slowly making his way back from shoulder inflammation, the team is thin on pitching right now and could use a lefty starter. Expect Brian Cashman to be working the phones over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, CC effectively has three years and $72 million remaining on his contract. Don’t think about it too much.
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