So far we have heard about how Yankee GM Brian Cashman has flown to Texas to give free agent pitcher Andy Pettitte an ultimatum; “sign or we are moving on”. We have also read that if Pettitte doesn’t sign with the Yankees (some think he was offered a one year deal worth $10 million) he is some kind of phony.
If SI.com’s Jon Heyman is right this “phony” might have a better offer on the table:
It’s been a mystery to many why veteran left-hander Andy Pettitte hasn’t taken the Yankees’ $10-million offer. But here could be a clue as to why he hasn’t: Pettitte’s people apparently are telling folks he has a $36-million, three-year offer from another, unnamed team.
If Pettitte does sign elsewhere then so much for Yankee lore. When Clemens and Pettitte originally left for Houston it appeared to most that both players just wanted to play in their hometown, and who could blame them. But now watching Cashman have to add more and more to the CC Sabathia deal to secure his services, not to mention fly to S.F. and now he might have to match a three year deal or lose a “true Yankee”, I think we can once and for all toss out this notion that guys just want to play for the Yankees. I always felt that was overblown. But my opinion on this has always been taken with a grain of salt by my Yankee fan friends because of my allegiance to the Mets.
It’s like that bogus story that is repeated over and over, “Carlos Beltran really wanted to be a Yankee, his people called the Yankees and offered him to them for less”. C’mon people, do we really believe that nonsense? This is the same guy, Scott Boras, who everyone claims would do anything to get his clients top dollar. Obviously, he called the Yankees to get them involved. So he could have the two big market teams bid against each other. Are we really suppose to believe that Boras would have let Beltran take 17 million, or whatever it was, less just to sign with the Yankees.
I think stories like the one about Pettitte and CC just prove how irrational most of these stories are. Players, most of the time are gonna go where the money is, to the top bidder. Case closed.
Pete Lappin (3)
