Last week when I was out at the baseball Winter Meetings, whether it was via written reports or on the NYBD nightly radio show, I helped update the NYBD listeners with the current happenings out in Las Vegas.  Each night from Vegas, NYBD contributors Mike Silva, Howard Megdal, Joe DeMayo, Frank Russo and I discussed the hot stove happenings of both New York teams. During one particular radio broadcast, I was asked by host Mike Silva if the Yankees should be worried about the recent free agent signing of CC Sabathia due to his weight issues.

His weight, combined with the amount of innings Sabathia has thrown over the last three years (706 including postseason) had many Yankees fans concerned that Sabathia would develop an arm injury, or that maybe his arm would just fall off. Because Sabathia’s mechanics are pretty sound, I really don’t think the former would happen, and almost 100% sure the second concern WON’T happen.

Sabathia’s weight has not been an issue for him thus far in his career, and typically, heavier pitcher such as Sabathia, David Wells, Sid Fernandez, Fernando Valenzuela, and even Terry Forster have pitched over long careers without significant arm injuries. (Even though Forster was mainly a reliever, I had to throw him in there as I remember his weighty issues were a topic on the Late Night with David Letterman show.)

Besides Bartolo Colon, does a full figured pitcher make certain mechanical adjustments because of their extra girth that helps them avoid injury? That is a topic for another day, but I do know that Sabathia’s extra weight could be a problem for his lower body – specifically his landing leg (or right) knee. Now, none of the heavier pitchers mentioned above (notice how they were all left handed) had leg issues, but none were the size of Sabathia, either.

I played college baseball, and participated in long (40 game) summer hardball leagues for 20+ years before my “retirement” two years ago. Going from work to make a 6 PM weeknight game didn’t allow a player to properly prepare, especially if he was pitching. Our pitchers always had leg issues during the season. Also, because of the nature of our games, many times a player (who normally wasn’t a pitcher) would be brought in to finish up a game and throw an inning or two. Almost all the time, this “pitcher” came away with a sore landing leg, from the ankle all the way up to the thigh. It was primarily due to the pressure of landing on that same leg pitch after pitch, and inning after inning. The bigger the guy, the more weight was put on the landing leg and thus, the bigger guy was always susceptible to being extra sore.

To this day, my left knee is always sore due to constantly landing on my left leg while pitching, and my leg usually was bent at the correct angle to absorb much of the shock of landing. But, my left leg was (and still is) sore, and I don’t have nearly the size of Sabathia (for which I am thankful) or threw the amount of pitches Sabathia has (for which I am NOT thankful). His size could have an impact over his lower body health during the 7 years of his Yankee contract, especially the later years.

That is one reason I like the 3 year opt out Sabathia wanted installed in his Yankee contract. It has been said that CC wanted the opt out because his family might not like living in the New York area, and if his family is unhappy, Sabathia could pull an AJ Burnett, opt out, and move elsewhere. The Yankees would get the three prime years of Sabathia’s career (ages 29-31), and then could afford to let him go, not taking on the possible injury risk of the later years. If CC pitches well over the next three years (and the economy improves), he could make a ton more dough by opting out and hitting the free agent market again. His hometown San Francisco Giants just might be good by then. Conversely, if Sabathia gets injured in the next three years, the Yankees will be on the hook for a lot of cash.

Another reason the opt out benefits the Yankees is that many of their promising young starting pitchers such as Dellin Betances, Jairo Heredia and Zack McAllister would be ready for the Bronx. Betances and McAllister are from that great pitching draft the Yankees had in 2006. In addition, if Sabathia left the Yankees after the 2011 season, other good, young pitchers like Cole Hamels or Tim Lincecum, might be free agents around that time. If these pitchers don’t sign long term deals with their current teams, they would be around the same age Sabathia is now, or even a year or two younger.

Sabathia’s arm is sound and he should escape a major arm injury during his Yankee career, but if leg problems develop, Sabathia’s mechanics could change, possibly causing arm problems. Back in the 1937 All Star game, Dizzy Dean caught a line drive off the bat of Earl Averill on his posting (right) foot, which broke his big toe. Ol Diz tried to pitch on it, but pitching through the injury caused him to alter his delivery, and the change in mechanics caused Dean to hurt his arm, ending his Hall of Fame career.

Could a lower leg injury to Sabathia cause him to alter his mechanics, and force an arm injury? All reports about CC say he is a workout fiend, and under a Joe Girardi spring training, his conditioning should not be an issue. Sabathia is also a “gamer” (September 2008 is a good indication), bringing the weight (pun intended) of the team on his shoulders. Those types of competitors might not tell Yankee management if they are pitching through pain in his lower body.

When the Yankees gave Sabathia his physical on Wednesday, they probably checked out his left arm every which way, but the Yankees would be wise to have checked out his right leg, too. Monitoring his leg through the next three seasons would also be beneficial to Yankee success.