NEW YORK — Former Cleveland Indians All-Star pitcher CC Sabathia was hired Wednesday as a special assistant to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.
The 41-year-old, who retired after the 2019 season, is tasked with addressing player relations, diversity, equity and inclusion, social responsibility, youth participation and broadcasting.
Sabathia will work with The Players Alliance. He is a vice president of that group's board and is working to increase Blacks in the major leagues.
He was a six-time All-Star who went 251-161 with 3,093 strikeouts for Cleveland (2001-08), Milwaukee (2008) and the New York Yankees (2009-19).
Selected by the Indians in the first round of the 1998 MLB Draft, the left-handed Sabathia made his big league debut in 2001 and immediately established himself as one of baseball's best pitchers. In eight seasons in Cleveland, the Vallejo, California, native totaled a 106-71 record, 3.83 ERA and 1,265 strikeouts and won the 2007 American League Cy Young Award before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2008 season.
Sabathia was recently presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Union Mortgage, at the 2022 Greater Cleveland Sports Awards. The Lifetime Achievement Award "is given to a person who has dedicated their lives to the advancement of sports in Cleveland." Sabathia received the award from two of his former teammates: Kenny Lofton and Jensen Lewis.
During both his playing days and retirement, Sabathia has been an active member of the Cleveland community. Last summer, the six-time All-Star had a baseball field at Luke Easter Park, which was previously built during 2019 MLB All-Star Week festivities, renamed in his honor to recognize his efforts on and off the field.
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