Return to Yankees "Doubtful" For Pettitte

I still think Andy will be back in pinstripes.

I don't think he will be back. I actually think Andy taking so long to make his mind up is a direct result to why the Yankees made the last minute offer to Teixeira and signed him. This was the Yankees plan all along. They had roughly 20 mil left to spend, and they could have used it on Andy and Cameron, or Tex.

If Andy would have accepted a month ago like he should have, the Yanks make the move for Cameron as well and Tex is in Boston.

Andy is one of my favorite pitchers, but I think if he doesnt accept the $10M, then its time to move on. While he's aYankee favorite, he didnt have that good of a year, and with his age, he's obviously declining in performance.

With the players we now have, the Yanks can be great on the trade market. Yanks can put together a package deal of Matsui, Kennedy, Melky and a prospect to the Padres for Peavy. The Padres said they are willing to keep Peavy for the beginning of the season, but you know they are desperate to get Peavy off their books. Yanks can take on Peavy's contract and a little of Matsui if needed. Kennedy & Melky's contracts are nothing.

Think about that rotation:
Sabathia, Peavy, Burnett, Wang, Hughes; Joba & Rivera as your 8th & 9th combo.

As much as I want to give Hughes a chance to be our 5th starter, it is hard to argue that we don't need Andy's innings. We aren't sure about AJ's health, Joba can go 150-160IP, ditto for Hughes. Yankees starting rotation is not going to stay healthy all 162 games.

You know what funny here? Roy oswalt volunteered to defer pay to help sign a pitcher or 2.

You wanna know how the Astros get competitive again instead of sucking, winning a bunch of games the end and getting a low draft pick and reaching for a player.
They could use this and sign Pettitte & Sheets.

Oswalt
Sheets
Rodriguez
Pettitte
Hampton

While nobody takes the astros serious right now, that rotation and marginal offense could get it done.

Bourn
Matsui
Berkman
Lee
Pence
Tejada
Blum
Towles
Pitcher

Not necessarily a bad lineup. Even above average up until you reach Blum/Boone that is.
*Berkman, Lee, Pence is a middle of the order I like personally.
*Only think keeping this lineup from being great is Bourn's inconsistency.

And that is how Gleb makes the Astros Relevant again.

I think Pettitte will be back. Lets give him some time, its the holidays and he's probably hanging with his family and not thinking about baseball. If he doesn't sign by New Years then we can expect the Yankees to look elsewhere. After the Teixera signing I would think he want to come back even more. He probably wants another chance at a championship. The overall free agent market seems to be moving really slowly anyway.

"Yanks can put together a package deal of Matsui, Kennedy, Melky and a prospect to the Padres for Peavy."

HA...HAHA. Seriously?! A package for Peavy STARTS with either Hughes or Joba. You don't give up spare parts (Matsui, Melky and Kennedy) for a premium ace. You give up at least an ace quality prospect in return - and those are Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. From there you have to include a high level outfield prospect (Jackson comes to mind) or someone like that catcher they have, his name escapes me.

In any case, you could not possibly get Peavy for that. The Padres were demanding tip top Braves prospects and you think you could get him for scraps?! You better learn more about baseball my friend.

But on to the topic itself. If Pettitte doesn't go back to the Yankees, I wouldn't mind having him on the Dodgers. His lines weren't too bad last year (for a 36 year old lefty in the AL Beast)
-14-14, 4.54 ERA, 204IP, 1.41WHIP

Considering he did that in the AL East, I'd say that isn't too shabby. He is a better, younger option than Randy Johnson (who is not guaranteed to give you more than 150IP), and in the NL West, his ERA should dip below 4.00, and he could win 15 if Manny is signed. Plus he is looking for a 2 year deal at the most, and nothing higher than around $10million annually. He knows Joe Torre, and loves him, and it would fill a big hole and add a lefty veteran we could use.

Colletti...please jump on this.

So having 14 wins, a 4.54 ERA, and over 200IP in the AL East is washed up? Then you can count multiple other pitchers in that category. For the Dodgers he'd be an ideal #4. Mike you just showed how poorly you understand the mechanics of baseball.

Having a 4.54 ERA in the AL East translates to around a 3.80-4.00 ERA in the NL West. At almost guaranteed 200 IP, I'd say what he is asking for (around $8-11 million) is a bargain for the Dodgers. And why would he need incentives? It's not like he is injured or anything. He's pitched over 200 innings for the last 4 seasons, and has done so 10 out of his 14 seasons in the majors. He isn't over the hill, last time I checked he's only about 1 year older than Derek Lowe, and he'd fit in with Joe Torre and Donny Baseball in LA just fine.

Dumb move, you need his innings

mrblake he wants 16m not 8-11m

If he wants $16 million I'm not buying then. I was assuming the price was hovering around where it should be ($8-12 million). My mistake. If he is asking that much then yes, bad deal.

Clay Hensley, Brandon Backe (in his second year back from Tommy John surgery), and possibly sign a guy like Chacon who won't choke out their GM. Signings like Aaron Boone, Clay Hensley, and Mike Hampton are clear indicators that Houston is not in a spending mode. People can say all they want that Carlos Lee is a bad signing, but Soriano could have been an even worse signing. Atleast "El Caballo" gives you your 25-30 home runs, clutch hitting, and a decent glove in a juice box for a left field.

at this point I want to hear some possible scenarios/rumors involving one of the Yankees expendable corner outfielders.

I heard the Braves were interested in Swisher before he was traded. Could a package including Swisher and Kennedy net a top prospect like Jordan Schafer from the Braves?

The Yankees have enough pitching now to make the postseason. What they have to ask is: would Pettite be needed to win in October? The answer is no.

IF they wanted to pursue another arm, only Peavy would make a difference in October...but he's not worth what the Padres are asking in youth talent.

Now the Red Sox can go after Pettitte and sign him. Last year the defense made mistakes and that's why his ERA went up. With the good defense we have he will be fine.

Money right he'll sign.

Im not a big fan of Pettite. But I still think the Yankees need to resign him. I like Phil Hughes. He'll be a good 2-4 starter one day. I would like Phil to be the 5th starter. The problem is hes not goin to get more than 10 or 11 wins. Pettite is a guarantee to get the Yankees 15. Also, Pettite has to follow up Chamberlin and got 7 innings. the pen is going to be overworked due to Chamberlin starts so they need Pettite to have a solid outing. Another thing, the Yankees rotation could easily see 2 injuries to it. Id rather see Hughes/Aceves be 6th and 7th starters than Aceves/Kennedy. Pettite may struggle, but if I were the Yankees I'll give him 12 million.

Bottom line - yanks need his innings. But you don't pay 16 mil just for innings! Understand the new market and come back. Everyone is taking a paycut in today's economy and Pettite should too. (unless he could throw like thte Andy of old, which he can't!)

So having 14 wins, a 4.54 ERA, and over 200IP in the AL East is washed up? Then you can count multiple other pitchers in that category. For the Dodgers he'd be an ideal #4. Mike you just showed how poorly you understand the mechanics of baseball.

Having a 4.54 ERA in the AL East translates to around a 3.80-4.00 ERA in the NL West. At almost guaranteed 200 IP, I'd say what he is asking for (around $8-11 million) is a bargain for the Dodgers. And why would he need incentives? It's not like he is injured or anything. He's pitched over 200 innings for the last 4 seasons, and has done so 10 out of his 14 seasons in the majors. He isn't over the hill, last time I checked he's only about 1 year older than Derek Lowe, and he'd fit in with Joe Torre and Donny Baseball in LA just fine.

Posted by: MrBlake14 | December 25, 2008 at 08:01 PM

Those were mediocre numbers for an entire season...

Pettitte is aging...

Pettitte was Putrid during the second half of the season getting hammered time and time again....

So the numbers are a bit misleading because he was so bad late in the year and at his age is a bad bet to improve in his late 30s...

Bright Red Flags and gambling on a Pettitte rebound is not something a cashless organization like the Dodgers should get into.

I'm a die hard yankee fan and I hope cashman and the steinbrenners aren't stupid enough to go into the season with 4 proven starters. If you can't sign pettitte, lowe or sheets then sign byrd or perez but don't go in with hughes as a #5. If AJ, Joba or Wang get hurt then we are in a similar position as last year. Wang got hurt 3/4 year, then Joba 1/4 year, that's one full year lost.
If I'm the yanks I sign pettitte and sheets and then when you have your one guaranteed injury joba goes into the starting rotation. And if all 5 stay healthy and joba stays in the bullpen the yanks win like 125 games.