BREAKING NEWS: Pettitte declines option (updated)

[TKF]

losing andy will hurt more than A-rod, Andy held that pitching staff together last year and gave us along with hughes professional performances in the post season.... I have had enough with A-rod...

[cmaff051]

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I don't think you can compare the two situations. Replacing a manager is much easier than replacing a big game pitcher.

George has wanted Joe Torre gone for some time.

The Yankees have wanted Andy back since he signed with Houston.

I have no doubts that if Andy wants another year, he will get it. If we overpay for Mo & Po, how can we not give Andy another year? The front office realizes that Andy was the only big game pitcher we had last year & was relatively injury free last season. Why wouldn't they want him back?

I'm tired of the big game moniker, Andy Pettitte has pitched some big games, but he's also had some clunkers... just because he had a very good performance against Cleveland doesn't mean we should be unreasonable. Let's analyze the situation here, Mussina has always been a better pitcher than Pettitte. Pettite is getting up there with age, just like Mussina had when we gave him his new contract. We gave Mussina a 2 year deal coming off a terrific year in 2006. And grandpa time finally hit Mussina after years of excellence and he had a mediocre year last year. Who is to say if we give Andy a 2 year deal we don't end up regretting it ala Mussina? Schilling is about to get a one year deal from Boston, that is what Andy should get. If not, he should take a hike...

Yes, it will hurt to let Andy go if he wants a 2-3 year deal... we may struggle next year... but nothing is worse than paying a guy $15 million a year to have a 5.00 ERA in 2009....

It's just not wise to give a multi-year deal to a guy who is in his late 30s, has elbow problems and who is not even a power pitcher.

[VinnyTheMick]

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I'm tired of the big game moniker, Andy Pettitte has pitched some big games, but he's also had some clunkers... just because he had a very good performance against Cleveland doesn't mean we should be unreasonable. Let's analyze the situation here, Mussina has always been a better pitcher than Pettitte. Pettite is getting up there with age, just like Mussina had when we gave him his new contract. We gave Mussina a 2 year deal coming off a terrific year in 2006. And grandpa time finally hit Mussina after years of excellence and he had a mediocre year last year. Who is to say if we give Andy a 2 year deal we don't end up regretting it ala Mussina? Schilling is about to get a one year deal from Boston, that is what Andy should get. If not, he should take a hike...

Yes, it will hurt to let Andy go if he wants a 2-3 year deal... we may struggle next year... but nothing is worse than paying a guy $15 million a year to have a 5.00 ERA in 2009....

It's just not wise to give a multi-year deal to a guy who is in his late 30s, has elbow problems and who is not even a power pitcher.

Moose had a great 06? He had a decent 06. He started out great but it didn't last. & how many big games has Mussina ever pitched in pinstripes? One? We can make a list of big games that both pitchers have blown & I will bet the farm that Moose's f_ckups outnumber Pettitte's times 2.

& Schilling is 6 years older than Andy.

[cmaff051]

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Moose had a great 06? He had a decent 06. He started out great but it didn't last. & how many big games has Mussina ever pitched in pinstripes? One? We can make a list of big games that both pitchers have blown & I will bet the farm that Moose's f_ckups outnumber Pettitte's times 2.

& Schilling is 6 years older than Andy.

Mussina had a 3.51 ERA in 2006. He was the 4th best pitcher in the AL if you use ERA as a benchmark. Any way you want to quantify it, he had a terrific year in 2006... better than Pettitte's 2007. And we see how quickly he lost it this year. Same thing could happen to Pettitte. Maybe you have forgotten but Pettitte's elbow was hanging on a string all year. Maybe you have forgotten but Andy has chronic elbow problems. Maybe you have forgotten but Andy has lost a good amount of velocity on his fastball. Maybe you have forgotten but Andy's K/9 is the worst of his career.

This isn't about big games, who cares about big games, that's not a way to quantify a pitcher. For every big game Andy has had, he's had an equally bad game. Just for reference, Mussina has a career 3.42 postseason ERA while Pettitte has a career 3.96 ERA. But don't let facts get in the way of a good rant...

Hey, Jeff Suppan has pitched big games before, why not sign him to a 5/55 million dollar deal since that's apparently your benchmark for why a pitcher should be signed...

I can tell you right now that if Andy Pettitte gets a multi-year deal we will end up regretting it during the tail end of the contract. Who cares if he was a big game pitcher in his past if he is sporting a 5.25 ERA in 2009...

[Pharmcat]

andy is not looking for a multi yr deal, if he decides to go back: he'll do it on a yearly basis so he can assess his physical and emotional status after the season to decide if he wants to pitch more or not

plus, like his agent said, prolly take 24 hrs to hammer out the deal, im pretty sure itd take longer to get a multi yr deal done

[cmaff051]

andy is not looking for a multi yr deal, if he decides to go back: he'll do it on a yearly basis so he can assess his physical and emotional status after the season to decide if he wants to pitch more or not

plus, like his agent said, prolly take 24 hrs to hammer out the deal, im pretty sure itd take longer to get a multi yr deal done

How do you know Andy isn't looking for a multi-year deal? That's pretty naive to think like that... why wouldn't he want a multi-year deal with the way the market is? Come on, give me a break, if his elbow feels healthy he isn't going to just leave money on the table. I wouldn't be suprised if him declining his option is him trying to create leverage to get a multi-year deal... Yankee fans try to portray Pettitte as a saint but the reality is that he sees - and values - dollar signs just as much as Arod does, he just doesn't have the intristic value to other teams that Arod does.

[VinnyTheMick]

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This isn't about big games, who cares about big games, that's not a way to quantify a pitcher. For every big game Andy has had, he's had an equally bad game. Just for reference, Mussina has a career 3.42 postseason ERA while Pettitte has a career 3.96 ERA. But don't let facts get in the way of a good rant...

Hey, Jeff Suppan has pitched big games before, why not sign him to a 5/55 million dollar deal since that's apparently your benchmark for why a pitcher should be signed...

I can tell you right now that if Andy Pettitte gets a multi-year deal we will end up regretting it during the tail end of the contract. Who cares if he was a big game pitcher in his past if he is sporting a 5.25 ERA in 2009...

Clearly, I want to sign Suppan because I love Andy's big game reputation. You hit the nail right on the head.

[cmaff051]

Cash sheds more light on the issue

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/

Brian Cashman expanded a little on his thoughts about Andy Pettitte.

He thinks that if Pettitte had to decide now, he would retire. So the Yankees granting him time to make a decision only makes sense.