CC Sabathia was diagnosed with a minor meniscus tear of the right knee that will require surgery.
As first reported by The Post, Sabathia was diagnosed yesterday at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He will have the surgery Friday.
“Nothing major,” Sabathia said in a text message Wednesday. “[It] nagged me all year. [I] should be ready to work out in three weeks.”
The Yankees expect Sabathia to be fully ready for spring training.
Nevertheless, the worry with signing Sabathia to the largest-ever pitching contract always had been the two Ws: weight and workload. He has carried a lot of both, and, thus, it is hard to look at any surgery — especially on a joint — as minor.
The Yankees already are planning a full-court press for free agent Cliff Lee, and any concerns about their ace, Sabathia, only would make the Yankees more motivated to solidify the top of the rotation.
The knee problem could explain Sabathia’s underwhelming postseason. He won two of his three starts, but was never overpowering and pitched to a 5.63 ERA in allowing 22 hits and seven walks in 16 innings.
Between the regular season and playoffs, Sabathia has thrown 1,033 innings over the last four years. That is not only, by far, the most in the majors, it is the most for any four-year period in the majors since Randy Johnson from 1999-2002 (1,085 2/3).
And Sabathia is delivering all of that work from a 300-plus-pound frame. He has been remarkably durable despite his bulk. Nevertheless, when the Yankees signed Sabathia to a seven-year, $161 million contract after the 2008 season they knew the perils of enlisting such a sizeable pitcher who chews up huge innings.
To date, Sabathia has honored the Yankees’ investment. He is 40-15 in two regular seasons with the Yankees with a 3.27 ERA. And he was dynamic in the postseason last year in the drive to the Yankees’ first championship since 2000.
But now the Yankees are looking at concerns up and down their rotation. Sabathia, who turns 31 in July, will have to navigate back from this knee surgery. Phil Hughes will have to show no carryover impact from his largest workload ever. The Yankees are not sure if Andy Pettitte is returning and — even if he does — his late-season injuries make him a less reliable figure for 2011, when he will turn 39. And A.J. Burnett is, well, A.J. Burnett, which means hardly the most trustworthy pitcher in the sport.
All of this accentuates why the Yankees will be so aggressive in trying to sign Lee this offseason.
The Yankees said Wednesday team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad will perform the operation.
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Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and the agent for manager Joe Girardi talked yesterday, and there are indications the parties are moving toward Girardi signing a three-year deal.
Cashman refused to comment on the matter, and Girardi’s agent didn’t return a call.
Cashman said last week bringing Girardi back was a priority and Girardi said he wanted to return.
With Brian Costello