Andy Pettitte has not yet decided if he will exercise the $16 million option in his contract for 2008, but does seem set in his decision that if he plays for anyone in 2008, it will be for the Yankees. He reiterated that point yesterday to a Houston television channel, as reported in
Newsday:
"The New York Yankees committed an awful lot of money to me and put it in my hands, gave me a player option and trusted me with that option," Pettitte told KRIV Tuesday. "It probably wouldn't be real honorable for me not to do anything other than if I shut it down, shut it down or go back and play for the New York Yankees."
Is limiting his options to pitching in New York or nowhere really "honorable," or just a personal preference? If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd wonder if Pettitte was working in a little dig at
Alex Rodriguez. (Or not;
athletes do tend to like each other, you know ...) Of course, it's just as likely that the reason the Yankees gave him that option in the first place was because he gave them his word during negotiations last winter that he was set on finishing his career as a Yankee. I don't know if that's the case, but it wouldn't surprise me.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-31-2007 @ 4:36PM
Joel said...
"Of course, it's just as likely that the reason the Yankees gave him that option in the first place was because he gave them his word during negotiations last winter that he was set on finishing his career as a Yankee. I don't know if that's the case, but it wouldn't surprise me."
If that was the case, why wouldn't the Yankees have just given him a two-year contract with no option? If he decided to retire, I don't think the Yankees would be on the hook for the second year.
An option is an option. If you have a certain expectation that a player won't go elsewhere - put it in their contract.
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10-31-2007 @ 5:04PM
Baseball Memorabilia said...
He'll be back next year... without a doubt.
With Mariano staying in town and the big hitters also not packing their bags, why would he opt to stay home instead of collecting a check for $16 Million?
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10-31-2007 @ 5:28PM
Steve said...
Tell Pettitte you need him in '08 (they do). Tell him, he will be #1 in the rotation, to be followed by Wang, Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy. Give Rivera a two-year contract, so that Chamberlain becomes a starter as originally planned. This gives you four starters in their early 20's, with a proven veteran likely to win about 15 games.
The Yankees scored the most runs (968) in the ML in '07. If the above rotation performs as expected, and has no big problem with injuries, 825-850 runs should provide sufficient offense to win their division or be the wild-card. Remember, the Yankees scored 930 runs in '06, when Rodriguezs' run production was noticeably less (but still very good). Even without Rodriguez or even Posada, the Yankess still can score over five runs a game; they have that much offense coming back.
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10-31-2007 @ 5:37PM
Steve Gustafson said...
Reference my comments of the last 10 minutes, the Yankees would be wise to keep Posada. His production may not be what its been the last two years, but his handling of four young starters would be invaluable.
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