Sabathia to begin work as analyst for ESPN

TAMPA, Fla. -- CC Sabathia's time wearing Yankees pinstripes as an active player is drawing to a close, and the veteran left-hander has already selected his next team.

ESPN announced on Tuesday it has reached an agreement with Sabathia, who will serve in a variety of on-air roles beginning this year. Sabathia said his contract calls for 15 appearances, all of which will take place on days that he is not pitching.

"It's just something I can do," Sabathia said. "I've been doing the podcast while I've been playing, so on the days I'm not pitching, I'm up early anyway. Why not be in the studio doing what I like to do, which is talking about sports?"

According to the network, Sabathia will contribute analysis to various high-profile ESPN platforms this season, including on SportsCenter, Get Up!, First Take, Golic & Wingo and occasionally Baseball Tonight. He will be in-studio for several of the appearances.

In addition, Sabathia plans to periodically join ESPN Radio New York as a guest host on the Humpty & Canty show, which airs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. Sabathia said he will appear from ESPN's Manhattan studios and that he is most excited to discuss other sports, particularly basketball and football.

"That was something that I wanted to make sure, that I'm not talking about just baseball," Sabathia said. "I actually don't want to talk about baseball; I just want to talk about other sports. I watch so many other sports and I'm a fan of so many other sports. I think it'll be fun."

The alliance with ESPN represents a continuation of Sabathia's foray into the media world. In July 2017, Sabathia launched his "R2C2" podcast with co-host Ryan Ruocco, offering an unfiltered view into the hurler's life on and off the field. The podcast will continue, Sabathia said.

Sabathia, 38, is 246-153 with a 3.70 ERA and 2,986 strikeouts in 538 starts in his career, leading all active big leaguers in strikeouts, innings (3,470) and quality starts (313). The 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner is a six-time AL All-Star and he was selected as the MVP of the 2009 AL Championship Series.

"We're excited to work with CC, especially as part of this unique arrangement during the final year of his storied career," ESPN vice president of production Dave Roberts said. "He has proven to be highly knowledgeable, candid and perceptive about the sport of baseball, as well as an avid sports fan in general. That will translate well for fans across ESPN platforms."