CC Sabathia reveals biggest key for Yankees to sustain trade deadline momentum

The New York Yankees were given a second life on Thursday afternoon when Brian Cashman completed a transformative trade deadline, adding elite closers David Bednar and Camilo Doval, as well as electric project right-hander Jake Bird.

Somehow, still, they were given an immediate reality check on Friday evening in Miami, when Bird was unable to navigate a five-run lead and Bednar surrendered a backbreaking game-tying home run and tiebreaking run. Let this be a lesson to you: August 1 isn't the be all, end all. Now, you have to stay on the straight and narrow and actually deliver.

2009 World Series champion and newly minted Hall of Famer CC Sabathia could've told you that.

Sabathia caught up with Adam Weinrib of Yanks Go Yard on Friday afternoon at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, Illinois to react to the Yankees' infusion of talent, and remind every fan that there's still an unspoken checkpoint that must be met before they can be considered "revived".

Yankees legend CC Sabathia addresses New York's trade deadline pickups

"Hopefully, they can just stay healthy," Sabathia emphasized. "The pieces that they added into the bullpen are going to be great. If they can stay healthy, they can help 'em win."

That, of course, is not referring only to the bullpen imports, but to the straw who stirs the drink, Aaron Judge. Per reports, Judge and the team believe he'll return midway through this week as the Yankees' full-time designated hitter, beginning his return to swinging on Friday. This would be something akin to the best-case scenario, and is yet another reminder of all the bumps and bruises and lucky bounces that ultimately determine the result of an MLB season.

Brian Cashman put the pieces in place on Thursday afternoon. Now, it's up to those pieces to shake off their shocking early jitters, stay within themselves, and deliver to the level that every analyst knows they're capable of. Wonky things happen. Bumps in the road, though temporary, can feel insurmountable. But Sabathia, who switched sides midseason in 2008 and led the Milwaukee Brewers through the desert to the playoffs, knows the impact of an earth-shaking trade deadline as well as anyone. Shake the lumps off. Be what you can be. And, please, stay healthy. It just might work.