By Fitzgerald Cecilio

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman expects CC Sabathia to be ready for Spring Training after the pitching ace underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur in his left elbow.

"They found a small bone spur," Cashman said. "It was a quick and minor cleanup. We'll take him along slowly through spring training and he'll be ready for Opening Day.''

Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery, and the team said that no other problems were detected in Sabathia's throwing arm.

The lefty went on the disabled list with a sore elbow but examinations revealed no major issues with the ligaments in his elbow. The bone spur was first discovered in Cleveland, where Sabathia pitched from 2001-08.

"He hadn't given us any complaints on the elbow, but we were going to have it checked either way," Cashman said. "Then he revealed that it had been bothering him, so I knew surgery was a possibility."

The 32-year-old Sabathia went 15-6 with a 3.38 ERA this year. In the playoffs, he dominated against the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Division Series, wining two games and allowing just three runs in 17 2/3 innings (1.53 ERA).

In the AL Championship Series, he was rocked in the decisive Game 4 as the Detroit Tigers scored six runs (five earned) in 3 2/3 innings.

The Yankees owe Sabathia $94 million over the next four seasons. He has a vesting option for 2017 that would be worth another $25 million.

"He'll be obviously one of our five guys in 2013," Cashman said. "We've just got to come up with as many quality guys to pitch with him as possible."

 

 

Yankees Expect Sabathia to be Ready for Spring Training after Surgery