Tagged: Andy Pettitte

Monday musings

pettitte_250_030909.jpgBy Jon Lane
Andy Pettitte his spring debut this afternoon against the Blue Jays. Pettitte and the Yankees, as you know, were at a stalemate before compromising on a one-year deal worth $5.5 million with an additional $6.5 million in bonuses.

Not that Pettitte will rebound from a down season to win 20 games like Mike Mussina last year, but he will be better now that he’s healthy and free from the HGH admissions that weighed heavily on his mind.

Furthermore, having won in New York, Pettitte offers an invaluable intangible to CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and the Yankees’ young arms. His wisdom, experience and insight will become especially valuable late in the season and the take here is that Pettitte still have a few big games left in him.
 
Today’s lineups
Brett Gardner CF
Melky Cabrera LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Jorge Posada DH
Nick Swisher RF
Jose Molina C
Angel Berroa 2B
Justin Leone 3B
Ramiro Pena SS

The center field derby
Brett Gardner: 6-for-18, 2 HRs, 5 R, 2 SB
Melky Cabrera: 4-for-15, 0 HRs, 2 R, 0 SB

Don’t look now
Phil Hughes’ Grapefruit line: 7.2 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts, including three hitless innings on Sunday (two walks, four strikeouts).

Transactions
Andrew Brackman was optioned to Single-A Charleston. J.B. Cox, George Kontos and Kanekoa Texeira were reassigned to the Yankees’ Minor League camp.

Storylines
Alex Rodriguez is undergoing hip surgery this morning. Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record tracks the A-Rod stock market.

Cody Ransom is getting his share of press. This column by The Record‘s Ian O’Connor is an absolute must-read. This alone makes you want to root for Ransom.

Strictly in baseball terms, the Yankees can get back with Ransom at third base for a month or so. He’ll be that much more valuable to the team once Rodriguez returns.

A few updates from Peter Abraham:

Andy Pettitte’s line: 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, 31 pitches

Dan Giese gave up a solo home run to Russ Adams in the third.

Brett Gardner’s hot spring continues. Gardner went yard with a two-run shot (his third of the spring) to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the third. Melky Cabrera was hitless in two at-bats entering the fifth.

Gardner later reached first on a bunt single and was moved to third on Cabrera’s two-out base hit. However, Cabrera got caught between first and second and Gardner, breaking for home, was tagged out. Gardner is 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Cabrera finished 1-for-3 before he was replaced in left field by Austin Jackson.

The news was not so good for Ian Kennedy. The right-hander got tagged for five runs on five hits in two innings, including Travis Snider’s solo homer with one out in the sixth. 

Can Terrell Owens play third base?

owens_250_030509.jpgBy Glenn Giangrande
Obviously I’m just kidding, but seriously
– what’s going on in the sports world? I’m getting ready for sleep
yesterday and T.O. gets released. I wake up this morning and A-Rod’s
out until mid-May. What’s next, someone signing Barry Bonds while I’m
out getting my car’s oil changed?
 
Given all the work that the
Yankees have done this winter, I would advise fans not to panic. There
is no doubt that the loss of A-Rod’s bat creates a void in the lineup,
as it’s impossible to replace the kind of production he’s capable of
delivering. So much for the idea of trading Hideki Matsui that I suggested a couple of days ago!

The
Yankees now need all the production they can get. Here’s an early
lineup projection based on nothing more than speculation and my
personal whims:
 
Damon   LF     (L)
Jeter      SS    (R)
Matsui   DH    (L)
Teixeira  1B    (S)
Posada   C     (S)
Cano     2B     (L)
Nady     RF    (R)
???       3B     (?)
Gardner CF    (L)
 
That’s
not too bad of a lineup, although some people are sounding warning
alarms over Teixeira’s early season struggles (.256 career batting
average in March & April). However, for all their firepower, the
Yankees are a team that should go as far as its pitching can
take it. Unlike last season, the rotation is filled with arms that can
pick up slack if the club suffers an offensive letdown early in the
season.

I don’t want to hear about CC Sabathia’s
pressure-induced struggles last April, in what was a contract year,
because that was an isolated incident. He’s got his deal and I think
he’ll be happy. Then you have A.J. Burnett, who I actually think will
thrive in a situation like this, knowing he needs to step up.
Back-to-back 19 win seasons in healthy times have bought Chien-Ming
Wang plenty of cred. Joba Chamberlain will have lots of mismatches on
the mound as the Yankees’ No. 5 starter.

What team wouldn’t want Andy Pettitte as the fourth guy in its rotation?
 
I’m
not expecting the Yanks to make a major acquisition to plug in at
third. Everyone is going to have to do a little more early in the
season, and I think the brunt of things will fall upon the shoulders of
the rotation.