CC Sabathia didn’t want to leave The Bronx without a second World Series title added to the one he helped win in 2009.
After undergoing a physical Wednesday and heading to the West Coast for a fishing trip, the veteran left-hander’s one-year deal for $8 million was official and he will be part of Aaron Boone’s retooled 2019 rotation.
One that he hopes can deliver the Yankees’ 28th World Series title.
“I do,’’ Sabathia told The Post on Wednesday when asked if he came back to take care of unfinished business. “The last two years, go back to playing Game 7 of the ALCS.’’
A year ago it took until mid-December for Sabathia to decide whether he was going to continue to be a Yankee and he signed a one-year, $10 million deal. The swiftness of this negotiation was a clear sign that an 11th year in The Bronx was high on his list.
“You never know what happens, you see different stuff all the time, but this is always the place I wanted to play,’’ said Sabathia, who after Brett Gardner is the second-longest tenured Yankee and has established deep family roots in the area.
The lefty has said this will be his final season in the majors.
According to Kyle Thousand, Sabathia’s agent, there was interest from other clubs.
“There were a few teams that reached out,’’ Thousand said from the general managers’ meetings in Carlsbad, Calif. “That is understandable after the last three years after he reinvented himself. We didn’t feel a need to go down that road. In the end this is where CC wanted to be. Both sides wanted to get a deal done.’’
Sabathia said he hasn’t been able to watch lefty starter Patrick Corbin, a free-agent target of the Yankees, that much since he pitched in the NL but fully endorsed bringing another free-agent lefty, J.A. Happ, back for more.
“Seeing Happ up close and being a teammate, he is a good example for the young guys on the team,’’ Sabathia said of Happ, who went 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 regular-season starts following a trade from the Blue Jays.
Other free-agent starters who could interest the Yankees are lefty Dallas Keuchel and righty Nathan Eovaldi. And if the Indians are serious about dealing Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco the Yankees will listen.
Sabathia, who underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery Oct. 12, had a physical on Wednesday that was administered by team physician Chris Ahmad.
“I feel good, earlier than the other ones,’’ Sabathia said of the rehab process that will include starting to throw a baseball in the middle of next month.
The past three seasons have reversed a negative trend from 2013-15, when Sabathia, who’ll turn 39 in July, was in the early stages of transitioning from a power pitcher to a finesse hurler. In 69 starts Sabathia went 23-27 with a 4.81 ERA and allowed 470 hits in 424 ¹/₃ innings. From 2016-18, he went 32-24 with a 3.76 ERA in 86 starts and allowed 461 hits and fanned 412 in 481 ¹/₃ innings.
This past season Sabathia was 9-7 with a 3.65 ERA (153.0IP, 62ER) in 29 starts, second most among Yankees starters. He was on the disabled list twice; once with a balky hip and the other with an inflamed right knee.
In 18 big-league seasons Sabathia is 246-153 with a 3.70 ERA and 2,986 strikeouts in 538 career starts. He is the active leader in strikeouts and innings pitched (3,470). He is second among active pitchers in wins and starts to Bartolo Colon (247-188 in 565 games, including 552 starts).
Sabathia has spent 10 seasons with the Yankees (2009-18), going 129-80 with a 3.74 in 284 starts. On the Yankees’ all-time lists he ranks fourth in strikeouts (1,593), seventh in starts, 11th in wins and 12th in innings pitched. In 18 postseason starts with the Yankees, Sabathia is 8-4 with a 3.45 ERA.
