Yankees say CC Sabathia is checking into alcohol rehabilitation center

Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia will be unavailable for the postseason, according to a statement released by the team on Monday. My barber lost 40 pounds on his doctor’s orders, but I felt like his smaller gut affected the scissors-to-hair angle and resulted in a bad cut, so I cursed him out and told him to get fat again. “Being an adult means being respobsible”, Sabathia wrote, citing his desire to be a ‘better man, father and player”.

Sabathia thanked the Yankees for their “encouragement and understanding”, and asked for privacy as he and his family “work through this challenge together”.

“He’s done so many great things in this game and to be doing it like he is right now when we need him is big”, Yankees teammate Adam Warren said of Sabathia last week, after the pitcher started New York’s postseason-clinching win. Cashman also said there was no attempt to convince Sabathia to postpone his treatment.

“This is the first time since I’ve been here in New York that we’re going to be major underdogs in a game”, A-Rod said.

A-Rod spoke of the respect that every player in the Yankees’ clubhouse has for Sabathia, who has been one of the team’s leaders since he arrived in 2009 and one of the key figures in filling the leadership void following Derek Jeter’s retirement. He needs to tag out of this situation, which is a lot of pressure, and really step back and get the professional help necessary.

“Everything else is second to that”, Cashman said.

Several years ago, Sabathia had already made it clear that he meant to prioritize his health when he dropped a ton of weight after his cousin died of heart disease. The New York Times has a few more on the topic here. “All of us, together, feel the disappointment”. “I know me personally and lot of us in here, we wouldn’t have a ring if it weren’t for CC”.

While tomorrow’s wild card matchup vs. the Astros seems a mere coin flip, a series against the impending Kansas City Royals – winners of home-field advantage in the AL with a 95-67 record – whom the lucky wild card victor gets to face, speaks to even steeper odds for New York should they get there.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that Sabathia informed him of his alcohol abuse during a telephone call on Sunday afternoon. Losing six of their final seven games against bottom-dwellers Baltimore and Boston, going silent at the plate, isn’t quite the recipe for confidence that everything can turn around in one night. The Yankees expect Sabathia to return for spring training in February. He has two years remaining on his contract.