MLB: Will CC Sabathia Make It into the Hall of Fame?
June 7, 2011 · Arad Markowitz · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Current New York Yankee ace CC Sabathia has had, and will have, a great career. A common question that people wonder is, will he make the hall of fame?
Sabathia is just 30 years old, and if he continues on his current pace, he could definitely one day be inducted into the baseball Hall Of Fame.
Still though, it is way too early to predict if a 30 year player will make the hall.
Sabathia has won a Cy Young Award, has been an All-Star on four different occasions and won a World Series with the New York Yankees.
Although he has not been as consistently dominant, as the likes of Johan Santana and Roy Halladay, he is eighth among active players in strikeouts and is the only pitcher in the Top 15, younger than 33.
Sabathia had already surpassed Hall of Famers, Catfish Hunter, Lefty Gomez and Hoyt Wilhelm in career WAR.
He has the fifth most wins for a current pitcher, with 164, and could very well get his 200th win in around three more seasons.
Three hundred wins has been a benchmark for Hall of Famers, but even 250 could get a player like Sabathia in. Many Hall of Famers, such as Bob Feller and Bob Gibson had around 250 wins, and are some of the greatest pitchers the game has ever seen.
From Sabathia’s rookie year in 2001, to 2005, Sabathia won 69 games. His ERA was not very good, with a mark of 4.12. He also made the All-Star team in 2003 and 2004.
Ever since then, he has lowered his career ERA, and raised his career ERA-plus.
In 2006, Sabathia went 12-11, with an ERA of 3.22. He led the American League in complete games and shutouts, and had an ERA-plus of 139 for the fourth place Indians.
In 2007, Sabathia had arguably his best year. He won the Cy Young, going 19-7 with an ERA of 3.21. He also had an amazing, league leading 5.65 K/BB ratio. He was also an All-Star that year.
2008 was an odd year for Sabathia. He was just 6-8 for the Indians with an ERA of just 3.83 before he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.
His half year on the Brewers was just simply jaw-dropping. He went 11-2 and led the NL in complete games (seven) and shutouts (three), in just half a season. He had an ERA-plus of 255. He arguably single-handedly carried the Brewers into the playoffs.
Combined with both teams, Sabathia went 17-10 with an ERA of 2.70 and struck out 251 batters.
On December 18, 2008, Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract with the New York Yankees. It was and still is the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history.
In his first year with the Yankees, Sabathia had a phenomenal year. He went 19-8 with an ERA of 3.37. He struck out 197, and had an ERA-plus of 137. Sabathia came in fourth in the Cy Young voting, tied for the league lead in wins and was a major asset to the Yankees winning their 27th World Championship.
In his second year with the Yankees, Sabathia was even better. He won more games, 21, and had a lower ERA, 3.18. He came in third for the Cy Young voting and was selected to the All-Star game.
So far in 2011, the big guy has been amazing. In 13 starts, Sabathia has gone 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA for the first-place Yankees.
During his time on the Indians and Brewers, he was not very good in the playoffs, but with the Yankees, he has been superb.
In his full career, Sabathia has 164 wins and an ERA of 3.54. For comparison, at the age of 30, Roger Clemens had 172 wins, Greg Maddux had 165 and Randy Johnson had just 68. Sabathia’s right there with those guys, and if he hangs around long enough to get that 300th win, he’ll head to Cooperstown on the first ballot.
When Sabathia most likely opts-out following the year, he’ll sign another behemoth, record-breaking deal with the Yankees for seven years, and if he averages just 13 wins a season during the next eight years, he will raise his career total to 268, which is basically a lock for a hall of fame spot.
In my opinion, Sabathia will one day be enshrined to Cooperstown and join some of the very best to play the game.
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