CC Sabathia Likes That People Hate the Yankees Again

“Getting Giancarlo just brings us back to being that hated team. That's what we like.”

The 2017 Yankees were an underdog and CC Sabathia is glad they aren’t any longer. 

After landing Giancarlo Stanton in a monster trade this winter, the Yankees are seen once again as a wildly expensive juggernaut. 

“Last year, we were the team that everybody loved, that feel-good story,” Sabathia said Thursday on MLB Network. “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.”

Stanton and Aaron Judge, who led their respective leagues in home runs last season, will now form a fearsome duo in New York. Add them to a lineup with power hitters Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird, along with a stout bullpen, and there’s no chance the Yankees will be seen as a scrappy upstart in 2018. 

Sabathia, who signed a one-year deal worth $10 million earlier this offseason, also said in Thursday’s interview that he would like to retire as a Yankee.