After initially announcing that he would retire at the end of the 2007 season, Andy Pettitte has decided to return to the Yankees:
Andy Pettitte has told the Yankees he will return to pitch in 2008, SI.com has confirmed.
Pettitte’s agent, Randy Hendricks, informed Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on Sunday that the left-hander would be returning for his 14th big league season. Pettitte will accept a $16 million offer after initially declining his player option for the same amount, saying he needed more time to decide whether to pitch or retire and spend more time with his family. Just last week Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who also re-signed with New York this off-season, said Pettitte was leaning toward retirement.
But with Posada, captain Derek Jeter and new manager Joe Girardi reaching out to him to return for a 11th season in the Bronx, Pettitte decided to come back, giving the Yankees a clean sweep in retaining all four of their free-agent stars this off-season: Pettitte, Posada, closer Mariano Rivera, and third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who won his second AL MVP award in three years last month.
During his first tour with the Yankees before going to Houston, Pettitte didn’t get a whole lot of respect from Yankee upper management even though he was one of the team’s most solid performers, especially in the playoffs. This year, though, was a solid pitcher last year (certainly more so than Roger Clemens, who had a disappointing final year in baseball) and his return in 2008 should help the team as it tries to build the pitchers of tomorrow.
