Pettite signs with Yankees

[mardigan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2691380
1 year deal, 16 mil

[Big Pimp_21]

Well, now the Astros can pull the trigger on the trade for Jon Garland from the Chi Sox. Garland is younger, cheaper, and better than Andy right now anyway...this also hopefully means that the front office won't waste any time holding out for Clemens this year.

[johngateswhiteley]

fuck.

[mardigan]

Sucks

[Big Pimp_21]

Andy only really had 1/2 of one good season in 3 years with the Astros. Other than that, he was always either injured or putting up an ERA over 4.

Its better this way.

[mardigan]

I agree that he definately isnt worth 16 million for one year, and he never really did shit for the Stros, it just makes me hate the Yankees even more

[leemajors]

ouch. *edit: Decent* lefties are hard to come by.

[leemajors]

Well, now the Astros can pull the trigger on the trade for Jon Garland from the Chi Sox. Garland is younger, cheaper, and better than Andy right now anyway...this also hopefully means that the front office won't waste any time holding out for Clemens this year.

where did you hear about that trade? who would it involve on our end?

[leemajors]

where did you hear about that trade? who would it involve on our end?

nm, found it. Jon Garland for Willy Taveras, Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh. not sure, but i don't know if we'd wanna give up taveras...

[GrandeDavid]

Don't remind me. Ouch. :depressed

[johngateswhiteley]

nm, found it. Jon Garland for Willy Taveras, Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh. not sure, but i don't know if we'd wanna give up taveras...

i went to college with Jason, i think dude is going to be solid. plus he was a friend, lol...and i like taveras a lot. however, thats a trade the Stros probably should make. you just hate to lose two young players!

[cornbread]

F*ckin Yankees.

[beachbarbie948]

This sucks.

[T Park]

Thanks Yankees :lol

[RogerIsEatingASandwich]

:clap :clap :clap

Welcome back Andy. :elephant

Hopefully Roger Clemens will follow along.


(the Astros even with Garland, arn't going to do shit, they need more)

[RogerIsEatingASandwich]

I agree that he definately isnt worth 16 million for one year, and he never really did shit for the Stros, it just makes me hate the Yankees even more



He helped get the Astros to their first World Series. Sure,the Astros didn't win, but it's not his fault the Stros hitting sucked ass.

He did a pretty good job in Houston. He did plenty. Anybody that doesn't think so is full of shit.

Welcome Back to NY, Andy.

[GrandeDavid]

Here's my message to Andy Pettitte, the "hometown" guy:

:flipoff

I hope Pettitte gets shelled in New York. I hope he has to retire early.

And Drayton McClaine deserves a double flipoff for lowballing Pettitte and Beltran:

:flipoff :flipoff

[GrandeDavid]

:clap :clap :clap

Welcome back Andy. :elephant

Hopefully Roger Clemens will follow along.


(the Astros even with Garland, arn't going to do shit, they need more)

Absolutely wrong.

But they didn't get Garland, so its a moot point, anyway.

Yankees won't do shit either except continue to make asses out of the organization for severely overpaying only to get pathetic postseason results the past 6 years.

[Duff McCartney]

In all fairness, the Yankees haven't overspent for much this off season which I'm liking. I like the signing because the Yankees pitching has sucked ass for a while.

But I'm glad the Yankees aren't signing scrubs left and right for ridiculous contracts like other teams. They are building on youth and that's what they need. Cabrera and Cano are two young players that I like.

I hope they continue to sign for value and not just a name. I would also like them to keep building up their youth because that team isn't getting any younger.

[Mr Dio]

Sanchez could have a better winning % this yr than Andy or Roger.
I'd like to see Humberto get at least 12-15 starts this yr.

[Extra Stout]

And Drayton McClaine deserves a double flipoff for lowballing Pettitte and Beltran:

:flipoff :flipoff
Andy Pettite did not want to resign with the Astros. Don't believe the Hendricks brothers. Anything a player agent tells the media usually is a lie to generate PR for his client. Brian Cashman said the Yankees were willing to go up to $20 million with a player option to get Pettite, who after all is an aging pitcher with chronic elbow problems.

Do you think it would be a good idea to throw $40 million at a guy with a sore elbow?

And the Astros never had a chance at Beltran. All Houston was, was leverage to get more money out of the Mets. Unless McLane threw $30 million a year at him, there was zero chance.

Drayton McLane gets endless crap from Houston fans for being cheap, despite having one of the highest payrolls in baseball, and having just shelled out $100 million to Carlos Lee. Astros fans, I think, won't be happy unless Drayton McLane has a $300 million payroll.

Pettite played "at home" at a discount for three years (well, OK, two and a quarter). He brought his buddy Roger Clemens along and took the Astros places they had never been. He doesn't owe you people anything. You owe him a lot. Houston fans have a reputation of being thankless and front-running, and you are falling right into it. So break out of that rut and say, "Thank you Andy for helping us woebegone Astros fans experience the thrill of a pennant." Say it. You can do it.

Pettite was brought up in the Yankees' organization and played most of his career there. It is understandable that he would want to retire there. It is understandable that he would want to get out of Houston again. Houston really is not all that special of a place. It is a lot of strip malls, suburban sprawl, flat swampy land, and horrible weather. People live in Houston for the good-paying jobs, not because it is a great city. It is not a great city. New York is a great city. Perhaps that is why native Houstonians take rejection of their city so personally. I don't know. That is just my armchair psychology.

The baseball stadium, while a nice place to watch a game after all and to give Uncle Drayton some of my disposable income, has an entire section of seats jutting out into left field, a hill and a flagpole in center field, and a choo-choo train filled with oranges that blows its horn and goes back and forth. While it is not as stupid as say, the ballpark in Phoenix, and by no means is a piece of crap like where the Marlins or A's play, pitching there is not quite the same as pitching in New York at Yankee Stadium. You can't blame Pettite.

Besides, you should not get so bent out of shape. Last year the NL Central title was claimed by an 83-win team. Young pitching carried the eventual AL champion. Hirsh is probably a true money pitcher. That Luke Scott kid is the real deal. Hunter Pence is an up-and-coming stud. Once upon a time Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman were youngsters who got playing time because somebody else got old, or left to play elsewhere. The Astros have no business mortgaging their future to get aging free agents back for one or two years. That is what bad teams do, not teams that have been to the playoffs six times in ten years.

[leemajors]

In all fairness, the Yankees haven't overspent for much this off season which I'm liking. I like the signing because the Yankees pitching has sucked ass for a while.

But I'm glad the Yankees aren't signing scrubs left and right for ridiculous contracts like other teams. They are building on youth and that's what they need. Cabrera and Cano are two young players that I like.

I hope they continue to sign for value and not just a name. I would also like them to keep building up their youth because that team isn't getting any younger.

besides cabrera, wang, and cano, what youth are the yanks building on? mussina, johnson, now pettitte, bernie williams, damon - they are all old or getting there...

[leemajors]

stout, i think what people in houston are getting all upset about is when pettitte signed here, he was all about family and hometown. richard justice wrote a pretty decent blog about it that sums up how i feel about it:

http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/

And there's Andy Pettitte. He's no sympathetic figure in this. He signed on the Astros knowing the way things work. The Astros are never going to stock their roster the way the Yankees do. They're never going to offer as much money. If you're interested in living in your hometown, if you want to play in one of the most professional clubhouses in the game, you sign on with the Astros. Pettitte could have taken the one-year $12-million deal. If he'd agreed to a club option instead of a player option for 2008, I'm guessing McLane would have agreed to $14 million if that indeed was the sticking point.

Pettitte doesn't need the money. He has made $76 million during his 12 seasons in the big leagues. Most of us can't even dream of that kind of money. He's going to top the $100-million mark in career earnings. I don't know if he never wanted to return to the Astros in the first place. For about a month, the Astros have suspected that he and Roger Clemens simply weren't interested in another season in Houston. If it just came down to money, to grabbing a few extra coins, this thing doesn't reflect well on either Pettitte or McLane.

[RogerIsEatingASandwich]

Absolutely wrong.

But they didn't get Garland, so its a moot point, anyway.

Yankees won't do shit either except continue to make asses out of the organization for severely overpaying only to get pathetic postseason results the past 6 years.

:nope

Wrong about what? The Astros shitty ass hitting? About Andy doing a good job while he was in Houston?

At least they manage to make it to the post season. 4 World Series titles, 6 World Series appearences. Nine Straight Divsion titles. That's pretty fucking good.

Deal with it.

[Extra Stout]

stout, i think what people in houston are getting all upset about is when pettitte signed here, he was all about family and hometown. richard justice wrote a pretty decent blog about it that sums up how i feel about it:

http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/

And there's Andy Pettitte. He's no sympathetic figure in this. He signed on the Astros knowing the way things work. The Astros are never going to stock their roster the way the Yankees do. They're never going to offer as much money. If you're interested in living in your hometown, if you want to play in one of the most professional clubhouses in the game, you sign on with the Astros. Pettitte could have taken the one-year $12-million deal. If he'd agreed to a club option instead of a player option for 2008, I'm guessing McLane would have agreed to $14 million if that indeed was the sticking point.

Pettitte doesn't need the money. He has made $76 million during his 12 seasons in the big leagues. Most of us can't even dream of that kind of money. He's going to top the $100-million mark in career earnings. I don't know if he never wanted to return to the Astros in the first place. For about a month, the Astros have suspected that he and Roger Clemens simply weren't interested in another season in Houston. If it just came down to money, to grabbing a few extra coins, this thing doesn't reflect well on either Pettitte or McLane.
Richard Justice needs to stop doing that blog. When he writes his column, he sits down and thinks through what he is going to write. It's what made him one of the elite sportswriters. When he writes on his blog, he lets his emotions get the best of him and he flip-flops from day to day like John Kerry. He makes a fool of himself. One day he quits on the Astros, then the next day he calls out the entire city of Houston for ever doubting them. Today he dogs on Andy Pettite, and then on Tuesday he'll lecture everybody probably something along the lines of what I'm saying.

It's easy for him to turn down $20 million on behalf of Andy Pettite.

Why exactly, having already taken a hometown discount to come play for the Astros and be near his family for his previous contract, is everybody acting like Pettite is some hypocrite for not doing that in perpetuity? Is he not allowed to go in a different direction with his life? Is he supposed to leave potentially $20 million on the table out of civic loyalty or something? For Houston??

What, is Houston playing the role of hard-luck Rust Belt small town or something?

I guess in a way it speaks well for Houston's becoming a real baseball town that people are taking it so personally.

[Horry For 3!]

I saw this on ESPN yesterday, fuckin Pettitte.

[leemajors]

Richard Justice needs to stop doing that blog. When he writes his column, he sits down and thinks through what he is going to write. It's what made him one of the elite sportswriters. When he writes on his blog, he lets his emotions get the best of him and he flip-flops from day to day like John Kerry. He makes a fool of himself. One day he quits on the Astros, then the next day he calls out the entire city of Houston for ever doubting them. Today he dogs on Andy Pettite, and then on Tuesday he'll lecture everybody probably something along the lines of what I'm saying.

It's easy for him to turn down $20 million on behalf of Andy Pettite.

Why exactly, having already taken a hometown discount to come play for the Astros and be near his family for his previous contract, is everybody acting like Pettite is some hypocrite for not doing that in perpetuity? Is he not allowed to go in a different direction with his life? Is he supposed to leave potentially $20 million on the table out of civic loyalty or something? For Houston??

What, is Houston playing the role of hard-luck Rust Belt small town or something?

I guess in a way it speaks well for Houston's becoming a real baseball town that people are taking it so personally.

i think he may flip flop a bit on the blog to get a rise out of people - the comments explode when he does, but i enjoy reading it myself. i think he has placed equal blame on pettitte and mclane. it is quite different than the articles he has written about the pettitte situation recently, but you are right - stros fans should be gratfeul pettitte ever came here and he doesn't owe them anything. it's probably more hurt feelings that will pass. i think he has already flip flopped on the issue several times in the blog in the last few days anyway haha. it just sucks to lose the only lefty worth a damn on the staff