Sabathia feels cheated by Astros' scandal: 'I could've had a title'

Retired left-hander CC Sabathia had some harsh words for the Houston Astros and the sign-stealing scandal embroiling the club.

"As everything's been coming out, and the more facts that we get, it's getting frustrating, man, to sit here and know that late in my career, I could've had a title, maybe '17 or maybe '18, but we got cheated out of a team kind of doing something that's not within the rules of the game," Sabathia said on Showtime's "Inside the NFL," according to a transcript obtained by James Wagner of the New York Times.

The six-time All-Star played 19 major-league seasons and only played in one Fall Classic, winning his lone ring during his first year with the New York Yankees.

Sabathia was a member of the Yankees for 11 seasons from 2009-19, including when they were eliminated by Houston in the 2017 postseason. The Astros were found to have engaged in sign-stealing throughout that season and postseason en route to winning the World Series.

Alex Cora, said to be the "mastermind" behind the sign-stealing scheme, became the manager of the Boston Red Sox prior to their World Series-winning campaign in 2018. Sabathia and the Yankees were bounced by the Red Sox in the American League Division Series that year.

Sabathia also feels that more extreme measures would be welcome in regards to punishing the Astros.

"Maybe, yeah. I mean, why not?" he said when asked if the Astros' 2017 World Series title should be vacated. "Vacate it. I wouldn't be mad at that."