The 28-year-old left-handed pitcher is 6 foot, 7 inches tall and 290 pounds and looks more like an NBA power forward or an NFL defensive lineman than a baseball player. Or maybe even more like Shrek, minus the green.
Not only is Sabathia physically big, he’s now likely to have a bank account to match his size. The New York Yankees signed the pitcher to a seven-year $161 million. That’s $23 million per season and will make Sabathia the highest paid pitcher in baseball history.
"I'm sure every team in baseball would love to have [CC Sabathia],” said Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who will look more like a ballerina than a baseball player standing next to Sabathia. “He's a guy who's an intimidating factor on the mound."
The big guy has a record of 117 wins 73 losses with 1,393 strikeouts in a little more than seven years in the Major Leagues. And Sabathia doesn’t just throw fireballs of near 100 miles per hour, he’s also one of the best hitting pitchers in baseball. He has three career homeruns and a lifetime batting average of .261.
To live up to the famous pressure that will come his way playing in the Big Apple, Sabathia is going to have to lay off the donuts. But for that much money, he’s says he’ll have no problem.
“I'm always trying to make sure my conditioning is all right,” says Sabathia. “I feel like I'm working hard and doing everything I can to stay on top of that.”
Even though he looks kind of like a monster, most people seem to think Sabathia is a really nice guy.
“The quality of the human being matches the talent," Cleveland Indians GM Mark Shapiro told the New York Post. "He's a great teammate, good father, good husband. I've had the privilege of watching him grow to a man. He went through growing pains along the way, but he came out of it an impressive man in every good sense of the word. His mother is a great lady, a strong woman, did a great job raising him."
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