Andy Pettitte is gone but never forgotten, and there are those attempting to read between Pettitte’s “never say never” line as hope the left-hander will pitch in 2012. Alas, Pettitte insisted he will not be pitching in 2011, so when pitchers and catchers report to Steinbrenner Field in seven days, Pettitte won't be there. To quote Gene Hackman in Hoosiers, "This is your team."
Of course, names that could be available in a trade are already being tossed into the rumor mill. You can give yourself a headache running down all the permutations of what it’ll take to import someone like Barry Zito – the Giants would have to pay a portion of what’s left on his seven-year, $123 contract that expires in 2013 – and determine if the former Cy Young winner has anything left. Zito hasn’t had a winning season since joining the Giants, but has pitched a minimum of 180 innings each year and you figure he’d be a more secure option as a No. 5 starter over Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Sergio Mitre and free agent Kevin Millwood. Why the Padres and A’s, respectively, would deal youngsters like Richard and Gonzalez I can’t imagine.
Two Yankees fans with a popular presence on Twitter contributed their respective tributes to Pettitte over the weekend: NYYEric had a brush with greatness on the day the left-hander called it a career. Donna P., making her My YES debut, did her part to make sure the Twitterverse kept life in its proper pecking order. If you ask Jerome Preisler, Pettitte is legendary. Stats master Larry Fleisher compiled a list of Pettitte firsts.
The Yankees signed two more veterans to Minor League deals Friday night, Eric Chavez and Ronnie Belliard. Each will receive an opportunity to compete for a utility infielder’s spot off the bench.
According to the Boston Globe, the Red Sox are interested in former, rehabbing Yankee Alfredo Aceves.
Don’t sleep on the Baltimore Orioles. They continue to improve and inked Vladimir Guerrero to a one-year, $8 million deal. Vlad the Impaler batted .300 with 29 home runs and 115 RBIs for the Rangers last season, but lasted this long on the market because he turns 36 on Wednesday and simply cannot play the field anymore. However, this is a darn good move for the O’s. Guerrero is locked in as the cleanup and designated hitter, and is .333-9-30 in 32 career games at Camden Yards. The protection he’ll provide sluggers Derrek Lee, Nick Markakis and Luke Scott will be critical.
"It's extremely important to protect each other," Scott told MASNSports.com. "We can protect each other and we can have guys put fear into opposing pitchers. If they pitch around one guy, they put more guys on base and there's the possibility of giving up more runs, which is always a plus for us as a group.”
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