ESPN hires CC Sabathia as analyst while he’s still playing for Yankees

CC Sabathia won’t just be wrapping up his illustrious big league career with one final season pitching for the Yankees. The former Cy Young winner is also joining ESPN as an analyst who will serve on programs such as “SportsCenter,” “First Take,” and “Baseball Tonight,” with his debut coming later this month.

Yes, that means Sabathia will be serving as a pitcher for the Yankees and an analyst for ESPN at the same time.

“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 in a statement. “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.”

ESPN has long turned to former players for on-screen talent on its various programs, but those players are typically retired or appearing during the offseason. However, several of their analysts for the 2019 season will be presently serving roles for the MLB clubs that they’ll be tasked to break down for fans.

Alex Rodriguez, one of their current analysts for “Sunday Night Baseball,” also works as an adviser for the Yankees. The Mets also announced Tuesday that they were hiring ESPN analyst Jessica Mendoza as an adviser for their baseball operations. David Ross works for the Cubs, too.

Sabathia, 38, has said that he expects to retire following the 2019 season. He’s been a pillar of durability by making at least 27 starts in 17 of his 18 big league seasons.