THE SABATHIA FACTOR

                    Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac

"Ladies and Gentlemen now coming down the runway....We have CC Sabathia in a blue hooded jacket by John Varvatos."

Funny, right? Well, according to Newsday, CC sees big things if the Yankees stay healthy. I like that.

Photo: Getty Images / Rob Kim

'If we can stay healthy,' Sabathia said, 'we’ve got the arms and the talent in there to be a really good staff.'”

You gotta stay positive. I like where his head's at! But look...with the history of injury the current pitchers have on our New York Yankees, I just don't see it happening. I'm being honest, don't hate me.

(Sept. 14, 2016 - Source: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images North America)    

I mean think about it, Masahiro Tanaka has pitched 2 seasons now since being diagnosed with a partially torn UCL and it's pins and needles every time he's out there. Sabathia has a degenerative knee and is wearing a brace.

(Sept. 3, 2016 - Source: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America)

Then you have Pineda's past torn labrum and a whole lot of unsureness. I know they have not had any major issues the past couple years but, (and there's a big but), they have all been placed on the DL and could be very easily again. Plus, all have had their starts skipped at one time or another. But let's dig deeper, shall we?

After those 3 guys, there are 3 guys battling for the 4 and 5 spots... and guess what? They have not pitched a full season.

In fact, between Luis Severino, Luis Cessa and Chad Green combined, they only have about 180 major league innings pitched. Add in Adam Warren, who has 354.2 innings, yet only 21 starts.

Look, I hope I'm wrong about all of this. I hope they do stay healthy in 2017. I'm not trying to be a downer here, but am I trying to be a realist. The one good thing I see is the Yanks will have a couple guys that can make spot starts here and there, which could help out a great deal. I think the Scranton shuttle is going to be putting a lot of miles on it though.

Like I've said, you cannot predict a baseball season. So much could go wrong. But on the flip side, so much could go right too. It could also go left depending on who is pitching, you know what I mean?

In about two weeks Sabathia will be modeling baseball clothes again, this time at Spring training. CC sees but things for the Yankees, including them getting younger, yet still capable of exceeding expectations and contending for the playoffs.

I like the mindset. Let's see what happens...

--Michael Carnesi
BYB Writer