Andy Pettitte Needs A Reality Check

Evening everyone. Hope the last few days have been kind to you. I've been swamped at work and since work is where I usually get my blogging in, I've fallen behind this week. I had to complete performance reviews for my staff of 22. They need to be complete by Sunday and I've known this for like 2 months, but that didn't stop me from waiting until the last 3 days to get them done. That's pretty much how I roll. But they're done, my schedule is clear, and I hope to get back to blogging daily. Let's catch up shall we?

For the most part it's been pretty quiet in Yankeeland. No major news to speak of. Andy Pettitte remains unsigned and I'm still fine with that. I read a few days ago at Ken Davidoff's blog that Andy wasn't too pleased with the Yankees. In my opinion, Andy needs to get over himself. Davidoff outlines 3 "grievances" Pettitte has with the Yankees, none of which have been mentioned by Pettitte himself, but rather from "people familiar with his thinking." So take these grievances for what they are, pure conjecture. Let's look at the supposed grievances:

1. Pettitte believes that the Yankees should display more appreciation for all that he has done for them.

Andy Pettitte has certainly done a lot for the Yankees. But why does appreciation have to mean paying him more than he's worth? In my opinion, the mere fact that the Yankees even offered him a deal is appreciation enough. They don't need him. They certainly can get by without him. But they're willing to bring him back anyway. Andy should be happy that he even received an offer.

2. While the Yankees are asking that Pettitte take a pay cut, the team clearly is not hurting financially, given its large investments in Teixeira, Sabathia, and Burnett.

Andy needs to understand that baseball is a business. As nice as it would be to give him whatever he wants, that's not how it works. Andy needs to realize that the Yankees don't need to sign him and that they have/had holes that they need/needed to fill and the dollars allocated to do that for the most part are gone. The goal of a business is to make money, or in the Yankees case, not to lose as much. It's doesn't make much sense to give away the farm just because you can. A point comes where it doesn't make fiscal sense to do a deal. That point is 10 million dollars. Take it or leave it.

3. Pettitte thinks that his 2008 season wasn't as bad as the Yankees are making it out to be.

I think Andy needs to get his vision checked, or maybe inject himself with a few more vials of HGH as it's rumored to help improve one's eyesight. Andy's season was by no means horrible, but by no means was it good. It was, by and large, average. He went 14-14, which is average. His ERA was 4.54, which was above the league average. Sorry, but a pitcher who loses as many games as he wins and has an ERA higher than the league average, DOESN'T DESERVE 16 MILLION DOLLARS! It's that simple. And besides, Andy's second-half performance was a huge factor in the Yankees finishing in 3rd place. The Yankess won their first 8 games after the All-star break and were within a few games behind the Rays and Red Sox. They quickly faded and Andy's 2-7 record in his last 11 starts did nothing to help the team's chances. His line over those last 11 starts was 65 innings pitched, 87 hits, 45 earned runs, 22 walks, 51 K, and a WHIP ratio of 2.03. His ERA was 6.23 over those 11 starts. Sorry Andy, but that is pretty bad. He's delusional if he thinks he's earned a 16 million dollar payday.

I think I'm most ticked because Andy said earlier in 2008 that it wasn't about the money and that he just wanted to pitch for the Yankees. It's starting to look like it is about the money and Andy is full of crap. I can't believe I'm so worked up over something that may or may not even be true, as again, this all comes from "people familiar with Andy's thinking." But I'm inclined to believe it because he would have accepted the Yankees' offer. I had planned to also write about the Yankees reported interest in dealing Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher, but my blood pressure is a little up after ranting about Pettitte, so I'm going to save that for tomorrow.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie