CC Sabathia still hopes former teammate Aaron Judge can work out a long-term contract extension with the Yankees.
“I would love for him to be here as a Yankee his whole career, but obviously that’s out of my tax bracket and my pay grade,” Sabathia said Thursday at MLB headquarters to announce his new role as a special assistant to commissioner Rob Manfred. “We just hope that they can get something done and [Judge] can remain a Yankee.”
Judge had set a deadline of Opening Day for a new deal, but the Yankees’ home opener against the Red Sox was postponed Thursday due to rain.
In his new league role, Sabathia will help MLB address areas such as player relations, diversity and inclusion and youth participation. The retired ace also has served as a front-office adviser to Yankees GM Brian Cashman since 2019.
“Having a chance to still have my Yankee job and do this and really be around the game, it’s something that I didn’t know I wanted when I was still playing, but now that I’m done … it means a lot to me, for sure,” Sabathia said. “I’ve been running my mouth the whole time about player relations. And I’ve been wanting our league to run like the NBA in how close [commissioner] Adam Silver is with the players and how big the players’ opinion matters in the game.
“I’ve been the biggest advocate for this type of situation, so it was either put up or shut up.”
Sabathia added that he “absolutely” plans to continue his popular “R2C2” podcast with Ryan Ruocco.
He also has been an outspoken critic of the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal since their defeat of the Yankees in the 2017 ALCS. Former teammate Carlos Beltran acknowledged ahead of his debut last week as a YES Network analyst that the Astros “crossed the line.”
“I’ve read the comments, but I haven’t had a chance to see it or even talk to Los yet,” Sabathia said. “I would just love to see him get back in the game. Los is such a smart dude. I thought he’d be a great manager for the Mets; unfortunate how it went down and shook out. He was a player, and nobody else, no other players, really got in trouble.
“To see him lose his job was tough, but I just want to see him get back in the game.”