He's back, Gentlemen and Gentlemen! He's back! That's right, fresh off the sports news wire this morning is word that veteran lefty and beloved Yankee Andy Pettitte has decided to return in 08' to pitch for The Evil Empire (unlike some Yankee fans on this blog, I embrace the 'bad guy' moniker). And I couldn't be more pleased. Despite the fact that Pettitte has always been the lynchpin in any Yankee rotation, be it his first go-around or the second-coming last year, his promised presence in next season's rotation now gives the Yankee brass a little bit more flexing power to stand behind their Johan Santana ultimatum.
I think fans and front office alike are taking a slight sigh of relief this morning, knowing that the acquisition of Santana is not the necessity it was last week. If we still get him, great. He's one of the top three pitchers in baseball and a sure fire ticket into the playoffs for any team that lands him.
However, given the new news, the Yankees have to like the look of their current Santana-less rotation - a great mix of the old and the new; Three trusted veteran arms in Mike Mussina, Chien Ming Wang, and Pettitte and three exciting rookie arms in Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and the electric Joba Chamberlain. That rotation, combined with the Yankees' solid offensive line-up, puts them on a competitive level with any other team in Baseball, even a hypothetical Red Sox team with Santana.
It should be very interesting, over the next several days, to see how Pettitte's return impacts the "Santanity" of it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment