Pettitte, Yanks still chatting

January 23, 2009 by Benjamin Kabak 25 Comments

Pete Caldera reports that the Yanks and Andy Pettitte are still talking about 2009. The Yanks, however, do not believe that Pettitte will accept a one-year, $10.5-million deal. To me, in this economy, Pettitte is taking a gamble that just isn’t going to pan out. The news that he reportedly had a three-year deal in excess of $35 million was clearly false, and no other team that we know of has made the 36-year-old an offer. He should take the money and come back to the Bronx.

http://nyfaninboston.blogspot.com/ Manimal

He should take any money he can get. 10.5 mil for Andy in this economy is a lot.
http://www.stilettosetsports.com Mike

I second that. Time to stop holding out for more money, it’s not happening this year.
http://nyfaninboston.blogspot.com/ Manimal

Contrary to what we think of Pettitte’s year, Fangraphs has him valued at 20 million…
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
  
  That’s ridiculous. I understand where they’re coming from, but no one last year would have paid $20 million for Andy Pettitte and no one this year will pay even 50 % of $20 million for Andy Pettitte. There’s a utility in projecting cost, but a system that isn’t compensating for baseball reality or the reality of our current recession serves less of a purpose.
  - http://nyfaninboston.blogspot.com/ Manimal
    
    I agree, the pitching value is a little skewed IMO but the other one is spot on and very accurate. They hit gold with the fielding/hitting one but pitching isn’t really working out as well as I thought.
    
    20 million is blasphemy, but it still takes into account his stats for last year. He will be a very solid fifth pitcher, but he is not worth 20, or even 10 million.
    
    Either way, He has made 83 million dollars in his career(excluding endorsements and such). What would be the difference between 93 and 98? He and his children are set for life already, 5 million is nothing.
    - Ed
      
      I think the problem is they’re using FIP as the basis of their value.
      
      FIP is a good indicator for projecting how a person will do, and it can give an indication of how luck played into things. But it really has very little to do with how well the team actually did when you pitched. After all, the whole point of the stat is to factor out the other 8 guys on the field from your performance.
  - Ed
    
    And what impact do you see the recession having?
    
    I see salaries going up for any player that can create a bidding war for their services. I also see salaries going down in cases where there are more available players than teams with needs.
    
    That’s standard free market economics. If the recession was really impacting baseball, salaries would be down across the board. CC had another 9 figure offer, and Tex and Burnett both received similar offers from other teams, so it’s not like the Yankees are the only ones in a position to spend big bucks.
    
    So far, all the recession has done is provide an easy excuse for teams to justify not paying top dollar to flawed players without being questioned too hard about it.
Gary D

Andy is annoying me. The freaking Yankees have not sniffed the World Series for five years now and no championship in nearly a decade, so the least Andy could do is accept the $10 million in recognizion that he struggled mightily in 2008 and wants to help the team back to the promised land in a sparkling new stadium now. Many Yankees fans are out of work now. Come on Andy. You were always quoting scripture, well greed (a.k.a. avarice) is one of them seven deadlies. I’d give him one more week and all the while be courting Ben Sheets so Andy sees the fiscal light of day he clearly isn’t seeing right now.
- http://nyfaninboston.blogspot.com/ Manimal
  
  “one of them seven deadlies.”
  
  I LOL’d, I read that sentence in my mind with a southern accent.
  - Bruno
    
    lol
Reggie C.

Forget Pettitte. Sign Sheets now. New medical reports have surfaced that teams are poring over according to Cnnsi.com (heyman). The reports have new information that’s sparked “renewed interest”. Sign Sheets now while he’ll take 1 + 1 offer.
- thisisthedavid
  
  AGREED. but fucka 1 year offer. Lets lock the dude up for 2 or 3 years with some options! If 5 years of AJ Burnet was approved by the “brain trust.” how could they turn down a couple years of sheets exp if he is making less per year.
  - thisisthedavid
    
    plus we all know sheets can easily out pitch AJ (like he has so far in his shorter career) i think the nice folks who run this site proved that point
- The Evil Empire
  
  With all seriousness, do you think Cash plans on adding another bat, or do you think the lineup is set:
  
  Damon
  Jeter
  Teixeira *
  A Rod *
  Dunn *
  Posada
  Matsui DH
  Nady
  Cano
  
  or
  
  Damon
  Jeter
  A Rod*
  Manny*
  Teixeira *
  Matsui DH
  Posada
  Nady
  Cano
  
  Do you think we might pick up that extra bat?
  - Reggie C.
    
    Personally, i’d rather see Cash go for Sheets on a 1+1. I do think the lineup is set. Cash isn’t going to get the prospect or pitcher he wants from a Nady/Swisher trade unless other pieces are added.
    
    It’ll either be Pettitte or Sheets. Finish off a great off-season and sign Sheets..
http://rsaM301522 raysam

GO GET MANNY AND SHEETS WORLD SERIES NO 27
chris

pettitte is a bum
pull the offer
i’d rather throw 10,000,000 into a bonfire than sign this cheating bible thumper
- chris
  
  couldn’t have said it better myself chris
steve (different one)

if they are still chatting, then does anyone think it won’t get done?

it already sounds like they’ve moved their offer up $500K.

sounds like the beginning of a compromise.
gio

PLEASE STOPPPPPP WITH THE DUNN TO THE YANKS TALK.

Thanks.
LiveFromNewYork

Could someone please play me 10.5 mil to be mediocre at my job?
Jay

I would also vastly prefer Sheets to not-so-dandy Andy. If Cashman pays Pettitte anything close to $10 million without performance clauses that make him earn it, I’ll give up on him as being not only an awful negotiator, but a stupid one, too.

I know that Cashman has information we don’t have. But that information has never seemed to help him make a good decision with respect to a pitcher EVER — not ONCE. On the other hand, if Pettitte returns to what he used to be before the horrible Pettitte after the All Star Break in 2008, I’ll give Cashman his due. Otherwise, I’ll have to give up on him — and perhaps even the Yankees — as too painfully stupid to watch.

I don’t like the Red Sox. But you have to acknowledge that they’re run far more intelligently. They consistently make far better decisions. And they understand that you can create a negative value for any player in the world — no matter how talented he is — by simply overpaying him. And likewise, you can make any player worth a lot more by signing him to a favorable contract — especially given the luxury tax.

If Cashman signs Pettitte and he is what I expect him to be, I think I’ll have no choice but to view the Yankees as being terminally stupid — like a modern-day Goliath — a team that’s more fun to root against and essentially impossible to root for.
Tom

I think Andy is being Greedy to be honest. He isn’t the pitcher he once was and should be honored the Yankees offered him anything at all.

NO MANNY, NO WAY.

Lineup is set:
Damon
Jeter
Tex
Arod
Matsui
Posada
Nady
Cano
Swisher/Melky

CC
Wang
Burnett
Joba
Hughes/Pettite
http://www.mrdana.com Dana

A fan for 60 years. Manny will make everybody better put him behind Arod and add 10 more home runs to Arod I have never seen a player who has hurt the Yankees more than Manny. And in the playoff i’ll put my money on Manny. Thanks you all.
toad

Personally, I’m getting very tired of this soap opera.

Is it really the case that, despite all the hype about how great the Yankees’ top-level pitching prospects are, they don’t think there’s a decent #5 starter in the bunch? Then what’s going on? Is the objective just to have the best pitching staff ever at the AAA level?

Come on. The only way to find out who can succeed in the majors is to let them try. Not all the pitch counts and projections and whatnot in the world are going to give the answer.