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Recently voted to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, former New York Yankees starting pitcher, CC Sabathia, was asked who the best player he has played with is during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. His answer was simple, saying it was Alex Rodriguez, with Roberto Alomar as a close second.
“A-Rod,” CC Sabathia said when asked about the best player he played with.
“Wow, that was quick,” Dan Patrick said.
“Oh yeah,” Sabathia replied. “I'll give Robbie Alomar a close second.”
Patrick quipped that Derek Jeter would be upset at Sabathia's answer, despite the fact that Jeter and Rodriguez work together on the FOX Sports broadcast for MLB games. Then, Sabathia went into why Rodriguez is at the top of his list, detailing that the talent combined with the IQ displayed during their time together with the Yankees gives him the nod.
“Obviously just the talent that you know, 6'3″, third baseman, shortstop at the time when I was coming up and third baseman at the time when I played with him, but his baseball IQ,” Sabathia said. “His IQ was off the charts, the way he watches the game. The way, you sit next to him on the bench and he'd be like, ‘Oh, we need to hit-and-run here. Oh, we need to double steal,' or, ‘Oh, this team is gonna do this.' He watches the game at a different level than we all watch the game and you know having a chance to play with him and having him at third base, there would be times when a guy would be coming up and he would be like, ‘Hey, you know, throw a changeup right here. This guy's swinging first pitch.' Or, you know, ‘This guy may be taking right here,' so he would be you know, just watching the game and the IQ and obviously putting the talent with that. You know, he was the bet player that I've ever got a chance to be up close to.”
Rodriguez, of course, is not liked by many due to his performance-enhancing-drug controversies. Still, there is no doubting his talent, and his passion for baseball is demonstrated through his broadcasting.
It is interesting that current Yankees captain, Aaron Judge, did not come up in the conversation. Sabathia played with Judge from 2016-2019, a stretch that includes Judge's incredible 2017 campaign. However, Judge's peak to this point in his career has been the past three seasons from 2022-2024, a stretch that took place after Sabathia's retirement in 2019. Given that, it is understandable that Judge did not make the cut, although he is likely towards the top of the list of Sabathia's teammates.
