YANKEES
Sabathia heads to rehab
NEW YORK — New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia is checking into an alcohol rehabilitation center and will miss the postseason.
The team issued a statement from the pitcher Monday, right before New York plays Houston today in the American League wild-card game. Sabathia, the 2007 AL Young Award winner, said he took the step to receive the care he needs and become the kind of person “I can be proud of.”
“I love baseball and I love my teammates like brothers, and I am also fully aware that I am leaving at a time when we should all be coming together for one last push toward the World Series,” he said. “It hurts me deeply to do this now, but I owe it to myself and to my family to get myself right. I want to take control of my disease, and I want to be a better man, father and player.”
Sabathia was 6-10 with a 4.73 ERA this year, slowed by his surgically repaired right knee. After returning from the disabled list and using a tighter brace, the 35-year-old left-hander was 2-1 with a 2.17 ERA in 5 starts and got the victory against Boston that week that clinched the Yankees’ return to the postseason following a two-year absence.
NATIONALS
Manager, staff fired
WASHINGTON — Manager Matt Williams was fired by the Washington Nationals on Monday after a season in which the team went from World Series favorite to failing to make the playoffs.
The club announced the move a day after finishing the regular season barely above .500 at 83-79, second to the New York Mets in the National League East.
Williams is gone after only two seasons in his first job as a major-league manager. Last year, he was voted NL Manager of the Year after the Nationals finished with the best record in the league. In February, the Nationals exercised his 2016 contract option.
But he presided over a 2015 season filled with defeats, discord and the embarrassing spectacle of a dugout dustup between NL MVP front-runner Bryce Harper and teammate Jonathan Papelbon during a game the day after the team was eliminated from playoff contention.
The Nationals also said Monday they will not renew the contracts of the seven members of Williams’ staff: bench coach Randy Knorr, pitching coach Steve McCatty, hitting coach Rick Schu, third base coach Bobby Henley, first base coach Tony Tarasco, bullpen coach Matt LeCroy and defensive coordinator Mark Weidemaier.
ANGELS
Eppler named new GM
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Billy Eppler is unafraid to take on an apparently perilous job as the Los Angeles Angels’ general manager alongside demanding owner Arte Moreno and Manager Mike Scioscia.
Eppler said that’s because he knows all about sky-high expectations in demanding organizations after 11 years with the New York Yankees.
The Angels introduced Eppler as their 12th general manager Monday, a day after their season ended. The club missed the postseason for the fifth time in six years.
CARDINALS
Molina will try to play
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina will try to play in the National League division series wearing a splint to protect his injured left thumb.
The All-Star catcher met with a hand specialist Monday and it was determined that a ligament injury hasn’t healed. He’ll test the splint in workouts the next few days.
Molina was hurt on Sept. 20 making a tag at the plate and hasn’t played since.
BREWERS
Five coaches fired
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers let five coaches go in what is likely the first step in the franchise’s offseason overhaul.
Only hitting coach Darnell Coles and third base coach Ed Sedar will return from the previous staff in 2016 under Manager Craig Counsell, who was hired in May following the firing of Ron Roenicke.
Pitching coach Rick Kranitz, first base coach Mike Guerrero, bench coach Jerry Narron, bullpen coach Lee Tunnell and coach John Shelby will not have their contracts renewed. Those coaches, along with Coles and Sedar, were holdovers from Roenicke’s staff.