CC Sabathia replaced Mike Mussina as the Yankees’ high-priced import and extended his stay with the team by incorporating a cutter that Andy Pettitte helped him refine.
As Sabathia readies for what could be his last start as a Yankee — Tuesday night, AL Division Series Game 4, Red Sox — those associations feel ideal. Because in putting Sabathia’s legacy in perspective this is what emerges: Better Yankee career than Mussina, better overall career than Pettitte.
For those scoring at home, that makes Sabathia a vital figure for the most historic team in sports, plus a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate.
“The last couple months I’ve thought about the Hall of Fame or my career and things like that, as I get to the end,” Sabathia said. “I don’t really have a statement about it, I guess, but I have thought about it.”
One big concept is that it is not done. The Yankees could advance to the ALCS, and there probably would be another start or more for him. Yes, his one-year, $10 million contract is concluding, but the Yankees could always lure him back, though that is a lesser probability than at this time last October.
He did reiterate Monday, “I definitely want to play next year” and “I’ll play anywhere.” Aaron Boone said as long as Sabathia’s arthritic knees cooperate, the lefty “can pitch more than just next year.”
The Blue Jays did try to sign Sabathia last year, so if the Yankees are out, they could be in again. I could imagine a full-circle return to his original team, the Indians. Angels GM Billy Eppler needs starters and knows from his days as Yankees assistant GM that Sabathia also improves clubhouse culture with his leadership, toughness and inclusive nature.
That cultural element helps Sabathia, in my mind, tick ahead of Mussina as a Yankee. Mussina was more taciturn, more a loner. He was not a bad teammate. He just was not the kind to extend a hand of kindness or provide a level of bravado in a meeting.
Sabathia also helped bring a championship in 2009 that Mussina never did from 2001-08. In that maiden Yankees season, Sabathia pitched a few times on three days’ rest to steer a team that did not have a deep rotation to the organization’s 27th title.
In 18 postseason games with the Yankees (17 starts), Sabathia will go into Tuesday 8-3 with a 3.29 ERA compared to Mussina’s Yankees playoff ledger of 5-7 with a 3.80 ERA in 17 games (15 starts). Mussina had October highs, notably his relief stint in 2003 ALCS Game 7 against the Red Sox, but nothing stands out like Sabathia’s 2009.
As for the regular season as a Yankee, Mussina was 123-72 with a 3.88 ERA compared to 129-80 with a 3.74 ERA for Sabathia, who started 36 more games as a Yankee than Mussina. Many of their peripherals were similar as Yankees: Mussina had a 1.21 WHIP, Sabathia 1.26. Mussina had a .708 OPS against, Sabathia .707. Mussina struck out 20 percent of the batters he faced, Sabathia 20.9.
Mussina had the overall better career and has a strong chance to be elected to the Hall. Yet, Sabathia and Mussina actually have similar paths. Both pitched terrifically for the teams that drafted them 20th overall, Mussina in 1990 by the Orioles, Sabathia in 1998 by the Indians. The second act for both was signing with the Yankees as free agents. Sabathia, though, had a small chapter in the middle that looms large for his reputation, the four months he spent with the Brewers after being dealt from the Indians in 2008.
Despite having his free agency looming, Sabathia shunned concerns about his health down the stretch, pitched on three days’ rest and helped Milwaukee get to the playoffs for the first time since 1982. It is a moment like that, combined with Sabathia’s regular-season highs being higher, that separates him from Pettitte. But boy is it close.
Sabathia is 246-153 with a 3.70 ERA and a 117 ERA-plus for his career. Pettitte was 256-143 with a 3.85 ERA and a 115 ERA-plus. Sabathia’s career Wins Above Replacement is 62.2, Pettite’s 60.7. The one stark differential in Sabathia’s favor: He struck out a higher rate. Pettitte’s postseason work is more voluminous and better.
In many ways, Sabathia morphed into a version of Pettitte late for the Yankees — the unflappable lefty with a penchant for keeping his team in a game. Sabathia has been a good pitcher the last three years (ERA-plus the same 117 as his career over 86 starts), in part, because of the Pettitte-taught cutter. That has brought longevity and success that, ironically, has made Sabathia’s career a shade better than Pettitte’s and his Yankee days greater than Mussina’s.
