Sabathia would've undergone knee surgery if Yankees weren't contenders

CC Sabathia is taking his final pursuit of another World Series ring very seriously.

A right knee injury has hobbled the New York Yankees left-hander all year, and he's been placed on the injured list four times. His knee requires surgery that would have ended Sabathia's season early without his desire to keep playing.

"I think if this team wasn't in a position to win a championship, I probably would have had the surgery a long time ago," Sabathia told Dan Martin of the New York Post.

Sabathia has talked about undergoing knee replacement surgery once his career is over, according to Martin.

The 39-year-old is in the final season of his illustrious career, and he's been part of a dominant Yankees club that's dealt with the most individual injured players in league history. At 95-50, New York is competing with the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers for home-field advantage through the World Series.

Over 20 starts, Sabathia has logged 100 1/3 innings, authoring a 4.93 ERA and 5.96 FIP.

Along with Sabathia missing time, Luis Severino has been sidelined for the entire season, Troy Tulowitzki retired midseason due to injuries, and Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Edwin Encarnacion, Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, and many others have hit the IL.