Sabathia on his knee: “I have no complaints”

The Yankees continue to search for pitching this offseason as they look to bolster a rotation that is full of injury risks. Masahiro Tanaka has a partially torn elbow ligament, Michael Pineda’s shoulder is a perpetual question, and Ivan Nova won’t be back until at least May following Tommy John surgery. All of that is on top of Hiroki Kuroda possibly (likely?) leaving the club, either as a free agent or through retirement.

Stalwart left-hander CC Sabathia is returning from a knee injury that required a clean out surgery, not a much more serious microfracture procedure. Microfracture surgery may have ended his career. Sabathia has been throwing off flat ground for weeks but he recent decided not to throw off a mound before the holidays as initially planned. During a recent television interview (h/t Chad Jennings), Sabathia discussed his current workout routine and expectations for 2015.

“The knee, I have no complaints. I’m able to do all of my workouts … I’m changing a few things. Not as much pounding and running. I’m in the pool a lot, on different machines to get cardio, (on the) bike. Just adding a few different things to get some cardio in,” said Sabathia. “I feel like I can (throw 200 innings). If you asked me that a couple of months ago, I would have said, ‘I don’t know,’ but the way I’m feeling now and being able to work out, definitely.”

For what it’s worth, Steamer projects a 4.00 ERA (3.97 FIP) for Sabathia next season, and holy crap I would take that in a heartbeat. Don’t even care about strikeout and walk rates. After the knee surgery and his performance the last two years (4.87 ERA and 4.22 FIP), I’m in full blown Freddy Garcia mode with CC. Just get outs, I don’t care how. I’m glad Sabathia’s knee feels strong and he thinks he can throw 200+ innings next year. I’m not counting on anything from Sabathia though. Just hoping for the best.