Monday, January 26, 2009

Pettitte Takes a Pay Cut

According to Buster Olney on 1050, Andy Pettitte has agreed to a $6 million deal with "easily attainable" incentives.

More on this as it develops.

[edit]:

The deal reportedly includes incentives that, if reached, will total Pettitte's salary to $12 million, more than the original $10 million offer the Yankees had on the table.

However, Pettitte is (apparently) only guaranteed $6 million, which would result in a considerable pay cut from last year.

For the Yankees, however, this deal is excellent.

Pettitte, as has often been stated, was by far the best fit for the Yankees' needs, and while the Yankees seem to have gotten the better end of the deal, from a financial point of view, Pettitte could still surpass the original offer the Yankees had made.

Whether Pettitte can pull a Mussina in '09 is another story entirely, but it seems as though now the Yankees have their rotation sorted out:

1) CC Sabathia
2) AJ Burnett
3) CM Wang
4) Andy Pettitte
5) Joba Chamberlain/Phil Hughes/Winner out of ST.

I don't know about you, but I think that's a pretty sweet rotation, provided everyone stays healthy, of course...

Now, if the Yankees want to sign Sheets (I still doubt they will for reasons previously stated), they can do so without taking the risk that Sheets won't be able to pitch 200 innings. However, given Sheets' caliber, I doubt he will sign anywhere without a guaranteed rotation spot.

8 comments:

  1. I'd much rather have Hughes/Kennedy/Aceves et al fight it out for the 5th spot. The Yankees continue to show a complete lack of patience with the development of young players. Its a shame.

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  2. As much as I would love to see young players have a chance to shine, it is not going to happen unless they have the ability to make an immediate impact (ie. Joba Chamberlain). When you spend $200M per year on your team, you don't have the luxury to wait on players to develop, that is what AAA is for. Pettitte was a cheap signing that creates stability in the back of the rotation and anchors the new big money acquisitions.

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  3. I think that barring injury the rotation is set with Joba in the 5th spot and Hughes starting the season at SWB.

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  4. Jason-With that attitude we'll continue to have a team with older players that brake down. Its a recipe for failure.

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  5. David - On a positive note, I love that the Yankees offered Pettitte an incentive based contract. This is a trend that has started to surface this offseason which allows for teams to get better stars at a potentially cheaper price. For the Yankees, it is great because now they won't feel the burden of a high price tag forcing them to start players that are not performing.

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  6. The contract is good and things will probably work out. I just hate the giving up on the kids after one year.

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  7. This is a great perspective on the Andy Pettitte signing...

    http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/pettitte-returns

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