Over the course of the 2017 season, the Yankees were predominantly known for being the ‘feel-good’ team of Major League Baseball. Their likeable antics ranged from ‘The Toenight Show’, to Todd Frazier‘s ‘Thumbs Down’ movement.
But the Yankees slowly shed their underdog status following a postseason ‘Cinderella run’ that ended one game shy of the 2017 World Series. The Yankees also didn’t help their case when they fleeced Derek Jeter and the Miami Marlins in a deal that sent Giancarlo Stanton to the Bronx.
So, yeah. The Yankees are back to being the team everyone loves to hate. But Yankees starter CC Sabathia is looking forward to the Yankees being the Evil Empire again.
“Last year, we were the team that everybody loved, that feel-good story,” Sabathia said while on MLB Network’s Hot Stove on Thursday morning. “But getting Giancarlo just brings us back to being that hated team. That’s what we like. We want to go out there, put the best team on the field and crush everybody every game.”
When the Yankees acquired Stanton, Sabathia was still a free agent, and there was concern on whether he would return to the Bronx in 2018. Sabathia even entertained meetings with the Los Angeles Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays. However, the big lefty returned to the Yankees citing that there was still “unfinished business” to attend to.
With a lineup that will consist of Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Greg Bird, Sabathia took the ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’ approach.
“And that’s why I wouldn’t have went to the Blue Jays,” Sabathia recently jested on his R2C2 podcast. “If I’m going to be in the AL East, I’m going to be on the best team. I’m not coming to Yankee Stadium to get my ass kicked.”
