Yankees News: CC Sabathia Will Retire If Team Wins 2018 World Series

New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia plans to retire if the team wins the World Series in 2018.

"I want one more parade and pretty sure that will be it," he told George A. King III of the New York Post. "I thought I had it last year."

He added that he would have called it quits last year if the team had won a title. The Yankees lost in seven games to the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.

"That's what you play for," he said of winning another ring before retiring to spend time with his family. "But you got to get it first."      

The Yankees and Sabathia last won a World Series in 2009 and haven't been back since. 

"You always want that feeling. It feels like 20 seasons [ago]," he said of that 2009 conquest. "That's all you play for."

"That's the only thing you think of after you win the first one. You think about the next one," he continued. "Everyone around here is itching for the next one."

The Yankees have certainly built a team capable of competing for that next title. They have opened the season 24-10—the second-best record in MLB behind only the Boston Red Sox (25-9)—with a lineup featuring superstar sluggers such as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

Sabathia has done his part, meanwhile, going 2-0 with a 1.39 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 23 strikeouts in 32.1 innings. After a few choppy years, the 37-year-old has been a steady presence over the past three seasons, remaining an integral part of the rotation and one of the reasons the Yankees could return to the Fall Classic this campaign.