The Bronx Stop: A Yankees Blog

ESPN:

The New York Yankees and Andy Pettitte are close on a deal that will bring the veteran left-hander back for a year, Major League Baseball sources told Buster Olney on Monday.

The deal, sources told Olney, could be done as soon as Monday afternoon. It would pay Pettitte nearly $6 million, with incentives that could make it worth as much as $12 million.

Pettitte was 14-14 for the Yankees last season with a 4.54 ERA. He started 33 games. Pitching with a sore shoulder, he was 2-7 with a 6.23 ERA in his final 11 starts and missed his last turn of the season.
It was his second season back in New York after three seasons with the Houston Astros.

Pettitte began his career with the Yankees, pitching his first nine big league seasons in pinstripes. After last season, indications were that Pettitte and the Yankees wanted to make a deal, but were unable to come to terms on a dollar figure -- until talks heated up this weekend.

Pettitte earned $16 million last season.

If he signs, Pettitte would join a projected starting rotation featuring CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain.

Tonight is the arbitration deadline for free agents. The Yankees will extend arbitration to right-fielder Bobby Abreu. I have made it no secret here that I feel Bobby Abreu should be a part of this team in the near future. I really do hope he stays with us.

I see Abreu as one of the most reliable players on the entire Yankee roster. You know what you are getting with a guy like Bobby Abreu as far as offensive production (and contrary to what many think) he still has pretty decent defensive ability. Not bringing back Abreu would leave a big gap in that lineup and in the outfield.

Mark Feinsand/New York Daily News:

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Pettitte has been experiencing stiffness in his left arm, though it is unclear whether it is his shoulder or elbow that has been bothering him.

The issue could keep the lefthander from taking the mound on Sunday in Anaheim, which would force the Yankees to find yet another arm to fill a spot in the rotation.

Asked about that possibility, Pettitte told the Daily News that he still planned to pitch on Sunday.

"That hasn't even been discussed," Pettitte said. "Do I feel as good as I'd like to, no. But it's that time of year."

Still, the source said that the Yankees are discussing the issue internally leaving the possibility that Pettitte could be skipped.

Pettitte has been hit hard in each of his last two outings, giving up nine runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Angels on July 31 and five runs in five innings on Tuesday night against the Rangers.

Mark Feinsand/NY Daily News:

The New York Yankees bats made little noise Sunday. Andy Pettitte, however, certainly pumped up the volume afterward. With the Yankees seemingly already in All-Star break mode during Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays, Pettitte called out his team, and issued a challenge for the second half.

"If we want to make the playoffs, we have to be better," said Pettitte, who took the loss Sunday. "We stink right now for the most part. As a team, we've kind of stunk it up here lately, so we need to play better."

"We've got to find a way to put it all together for an extended period of time with our pitching and our hitting combined," Pettitte said. "It seems like right now, we're feast or famine."

It's going to be a tough task if the hitters continue their Jekyll-and-Hyde act. After scoring seven runs in four games from June 28-July 1, the Yankees erupted for 18 runs against Texas on July 2. They followed that up by scoring 20 runs in their next nine games before putting up nine on Saturday against the Jays.

"I think our offense is better than the way we've displayed," Yankee manager Joe Girardi said.

"We have 67 games to get it right."

Sweeny Murti of WFAN had a GREAT post after this afternoon's win in Baltimore that reminds you just how important a veteran like Andy Pettitte is to the Yankees young starting rotation.

(I shortened the article for length so you will want to read all of it by clicking here or following the link above or you will miss a lot of good Pettitte quotes).
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This could be worse.

Last year after 20 games: 8-12. This year after 20 games: 10-10. And by this time last year the Yankees had already used these starting pitchers: Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, Chase Wright, Jeff Karstens, and Darrell Rasner.

In the 20th game last year, Phil Hughes made his major league debut…still 2 months shy of his 21st birthday. Maybe I don’t need to keep reminding you how young Hughes (21) and Ian Kennedy (23) are. Maybe you don’t care because you figure if they’re pitching for the Yankees age is no excuse. You’re right to a certain extent, but their age and inexperience combine to form a reality that you can’t erase no matter how much you want to.

It’s easy to forget now about what the finished product looks like, but take a look back at Andy Pettitte’s rookie year of 1995. He got his first start on May 27th and he lost 6 of his first 9, getting run out in the 3rd inning against Texas on July 7th (a 10-0 loss). But Pettitte got better.

The Yankees went unbeaten in his next 5 starts with Pettitte pitching to a 2.02 ERA. He struggled some more after that. In back to back starts in late August, Pettitte lasted a total of 3.1 innings and gave up a total of 13 hits and 12 runs. Pettitte was 6-8 and the Yankees were 4 ½ games out of the Wild Card spot.

Then Pettitte won 6 of his last 7 starts, finished 12-9 and helped pitch the Yankees into the playoffs, his final victory coming on a Friday night in Toronto on the final weekend of the regular season.

That was the first run of pressure pitching Yankee fans had witnessed by Andy Pettitte, the kind we’ve all seen so much of since then and now almost take for granted.

So don’t think the Yankees are going to dump these guys like you dump pitchers off your fantasy teams.

The reality is the Yankees didn’t stick to their guns on not trading these guys in order to shuffle them out of the rotation three weeks into the season.

From Peter Abraham:

Andy Pettitte: 6 1 0 0 1 6. He threw 77 pitches.

Ian Kennedy: 5 4 0 0 1 5. No word on the pitch count. But he was supposed to be dialed back to 75 or so today.

“I threw 77 pitches, and that’s what I needed,” Pettitte said. “It’s exactly what I wanted to do. I feel great. Everything felt good today. Got a lot of work in. Did I have to get to 77 pitches today because I’m a little short and behind everybody? Yeah. I’m ready for my start and just looking forward to continuing to build my strength up.”

Legend: IP/Hits/Runs/Earned Runs/Walks/Strikeouts

Making his Grapefruit League debut against the Phillies, Andy Pettitte threw two scoreless innings in the Yankees' 7-7 tie on Sunday, enjoying a warm reception in New York's first home exhibition game against Major League competition.

"He didn't look sharp the first inning, and you don't expect him to the first time out," manager Joe Girardi said. "But the second inning, he looked really sharp. The sinker was outstanding and he mixed in a couple of curveballs and changeups. Everything was down.

Pettitte struck out one, walked one, picked off a runner with his trademark pick off move and induced an inning-ending double play in the first. He threw 13 of 21 pitches for strikes.

“All in all, I was real happy,” he said. “It definitely was a good day.”

Jason Giambi had four RBIs for the Yankees. He hit a three-run homer off Cole Hamels in the first and added an RBI double in the third.

Check out the box score in the posting below for more detail.

Thanks to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and Yahoo! Sports for contributing for this breakdown of the game.

First of all let me just say-- I do not believe what Andy Pettite did was right-- because it was far from it.

But I do feel that what just took place was the best way anyone could have possibly handled the situation he has found himself in. It took a lot of guts to get up and face one of the toughest media markets head on and tell the truth and admit his failures (without lawyers I might add).

Andy admitted what he did was wrong and never once tried to make excuses for it. I strongly believe Andy when he said that he did HGH to try and heal himself because he felt a strong obligation to contribute to his team after signing a contract worth millions of dollars. Andy could have easily gone into surgery and collected his check a la Carl Pavano, but he didn't. He chose to try something different under the advice of someone in whom he had trusted. Was it the right decision? Not even close. But can you blame him for wanting to be on the field and earn his money? I cannot.

And please, can we also remember that Andy Petitte was never accused of using anabolic steroids and only HGH. People who want to be gigantic and strong all while feeding their ego's do not take HGH; they take Winstrol, D-BOL and the numerous other designer steroids designed for that specific purpose . When people take these drugs they cycle with hormones designed to minimize the unwanted side effects that the anabolics cause, they research, they weight train and they do it for a lot longer than Andy Pettite ever did. Andy has never been a muscle head bent on gaining an entire new physique. He did it because he felt an obligation to his fans, his teammates, and the people signing his checks to do what he was getting paid to do-- throw strikes.

I can't blame Andy, but I also will never say what he did was right. We are all human--and we all make mistakes-- and if you don't believe me-- I challenge you to think of someone who hasn't. At least Andy was honest when he got caught.

He will make it through this. And we will still support him.

Peter Abraham has the audio from the entire press conference (Thanks, Pete):

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3251750&n8pe6c=2

I will be back with much more after the news conference.

Andy Pettite has released a statement acknowledging that he took Human Growth Hormone to help his injured elbow heal faster in 2oo2.

"I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow," Pettitte said. "I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone."

Thank you for admitting it Andy. We can all move on now. We still trust you.

"Rocket" Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite will reportedly be among the names of MLB players who have been accused of using steroids.

Brian McNamee, who worked for the Yankees and as a personal trainer for Clemens and Yankee teammate Andy Pettite, told investigators that on at least one occasion, Clemens was in possession of steroids from another supplier, the source said.

Not looking good for the Rocket's legacy...terrible stuff to hear...stay tuned as more develops...

Andy Pettite, who had considered retirement after the 2007 season ended, will return in 2008 to pitch for the New York Yankees the Houston Chronicle reported on Monday.

"Many teammates have called urging Andy to return as well as manager Joe Girardi," Hendricks said, according to the report. "It's well known that the Yankees have publicly stated that they were ready for Andy when Andy was ready."

Absolutely the best news for the New York Yankees since Alex Rodriguez decided to opt out and then opt back in.

Now the question is...what were Pettites motives for returning? Are we to believe that Andy has informed the Yankees not to trade away their young pitching staff, and has agreed to come back as a veteran anchor? Or should we think Pettite knows that Santana is coming to the Bronx and the Yankees will be making a very serious run at the 2008 World Series? Or maybe it was the $16 million dollar paycheck. We will soon find out.

Merry Christmas Yankee Fans!!!

I've been debating about posting all day now. There hasn't really been any new developments with Santana, and everyone is kind of stuck in neutral until the Winter Meetings kick off on Monday.

By now everyone has probably heard about Johnny Damons plans for being successful in 2008-- lots of naked pull-ups and a "loose clubhouse" atmosphere.

I am also sure everyone has probably read the stories about Posada basically calling out Yankee ownership to do whatever it takes to get Johan and I am trying not to read so much into that(besides- what veteran catcher wouldn't voice their opinion about wanting to catch for Johan Santana).

And you've also probably read the stories about Posada talking like Andy Pettite is going to retire (Pettites dad seems to think the same thing).

So where are we left? We have all of the free agents we wanted other than the Viz and Pettite. We need to start working on the bullpen but I am pretty confident Cash knows what he wants going into next week. So right now--we are just kind of waiting around for the Winter Meetings. I will keep you posted with more as it develops this weekend.

Go Yankees 2008!!!

It seems like nothing ever comes easy to the Yankees these days. The Yankee faithful are still waiting around for the three key pieces that will allow the team to move forward and look to 2008.

As far as Andy Pettite goes, I am sure he knows how much the Yankee Universe wants him back. Cashman will make this clear, the fans will make this clear, and I can imagine Andy's teammates will make this clear. We should just cross our fingers and give him some time.

As far as Mariano goes, Peter Abraham is reporting on LoHud Yankees that Mo and the Yankees are hopefully going to reach a deal sometime by Friday. The contract offer is supposedly around 3 years, 40 million dollars. If you must go higher, well then you go higher.

Jorgie is the mystery card here. Although, if you think about it it isn't really a mystery what Jorgie is thinking. At 12 million a year, Posada is 8th on the Yankee payroll. Jason Giambi makes all most twice what Jorgie makes. If I were him I would feel a little slighted as well. I mean, Carl Pavano is making only 2 million less a year and has pitched like 4 games for the Yanks. Jorgie is holding out so that he can get paid like the other key players on the New York Yankees. Can you blame him?

I think all the free agents should remember back to the times of Joltin' Joe when it was still about money- but more about the game of baseball. Joe held out from the Yankees because he thought he was worth more, but when it came right down to it the baseball got inside of him and he reconsidered.

In the words of Joltin' Joe Dimaggio himself:

"I kept holding out because I thought. I was right. But as the season approached I began to weaken.

Not because I had changed my mind about what I thought I was entitled to- but because the game gets into your blood.

When the Yankees dropped two out of three in Boston to the Red Sox, I decided that my place was with the club and that money no longer was the first consideration. So I called up the Colonel, and in five minutes everything was straightened out."

Hopefully, along the way our guys read that story and realize their home is in New York City and that once you have baseball in your blood, the best Band-Aid is pinstriped.

In this time of uncertainty, one thing is for sure- we'd be glad to have you back.

Andy Pettite has decided to decline his 16 million dollar player option and has become a free-agent. Pettite has issued a statement saying that if he did come back for the 2008 season, it would only be for the Yankees, so this decision just means that he needs to take more time to consider whether or not he wants to come back and commit to a full season of baseball again.

Here is the statement from his agent Randy Hendrick's:

"I have spoken with Brian Cashman, who has reiterated what Hank Steinbrenner said about the Yankees wanting to give Andy all the time he needs to decide about next season."

"Accordingly, we are declining to exercise the option for 2008 and Andy will declare free agency in order to free up a roster spot for the Yankees.

"If Andy decides to play, I am confident we can reach an agreement with the Yankees within 24 hours. The only options, as Andy has stated, are the Yankees or retirement. He appreciates the Yankees' willingness to give him the time he feels he needs. I do not expect him to make a decision for quite some time."

Give him some time...I still think he will be back.

Peter Abraham has audio directly from Cashman about Pettite's decision:

Peter Abraham is reporting on the LoHud Yankee's Blog that GM Brian Cashman has a "Good hunch" about Andy Pettite returning next year. Apparently, Mr. Abraham stopped him on the way into a dinner for the GM's and asked him if he had any news. Cashman replied that he didn't at the moment, but to check back later. Abraham then asked about Andy. Here is the conversation that the two had.

“What about Andy Pettitte?” Abraham asked.

“I have a good hunch,” Cashman said with a smile.

“C’mon, give me something,” Abraham shot back.

“It’s just a hunch,” Cashman said.

I hope Andy comes back. The Yankee's need him to anchor that rotation. Let's hope Cashman and Girardi can put the pressure on him to come and help out for another season.