Pettitte to Be Pinstriped Once Again

Today, Yankees GM Brian Cashman held a conference call with Andy Pettitte to announce the left-hander's re-signing with the club he's been with for 11 of his 14 major league seasons. Pettitte said that he really couldn't imagine playing for any other team and that he really wanted to open up the new Yankee Stadium. However, the main thing preventing the return, was money. The last two seasons, Pettitte has been paid $16mm. He was probably looking for about that this time around as well. However, the Yankees were not as lenient as they've been with him in the past. This was because of a couple things:

Number one, Pettitte didn't have his best year last year by any standards. In 2008, Pettitte went 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA. Also, one of Pettitte's key traits throughout his career, has been his effectiveness down the stretch. Well that also wasn't there last year, as after the all-star break, he went 5-7 with a disastrous 5.35 ERA.

The other reason was the fact that the Yankees really didn't have very much room financially. After investing over $400mm in contracts with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, the Yanks didn't really have very much money to work with. In fact, Brian Cashman even said that they really only had about $10mm left in the budget. Well it appears as though that $10mm (and possibly a little extra) will be going to Andy Pettitte as he signed an incentive-ladened contract with a base of about $5.5mm. If he reaches incentives (that could include innings reached and time on the roster), the deal could be worth about $12mm. 

The great thing this does for the Yankees (besides give them 'ol Andy back) is that it gives them great depth to what could be one of the best rotations in baseball. Before they signed Pettitte, it seemed as if the Yankees were prepared to put the 5th spot in the rotation up for grabs in Spring Training, with youngsters Phil Hughes, Dan Giese, Alfredo Aceves, and Phil Coke viewed as the favorites. However, that spot will now be given to Joba Chamberlain, as he slides into the 5th spot and gives the 4th hole to Pettitte. This gives the Yankees a rotation of: CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, and Joba Chamberlain. Pretty good if you ask me.