If CC Sabathia needs extra motivation heading into spring training for the Yankees, he might want to consider how the organization now views him.
Speaking to The Post on Friday, general manager Brian Cashman said there are only a “handful” of pitchers in baseball who can be considered aces. Cashman was then asked if Sabathia still falls into that “ace” category.
“CC is the leader of our staff, but obviously after last year I don’t know if you can consider him in that [Clayton] Kershaw category,” Cashman said. “But he is the leader of our staff.”
Sabathia, who went 14-13 with a 4.78 ERA last year, spent the offseason building muscle — and has been visibly leaner in recent public appearances. But the lefty may have to prove he’s still the best pitcher in his rotation, never mind regaining a place among the game’s elite.
With Masahiro Tanaka last month signed to a seven-year contract worth $155 million, it’s clear there could be a changing of the guard atop the Yankees’ rotation.
Cashman indicated that comments he made earlier in the day, when he told ESPN-Radio Tanaka should be viewed as a No. 3 starter, were misconstrued.
“The question was whether I thought [Tanaka] would be at the front of the rotation right out of spring training,” Cashman said. “I said that I didn’t expect that. You’re talking about the adjustment, transition, growing pains. We look for him to be a solid No. 3, and after that if it’s better than that, great.”
Cashman said he’s taking the same approach with Tanaka as with David Robertson, whom he has refused to name as the successor to Mariano Rivera at closer.
“Any time somebody wants to show up and take a shot at being a No. 1 and pitching through it, that’s great,” Cashman said. “But I’m certainly not going to anoint, the same reason I’ve not ever said Robertson is definitely the closer. He’ll earn it.
“Like anything else, let [Tanaka] go out there and perform and then he’ll settle in, but I do understand the contract implications, and you’ll have people wanting something before it’s even been done.”