One person familiar with Andy Pettitte's thinking described him yesterday as "50-50," torn between the Yankees and Astros. But the Yankees definitely are optimistic about their chances to land him and will go above and beyond in the negotiations to secure their former pitcher. Remember, also, the Astros did not offer Pettitte arbitration, so the Yankees will not have to give up their first round pick next year if they do sign him. In the new Yankee world run by Brian Cashman, that's important meaningful stuff. The talk of a one-year deal for as much as $15 million is legit.
Comments (25)
The Blockbuster the baseball world's been waiting for?! RAMIREZ TRADED FOR SORIANO!!!
The Mariners found a way to prop up a pitching rotation in desperate need of help, agreeing to trade hard-throwing reliever Rafael Soriano to Atlanta for left-hander Horacio Ramirez, several media outlets reported Wednesday.
:-) Hey, I wasn't lying...
Again gentlemen, the Yanks want cheap,young,promising, starting pitchers. We may sign Pettitte just to placate the "old guard", but our policy now is to cut the team payroll 1st, and win 2nd. Lilly really wanted to play for us, and would have definitely bolstered our weak staff, but the "bottom line" prevailed. Do you need any more proof that we have "fallen into shadow"?
Roy, that's absolutely rediculous. Winning comes first, ESPECIALLY for the Yankess. In the abstract, Lilly would have helped, but it's contracts like his (see Pavano/Wright 2 years ago) that hurt a team more than they help. The yanks want to win, and that means pitching, and right now, the top pitcher available is Andy Pettitte. And yes, I do believe that right now, for next season, Pettitte would be a better pitcher for the yanks than anyone else, including Zito. Well, maybe Clemens.
Roy: I must disagree with your thoughts. Cashman is trying to get the Yanks in position to win and correct contractural issues which plaque the Yanks. Yes, we have young promising pitchers about ready to contribute. What would we do with long term contracts of existing pitchers who may be spent or non-functional such as Pavano and RJ. Add more long term contracts. 2007 is the transition year.
let's not make ted lilly into more than he is ... a six-inning pitcher who taxes the bullpen.
pettitte aside, let's be patient and wait for hughes and perhaps humby sanchez to plug up the back end of the rotation come July.
getting pettitte, though, would provide a security blanket for the front end of the rotation. he takes the heat off moose and wang.
andy's an ace, even when his elbow is crying.
No reason to pull the trigger on Lilly. He is not that good of a pitcher to give a 4 year contract. He has never had more than 15 wins, he has never pitched over 200 innings in a season, and his ERA has always been over 4.
Pursue Pettitte for a 1 or 2 year deal and pay the man what he deserved to get before we ignored him and he went to the Stro's.
No reason to pull the trigger on Lilly. He is not that good of a pitcher to give a 4 year contract. He has never had more than 15 wins, he has never pitched over 200 innings in a season, and his ERA has always been over 4.
Pursue Pettitte for a 1 or 2 year deal and pay the man what he deserved to get before we ignored him and he went to the Stro's.
I still think Zito will be a Yankee
I've been reading these blogs and have noticed several people saying we ignored Andy 3 years ago so he went to the Astro's. We definetly did'nt ignore him! He wanted to go HOME!! There was nothing we could do about it. He actually took less money to go HOME!! Cash offered 39mil over 3 yrs. and he took 31mil for a true Hometown discount! He took 8mil less to be close to his family and Cash's hands were tied. I recall his agent trying to save face by saying Andy would stay if Yanks gave him 52mil for 3yrs. and so that's why he left. HOGWASH! He left to go HOME and be with his family. Who know's? It may turn out the same this time around. I hope not! I certainly want him back but only if he wants to come here. As another blogger said, maybe he's tired and had enough of HOME now. Maybe Laura is pushing him out because he's under her feet all day long for 3 long years. I'm hoping for the latter and wish him back to our HOME this time. We never wanted him to go and hope he comes back!!
Well I see we're all in acceptance mode now so let's move on from Lilly. I think he probably made the best move for himself as he won't have as much competition in the NL and could have decent success. He also won't have the stress of the playoffs to worry about so that's nice for him :)
We need Pettitte on this staff so we have three decent starters going into the postseason. As I said in an earlier post, RJ could be the wild card if he resembles the Arizona veresion of himself at all after recovering from surgery.
The Astros did not offer Pettitte arbitration because they did not think he was worth $15M per year, which they wouldv'e ended up paying. I think the Yanks will give him the money, contrary to what Roy thinks, and they'll be happy to do so. The only scary part is Andy has never been "all about the money" so he could go back to Houston for less. I think he wants to retire in a year or two and wants that Yankee legacy sewn up and what better way to do it then to come back and win another championship or two. This would be great for him as he could say "I told you so" to Yankee management for letting him go three years ago. I know he left on his own, and wanted to go home, but the Yanks had their chances back then. All he wanted was to be dealt with sooner than later and the Yanks felt he wasn't going anywhere so they put him on the back burner. Cash learned his lesson big time, just look at how this offseason has gone so far, they made Moose the number one priority and let him know that right from the start.
So come on back Andy, we've missed ya!
Paulie,
One thing that happened 3 years ago was that Pettitte wanted his contract sewn up before the season ended and he said he would test the market if it wasn't. Cashman told him "go bring me your best offer and I'll beat it", but by that time Andy felt like he wasn't important as the Yanks were signing other players and that's when the appealing idea of going home to Houston really set in. I know they couldn't have talked him into staying later on, but they had their shot early and hey, we all thought he would stay. I still remember reading the headline in the paper and thinking, "damn...I didn't think he would actually go".
Signing Pettitte and Meche gives the Yankees breathing room. The not knowings of Randy's back, Pavano's continuous brittle state, and whether Igawa can pitch in MLB is reason enough. If Philip Hughes or Humberto Sanchez arrive on the scene at mid-season then all that much the better as applied to the old adage of you can never have enough pitching.
Jim A.,
You definetly have a point! It is speculation but had they done something sooner with him he might have felt appreciated and the thought of going home never would have come into play. I do recall some feelings of betrayal by Andy so you are probably right!
It's important Cashman builds a predominantly left handed rotation. Pettite and Zito (at a reasonable price) would be excellent additions. Or, Cash could swing a trade for a lefty if some team wants Melky and prospects.
There seem to be conflicting reports this morning about whether or not the Yankees think Pettitte's interest in coming back to the Bronx is genuine or not. Personally, I think that Pettitte is a stand-up guy who wouldn't just be using the Yankees to get a better deal from Houston (and I doubt that would work anyway because they already know what a tight budget Houston is on.) Plus, look at the timing of Pettitte's announcement that he is pitching next year...it came just a few hours after Lilly announced he had narrowed his choices to the Yanks and Cubs (and just a few hours before the Yanks were supposed to meet with Lilly's agent.) Seems like that's way too much of a coincidence that he chose that precise day and time to say he was coming back for another year.
So all that being said, I truly believe Pettitte's interest in coming back to the Yanks is genuine and feel good about the chances of bringing him back.
In the end, he's going to stay in TEXAS!!! remember gentleman women rule our lives (well most of us). If DAVID STERN can replace a basketball because an owners WIFE advise him to, then PETTITETS WIFE will tell him to stay his punk ass home and pitch again for the astros. His wife was the main reason he went there in the first place.
Excuse me for the curse word remark, just trying to prove a point
Sorry to burst everyone's bubble-As much as I love Andy there is not a snowball's chance in hell he will come back. His agent just wants to get him top dollar-there is no state income tax in TX, so 15 million from the Yanks is basically the same as 12 million from the Astros. Plus, they are religious texan freaks, they aren't coming back to the big city-if that was the case he wouldn't have left in the first place.
This was the scene at the Pettitte's Home
after a long season and another brandon ridge pitch that went over the train decoy at The minute.
so at home his wife says " we'll were home next season will come.
So the next season the stros make it to the WS . only to be SWEPT from existence. the wife says Ohh we;ll cheer up. But were home.
the next season and no run support and DL and no championship Pettite coems home to a ohh sweety it's ok. Whaat?? woman i'm tired of the 2-1 losses in NY I had more Run support than social Security .
she says well stinky I'm bored too. i miss that Bronx Champaign, notthis 7/11 crap the stros use.
we'll we can end you bordom by marching the cannons of hero's woman, the kids are getting grown so that bedtime story mess is out the window.
I'm going back to NY woman
Brian Cashman does not want to lock up his rotation with 4 and 5 year contracts. Not with guys like Hughes, Humberto Sanchez, Chris Garcia, Joba Chamberlain and Tyler Clippard all within a year to two years away from being ready to join the rotation. If the Yankees signed Pettitte it would likely be a 1 year deal for around $15 mil. Is that a lot of money? Sure, it would make him the second highest paid member of the rotation behind Randy Johnson, but at the same time it would still ensure roster flexibility as both Pettitte and Johnson would be free agents after the 2007 season.
Giving Lilly or Meche four year deals will lock up those spot and block some of the young talent the Yankees have on the way up (who can remember the last time the Yankees could boast loads of young pitchers?)
Some other notes to keep in mind:
All these teams that are handing out insane money could very easily find themselves in the same situations that the Rangers and Phillies did with A-Rod and Abreu. A deal that looks good today may be a burden two years from now and come asking the Yankees to take the player off their hands while asking for very little back in return.
Also, with contracts spiraling out of control and his agent being Scott Boras, there is almost no chance that A-Rod won't opt out of his contract the same way JD Drew did.
Bronxbomber,I really enjoyed your blog funny stuff!....QUESTION ! Do you guys think the Yanks have the patience to wait till Dec.22 for Pettitte to decide,which is the date Pettittes agent has set,or did I miss something? 2 weeks away to find out if he wants a bite outta the Big Apple.
Mike,
They have churches in NY, plenty of them. Plus, God is a Yankee fan.
Ruse,
I think they'll wait. Even if they pick up someone via trade I think they'll keep looking at Andy no matter what. Only a real surprise trade would stop that from happening, Which you, me and a few others on this blog still see happening. I just can't shake the feeling that a big trade for a pitcher is coming.
ANdy - so woman you want church??
there is a place called st patty's cathedral and tons of christian churches through out . as for life stlye we can live in duchess county in the Boonies. I want a ring darnit
Pettitte or Zito or both will be Yankees within 8 days. The reason ? (1) they're both lefthanders (2) In the case of Pettitte the Chicago / Houston deal will be all the Astros will be able to spend (3) In the case of Zito he's the biggest prize of all Scott Boras' clients. (4) Boras will have to focus on a deal or no deal with Matsuzaka and his many other clients. Zito is the leverage guy.
Who cares if they gave him a couple of extra mil. Look at all the busted contracts they have and still have!!!!! Kevin brown,javy vazguez,jose contreras,jaret wright,carl pavano!!!!! They had to woo him away to leave home monument park here he comes July 1st wang,pettitte,mussina,clemens,johnson/igawa/hughes!!!!!!!!