CC Sabathia: Yankees were 'cheated' out of a pennant due to Astros' sign stealing

NEW YORK — In the opinion of CC Sabathia, the Yankees were cheated out of a trip to the World Series due to the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal.

Commenting on Tuesday's edition of Showtime's "Inside the NFL,'', the newly-retired left-hander was typically frank in his assessment.

"As everything’s been coming out, and the more facts that we get, it’s getting frustrating...to sit here and know that late in my career I could’ve had a title, maybe (in 2017) or maybe ’18, but we got cheated out (by) a team kind of doing something that’s not within the rules of the game.”

Sabathia went further, suggesting that the Astros be forced to vacate their 2017 world championship, the first in its franchise history.

“Maybe, yeah. I mean, why not?'' Sabathia said. "Vacate it. I wouldn’t be mad at that.”

After an extensive MLB investigation prompted by reporting in The Athletic that uncovered Houston's electronic sign-stealing methods in 2017 and 2018, commissioner Rob Manfred levied a hefty punishment on the Astros.

Manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended for the 2020 season and subsequently fired by Astros owner Jim Crane.

The Astros were stripped of their first and second round picks in the next two First Year Player Drafts and fined the maximum $5 million under MLB rules.

Additionally, Red Sox manager Alex Cora – Hinch's bench coach on the 2017 world champion Astros – faces possible harsh discipline from Manfred once MLB's investigation into the 2018 Red Sox concludes.

OPINION: Yankees have a right to be furious over Astros' sign-stealing scandal

The Yankees lost a seven-game AL Championship Series to the 2017 Astros, in which Houston won all four home games.

In 2018 the Red Sox knocked off the Yankees in the Division Series on the way to a world championship.

Sabathia won the World Series with the Yankees in 2009, his first year with the club. Sabathia's Yankees teams never made it back to the World Series, going 0-4 in the ALCS.

Having signed former Astros ace Gerrit Cole to a record free agent contract for a pitcher, the Yankees enter 2020 as favorites to get to the Fall Classic.

Pete Caldera is the Yankees beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Yankees analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: caldera@northjersey.com Twitter: @pcaldera