It sounds like his days as a Yankee are indeed over. Sad to see things go down this way.Andy Pettitte's chances to return to the Yankees have dropped precipitously because in the aftermath of the Mark Teixeira signing the organization is now strongly inclined to lower the $10 million offer that the lefty already has been resistant to all offseason, the Post has learned.
Pettitte recently rejected the Yankees' latest $10 million overture, and now - barring a wave of sentimentality by the Yanks or significant change of strategy by either side - that dollar figure very likely will not be offered again.
Multiple sources refused to divulge if the offer had been lowered already. But one executive briefed on the matter described both the chances of making a deal and the $10 million bid as on life support. Another executive said he did not believe that the $10 million offer was there to be taken any longer. A lowered offer almost certainly would assure the end of the prideful Pettitte's second tour with the Yankees.
Here are some quotes about Pettitte from Brian Cashman:
I'm very surprised to see how this whole thing has played out. I really thought Pettitte would swallow his pride and sign the $10 million deal to make one more run at a ring with the Yanks."I know there are reports right now, but it's better stated so far that he hasn't accepted an offer," Cashman said on the YES Network after Mark Teixeira's press conference.
"That's just the way the negotiation process has gone. It's not any different than anybody else's. Because of who he is, how special he is and how important he has been to this town it does a play a lot louder and it can play out this way."
"We've done a lot this Winter and right now it is a strong possibility that this is the team we're going to go with into Spring Training," Cashman said. "At the same time we have stayed engaged with obviously people that are of interest with us. It doesn't mean that Andy isn't going to pitch with the Yankees in '09 and it doesn't mean that something can change and he will pitch with the Yankees next year."
Andy is really screwing up big time. He should understand that in the end his legacy is worth a lot more than a few million dollars, especially when he's already made $108,082,416 during his career.
24 Comments:
Enough of this sentimentality. Does anyone believe Pettitte is 20 times better than Hughes or Kennedy (both around $500K)?
The Yanks would be so much better off either investing the extra $ in Adam Dunn (a lock for 40 HR, 100 RBI).
Also, where will the Yankees get any speed, esp. if Gardner doesn't start? What about trading Matsui straight up for Juan Pierre -- good for 40 SB and a great clubhouse presence.
Of course he's not 20 times better than those two, but it's not about that. The Yankees need a pitcher who can eat innings, and Andy Pettitte does that. If they don't go with Andy they'll still be fine, but it would be nice to have a veteran like him at the back end of that rotation.
As for Adam Dunn, I highly doubt they're going to go after him. Matsui is the Yanks' everyday DH and he's pretty much untradable, especially to an NL team. He's useless defensively.
Offensively I think this is the team they're going to have when the season starts.
You know, I don't think there are any guarantees that Petitte will be an innings eater this year. First off he had arm problems last year, and prior to that with the Astros. Second, his second half last season seems like the true indicator of where he's headed, in which case he wouldn't be getting out of the fourth or fifth inning most nights. Andy was fortunate to get a $10 million dollar offer, from any team. I was already sour toward Andy after he left for Houston, even thought the Yanks offered him more money. I hated the way he, and the press made the Yankees out to be the big bad wolf. Now he's just cemented himself as ungrateful in my eyes. After all his hollow words about wanting to "be a Yankee" and how "we know him here." I'll be happy to see him go, if that's the case.
His arm injury wasn't something that should linger, if it was the Yankees wouldn't have the interest in him that they do. Look at how fearful they are about giving a guy like Ben Sheets a two-year deal.
I also don't think his second half last year is an indication of anything besides his abbreviated offseason/arm problem caught up with him.
As far as the rest of what you said I can't really disagree.
Here is what the Yankees and Pettitte should agree to. It saves face for both sides. The Yankees give him his $10 million contract and then give him $1 million for every win over 15 games. So, if he wins 18 games, he gets $13 million, 20 games, $15 million. None of us think that will happen, but we also wouldn't mind if it did...Incentives are the KEY. On the otherhand, I still am completely indifferent on this signing. I still like the idea of the young pitchers grinding it out in spring training for the fifth spot...healthy competition builds toughness and gamesmanship.
Pettitte is at the tail-end of a great (mostly) Yankee career. If the Yanks are dying to spend $10M on a lefty, Oliver Perez is a better bet. Their 2008 numbers are similar but they're headed in different directions.
On the other hand, I'd like Hank and Hal to worry about my money as much as I worry about theirs.
Andy has been one of my favorites, but this whole process and the HGH mess from last year has left a really bad taste in my mouth. Seeing how this soap opera has played out to this point gives me a new appreciation for Tim Wakefield. He's been on a 1 year, $4 mm deal with a club option for what seems like an eternity. He seems to genuinely enjoy playing in Boston and would gladly hang it up if they told him they thought he's done. I can't remember the last time (if ever) the Yanks got a "hometown discount."
FOX Sports is reporting the Yankees have signed SS Angel Berroa and outfielder John Rodriguez.
Jeff,
You really want Oliver Perez? Besides one good year and one decent year he's been awful. Plus, they'd have to give him a long-term deal. I don't want to see the Yanks lock themselves into another long-term deal with a pitcher.
I'd much rather them stick with Hughes, Coke, Kennedy, or Aceves than sign Perez.
Juan Pierre is horrendous... Perez just isn't worthy of a Yankee rotation spot... Hughes it is...
Thanks for the head's up YankeeBoy. I just posted it.
To decline a $10M offer means one thing and one thing only - Pettitte feels that a $10M deal is insulting. There's no way around it. For all the quotes he said that Greg posted from back in September, for a guy to quibble over the difference between a career making $115M vs. $117M means that he's insulted and nothing more.
If it was about money, like... actually about money, then he'd take the deal, because $10M is much greater than zero dollars. Clearly he just doesn't want to be insulted with this $10M deal.
I wish all of us fans, who spend a good chunk of our hard earned money on Yankee hats, jerseys, tickets, etc, had the opportunity to be insulted by $10M.
The funny thing is that considering the current market for aging players who are now average players, $10M is an incredibly fair offer to Pettitte. In fact, it's probably either in line with his market value or even perhaps a bit above it for a 37 year old coming off his worst year.
I always appreciated the way Andy seemed to be open and honest, and seemed to put the team first. But right now, he's about as far from team first as it gets.
I agree completely Pinstripes.
Oh, by the way... Matsui for JUAN PIERRE? Come on man. Stolen bases can't compensate for the fact that the guy is an awful ball player. If Matsui stays healthy, he'll put up a .375+ OBP and drive in 100 runs. Juan Pierre couldn't compensate for that kind of production with stolen bases. Plus, someone needs to protect Alex and Tex, and if Posada can't catch on a semi-everyday basis, Matsui is going to be a critical guy in the lineup.
People seem to forget how good of a hitter Matsui is. He's capable of high OBP, he's a good contact hitter, and he does well against lefty pitchers. He had an OPS+ over 120 for 4 straight seasons until last year when his knees caused the inconsistancy.
He had one knee fixed in 07, and now after this season he had the other fixed up. If he can DH on a regular basis, and his knees hold up, he'll drive in 100 runs. You can't replace that type of production and protection in the lineup, and definitely not with Juan Pierre and his pathetic .330 OBP. Brett Gardner on a bad day is better than Juan Pierre.
Truth is, not everybody can take a 37.5 percent paycut.
Especially when you have four kids’ college fund to think about in this unrelenting tide of economic recession.
And don’t forget Andy still gave this team 14 wins with a sore shoulder.
You don't think Andy Pettitte can survive on $10 million?
I could understand if he made $50,000 and was taking a 37.5% pay cut, but this is $10 million we're talking about.
It's not only about the money.
It's about the feeling, too.
That 62.5% offer simply reminds me of the Torre Incident last year.
OK, I'll give you that.
Raven King, Pettitte WAS 1 of my fav true yankees, he's nothing but a bum now, who stood by him @ the press conference when he admitted to cheating, I'll give you a few to look it up, yeah it was Cashman, Jeter, Mo, & posada, let em walk, he thinks way to highly of himself, he has 215 wins, i was hoping he'd play 2 more seasons & get close to 250, but now, i hope he just goes away....
"It's not only about the money.
It's about the feeling, too.
That 62.5% offer simply reminds me of the Torre Incident last year."
So you're telling me you can never take a pay cut? That every year a player must make more money than the previous year, regardless of how old they are getting or how poorly they performed?
14 wins is a poor indicator of just how bad Pettitte was last year. He was a below league average pitcher, and lost 14 games. He lead the team in losses.
And I hope you're being sarcastic about the college thing. $110M, even after taxes, is enough to put 1,000 kids through college. Even at $100,000 a piece, 100 college educations would only cost $10 million.
This is NOT about money. He's got more money than he knows what to do with. And if he DOESN'T have enough money after all the money he's made, then he's in trouble because he's playing himself out of $10M.
To me, you don't get paid for what you did in the past. He already got paid handsomely for what he did in the past. Right now, he's probably not worth 10M, and unless he'd improve in 2009 vs. what he did last year, he's not worth half of $5M.
And you say he won 14 games with shoulder problems, who says those are gone? Who says they won't rear up again, especially at his age?
Again, I've said before I want him back, as I think a veteran presence would be good, however this is just ludicrous.
This garbage about being disrespected because you're being offered "only" $10M is a joke. This is not a police officer or a firefighter we're talking about. It's baseball. Pettitte is clearly on the downside of his career, reaching the age where most pitchers break down, and would make $10M when there are literally dozens of better pitchers out there making less money. How that's an insult is beyond me. I guess I'm just not that egotistical.
Nobody would think Pettitte is weak or pathetic or a loser for taking $10M from the Yankees.
Forgot to add that Wakefield has been a very comparable pitcher to Pettitte over the past few years, and he's got a perpetual $4M per season team option with the Red Sox. You never hear a peep out of him about money. FOUR MILLION dollars he gets every single year, year after year. Pettitte got $16M last year, and $16M the year before. That's 32M over two seasons of putting up a 110 and 98 ERA+, while Wakefield got $8M over that same time and put up a 100 and a 112 ERA+.
I'm sick sick sick of this crap about how the Yankees "owe" it to Pettitte just because they can afford it. What are the Yankees supposed to do? Just throw money at a guy who doesn't earn it? Sure why not. Pay him $20M. He needs a raise. What would that do to the Yankees future bargaining power? What happens when Wang becomes a free agent? I can just imagine his agent now. It's got to stop somewhere, no matter what a guy means to the franchise.
Players take reasonable offers from their "home team" all the time. Why is it that the Yankees have to pay more than what a player is worth just because we're the Yankees?
4 Boston starters:
Josh Beckett ($10.5M)
Daisuke Matsuzaka ($8M)
Jon Lester (~500k)
Tim Wakefield ($4M)
We're supposed to give Pettitte more than $10M why exactly? Because he was here in 96-2000?
-sigh-
We know Pettitte screwed up once ("controlled substance" issue), so I'm not surprised he's screwing up again. I don't care about what he has done for the team over the years (I even recall sitting in my living room in Tennessee when I could still get WPIX on my "big dish" watching a Yankee game toward the end of the season--1995 I think--and seeing him pitch quite well), for right now he's a bum. Good-bye, Pettitte. Go see you're buddy from Texas and hang out with him.
Mike
The Steinbrenners'll deeply appreciate all you enthusiastic budget control experts' free service.
I don't think players have to show their loyalty to their team by accepting paycut.
I don't think it's OK for owners to use "loyalty" as an excuse to cut down players' salary.
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