Pettitte Is Back In The Fold

In what could be the last move the Yankees make this offseason, the Yankees and Andy Pettitte have agreed to a 1-year deal, reportedly for a guaranteed 5 and a half million dollars plus incentives, which could bring the total deal up to about $12 mill.

I have mixed emotions about the signing, but only because of how long it took Pettitte to realize that he wasn't worth nearly as much as he thought he was. I am pleased that he's back at the terms listed above. $5.5 million doesn't impact the payroll too much and it will likely still come in under what it was last year. And if Andy can pitch like he thinks he can, he'll get the money he was looking for. I'm glad the Yankees are making him earn it. After his abysmal 2nd half last year, he needs to reprove himself, at least he does in my eyes. I still think a lot of the team's 2nd half meltdown had a lot to do with Andy. I know he only gets the ball once every 5 days, but what he did on the days he pitched didn't do anything to help the team. He flat out sucked.

This signing basically completes the rotation and pretty much puts an end to any other signings. We're looking at an Opening Day rotation of CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, and Andy Pettitte. Not too shabby. I'd put it up there as one of the best in the league. You can never have enough starting pitching. The Yanks will have a few arms waiting in the wings in Phil Hughes, Alfredo Aceves, and even Ian Kennedy If they decide to go forward with having Phil Coke work out as a SP, he's an option also. That's a lot of depth and that's good. Joba isn't going to start 30 games so they'll need someone to fill those innings.

Pitchers and catchers in a little more than 2 weeks. Baseball is almost back folks. Baseball is almost back!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie