Andy Pettitte and New York Yankees agree to one year $12 million deal – MLB News
It seemed as if the veteran starting pitcher Andy Pettitte had already made the decision that he wanted to come back to New York. Pettitte went home to Texas last week and spent quality time with his family. Right after getting back to New York, he revealed
that he has agreed to a one year $12 million contract with the Yankees for the next season. Pettitte will also be eligible for performance based incentives.
In a telephonic interview, the 40-year-old said he still has a desire to pitch. Pettitte, who took retirement from the game in 2010, returned to Major League Baseball in 2012, going 5-4 with an excellent 2.87 ERA in 75 plus innings pitched.
“I wouldn’t be coming back, or have the desire to come back,” Pettitte said, “if I didn’t think we had a team that was good enough to win it all. I really believe we can win.”
He spend nearly three months on the Disabled List with an ankle injury but showed great determination to make three more starts and two post season starts. Pettitte was on a $2.5 million contract last season. However, Yankees’ Manager Joe Girardi and General
Manager Brian Cashman were very impressed with what they saw from him in 2012 and they decided to give him a huge salary increment.
Pettitte said, “I wanted to go home and see what my family was thinking, especially my wife, to make sure she hadn’t had a change of how she was feeling. It was a pretty easy decision for me once I started working out. I could see I still had the desire
to do the work. My family is behind me and I’m excited to be coming back.”
Right now, it seems the Yankees have finalised their starting rotation. Ace C.C. Sabathia will be the Number one starting pitcher. Hiroki Kuroda, who was re-signed last week and Pettitte are expected to fill the Number two and Number three starting spot.
Phil Hughes will be the fourth starter with David Phelps and Ivan Nova to compete for the last available starting spot. Youngster Michael Pineda, who missed the entire last season due to injury, is also expected to be fit for the next season.
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