Pettitte might be out after spending spree
The Yankees have no regrets about their December spending spree, a source told Newsday, despite criticism from other clubs. But their offseason pickups might be done, perhaps leaving no room for Andy Pettitte.
The Yankees have no regrets about their December spending spree, a source told
Newsday
, despite criticism from other clubs. But their offseason pickups might be done, perhaps leaving no room for
Andy Pettitte
.
The Yankees are comfortable with their outlay of $423.5 million for Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, the source said, for several reasons. They believe they got the best players on the market and ones who filled true needs. They had massive payroll coming off the books in the form of Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina, Pettitte and Carl Pavano, and even after the three big additions, their 2009 payroll should be slightly below that of 2008. And finally, the Yankees pay a luxury tax to other teams and share revenue, and are well within baseball rules to spend as they choose.
Still, even the Yankees have limits. As of midday Wednesday, a final decision had not been made on whether the 1-year, $10 million contract offer to Pettitte still was on the table. An inside source said the Yankees at that point were inclined to stick with their team as is.
Pettitte has had that contract offer from the Yankees since early November. Although he said all season that he wants to return to the Yankees in 2009 and pitch at the new Yankee Stadium, he has adamantly held out in hopes of taking a smaller pay cut from the $16 million he earned in 2008.
At the winter meetings and also at last week's news conference introducing Sabathia and Burnett, general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi said they hoped a return could be worked out.
But Pettitte, 36, might have waited too long to accept the Yankees' offer. With Teixeira now in the fold for 8 years and $180 million (pending a physical), Pettitte could be priced out of their plans.
The source said that nothing had been finalized on Pettitte, but that the Yankees were leaning toward no. The lefty went 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA in 2008, having a good first half before struggling after the All-Star break.
In other baseball news:
* Seattle and Minnesota have reached agreement that would send former Rule 5 draftee R.A. Dickey to the Twins. Terms were not announced. The righthanded knuckleballer will a chance to make the Twins' pitching staff as middle reliever and spot starter. Dickey, 34, was 5-8 with a 5.21 ERA in 32 games, including 14 starts, for Seattle last season. The Twins have long theorized that a knuckleballer can thrive in indoor stadiums, such as the Metrodome.
Sport Stops
* Two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce isn't ready to hang up her racket just yet. Despite being sidelined by a knee injury since 2006, the Frenchwoman told sports daily L'Equipe that she'd like to play again at the French Open. Pierce, who turns 34 next month, won the French Open in 2000 and the Australian Open in 1995. She ruptured a ligament in her left knee in October 2006 in Linz, Austria, in a match against Vera Zvonareva. She hasn't competed professionally since.
* Defender Neven Subotic has chosen to play soccer for Serbia instead of the United States. Subotic, who was born in Bosnia and holds an American passport, has played for the U.S. under-17 and under-20s teams. He now plays for Borussia Dortmund in the German league.
* Dr. Richard Steadman, a surgeon whose clinic has treated such athletes as Kobe Bryant, Bode Miller, John Elway and Greg Norman, said he had a serious blood clot in his lungs this month but expects a full recovery. Steadman specializes in knee surgery at the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colo. *