CC Sabathia didn’t spend long in Milwaukee, but the connection clearly never faded. After the Brewers finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday to claim the World Series in five games, Sabathia was right there celebrating the moment with the franchise that once had him on its roster.
The former Brewers pitcher marked the occasion on social media with a message aimed straight at Milwaukee fans and the team’s long-awaited breakthrough. “World Series Champions for the first time ever!!
Soak it all in Milwaukee!!!” wrote the former Brewers star.
For Sabathia, the championship came long after his own run with the club ended. He won his lone World Series ring with the Yankees in 2009, but Milwaukee never got the chance to finish the job during his season there.
In 2008, the Brewers reached the postseason only to be knocked out by Philadelphia in the National League Division Series. The Phillies kept rolling from there and went on to win the title.
Sabathia’s lone season in Milwaukee was a massive one. The team brought him in from the Cleveland Guardians, then called the Indians, and he wasted no time delivering. In 17 starts, he posted a 1.65 ERA across 130.2 innings, a stretch that helped push Milwaukee into the National League Wild Card spot and back to October baseball.
The postseason, though, didn’t go the same way. In his only playoff appearance for the Brewers, Philadelphia chased him after 3.2 innings and five earned runs, turning the game into a 5-2 loss and putting Milwaukee in a tough spot in the series.
His time in Milwaukee still left a strong enough mark that the Brewers added him to their Wall of Honor earlier this year. After leaving in free agency, he signed a seven year, $161 million deal with the Yankees and eventually captured the only World Series championship of his career in New York.
Eighteen years after that brief Brewers chapter, Sabathia got to watch the franchise reach the top for the first time.
In Other News...
Brewers Already Have A Pitching Question After Their Title Run
The Brewers are not even far removed from their title run, and already there is an offseason layer to sort through on the pitching side. Dustin May was part of Milwaukees 2026 World Series-winning club after arriving from the St. Louis Cardinals, giving the rotation another arm during the stretch drive and postseason push. His year was a reminder of how quickly pitching depth can come and go, with a 4.70 ERA across 31 starts since 2025 while bouncing through four teams.
Jon Heyman reported that May has declined the mutual option on his contract for 2027, setting him up to reach free agency. The timing adds another wrinkle for Milwaukee, which now has to weigh whether a pitcher who helped during the championship season fits into the next phase of roster building, even as the front office moves from celebrating the trophy to planning for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
William Contreras Just Cemented His Place In Brewers History
The Brewers finally reached the top of the sport, and William Contreras was right in the middle of it from start to finish. Milwaukees catcher delivered a strong two-way series in the five-game win, supplying timely offense while handling the back end with the kind of steady work that has made him such a central figure for this club.
Contreras rise with Milwaukee has been quick since arriving in a three-team deal in December 2022, and this run only deepened his place in franchise history. The Brewers had never won a World Series before this fall, and now they have a title, a trophy and a catcher who was named the series most valuable player, leaving his already important role in Milwaukee looking even bigger going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Face Bigger Offseason Calls Than Fans Might Expect
Fresh off the first World Series title in franchise history, the Brewers are already moving into the kind of winter that can shape a contender for years. The baseball operations staff has a crowded calendar ahead, with option decisions, qualifying offers and arbitration deadlines all stacking up before a looming lockout adds another layer of urgency to the offseason.
The roster picture is complicated enough even before any outside market pressure comes into play, and the club has to sort through every corner of its 40-man group as it looks toward the 2027 season. Some of those calls are straightforward, while others carry more weight because they could influence how much flexibility Milwaukee has to keep the group together after a championship run. [Read more 🡒]