Kuzul

Now that the Cliff and Andy questions have both been answered and put to rest, the biggest immediate concern across Yankee Universe going into spring training appears to be the two big question marks in the back end of our starting rotation.

How crucial is the back end of the rotation to a successful season for us?

Not as much as some might think. Certainly not as crucial as a kevlar bullpen, which we now have.

Hard as it may be for some to recollect it, the 2009 world champion Yankees wound up running their back end rotation by committee to a great extent, much as this year’s team appears about to do.

And it worked beautifully.

Just compare the contributions of the team’s pitching staffs over the last two seasons to see exactly where our wins came from—throwing out the games pitched by the rosters’ No. 4 and 5 starters—and you may take  greater comfort from the moves our Bombers made and didn’t make this offseason.

In 2009, a championship season, the Yankees’ top three starters—Sabathia, Pettitte and Burnett—combined for 46 wins while our bullpen accounted for 40 wins, the most in MLB.

In 2010, a year the team fell a little short of their objective, the team’s top three starters—Sabathia, Hughes and Pettitte—combined for 50 wins while our bullpen, though improving its ERA by nearly a half run, produced just 23 wins.

Since the Yankees led all MLB teams in scoring both years, run support can be safely ruled out as a variable.

So, to summarize, our 2009 front-end arms and bullpen combined for 86 wins without the help of our No. 4 and 5 starters. 

Our 2010 front-end arms—with four more victories to their credit—combined with our bullpen to produce just 73.

That’s a 13-loss differential year over year right there.

The impact of those 2009 bullpen wins becomes even more pronounced when you consider 2009’s championship-winning rotation back-enders Joba Chamberlain and Sergio Mitre combined for a mere 12 wins while last season’s backenders  AJ Burnett and Javier Vazquez combined for 20.

Those eight additional victories by 2010’s No. 4 and 5 starters still didn’t make up for the sharp reduction in our bullpen wins.

Put another way, bullpen wins could have easily been the difference between the Yankees winning the AL East or losing it last season—and, consequently, home field advantage in the playoffs.

The point?

Cliff Lee and his maybe 12 to 15 wins would’ve been helpful, no question. And Andy’s return would maybe have provided 11 to 14 wins. 

Maybe, that is, if both managed to stay healthy; hardly a lock for either of them.

No, what we truly needed a whole lot more than either of them this winter was to bulk up our bullpen into a bona fide scary no-man’s land for opposing hitters.

Mission accomplished.

Consider the Yankees’ penchant for long early inning at-bats and late scoring outbreaks, so much so they led MLB  in comeback wins last season with 48.

How many more of those late rallies came up just short due to that shaky bridge from the sixth inning to the ninth?

Now, that’s a bridge to nowhere for our opponents.

Am I saying back-end starters are a nonfactor? Of course not.

I am saying, however, that they’re just not as big a factor as a nasty shutdown door-slamming pen; especially in the case of the Yankees and their present configuration.

By the numbers, at least over the past two seasons, the Yankee bullpen has proved to be a more significant  force in putting up W’s—and not just saving or holding leads—than our back end starters.

Certainly in 2009 it was the difference between winning a championship and just coming close, and possibly the difference between just coming close and no championship this past season.

Of course, I’d love to see Brian Cashman and the Boss’s boys pull off a blockbuster trade for a Type-A starter in the coming weeks and months. And there’s no reason to believe they won’t.

When they do, it’ll be Christmas in July.

In the meantime, though, there are plenty of young and old committee members coming to camp to fill the back end rotation picture out, and plenty to celebrate and anticipate come Opening Day.

You’ve got to believe the Yankees’ front office was thinking about more than just shortening tough outings for a couple of mystery guests in the rotation when they snapped up Rafael Soriano and lefty Pedro Feliciano this offseason. 

The way the former’s contract is structured with opt-outs, it sure wasn’t designed to lock up Big Mo’s successor.

These guys aren’t consolation prizes. They’re key pieces in a proven strategy to win now.

Their additions leverage virtually every member of our relief corps into specific roles in which they can excel, and provide Joe Girardi with multiple options and a path to a win through any lineup, as long as our own lineup keeps scoring like it has.

We may be shy a couple of name brand back-end starters at the moment.

But no serious evaluation of the coming season should allow those relatively minor vacancies to overshadow the direct and major impact this bullpen is going to make in our win column this year with the rotation and lineup we’ve already got.

The pen is truly mightier.

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Andy Petite, an all-time great pitcher, announced his retirement from the New York Yankees after 16 Major League Seasons—13 of them pitching for the Yankees.

He will be introduced at a press conference on Friday at Yankee Stadium, providing him an opportunity to take a bow in front of the New York fans and media.

The Yankees will likely honor him with a “Day” at Yankee Stadium during the upcoming season when the fans will have a chance to show their appreciation.

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“Dear fellow Yankee fan,

Man up.

It’s Andy Pettitte after a loss. He’s going to be completely out of gas, and find a way to hold them to two runs anyway.”

Now let me provide some context for the following quote. It’s the Fourth of November, 2009. Having had a chance to win the World Series for the first time since 2000, the New York Yankees dropped the fifth game in their duel with the Philadelphia Phillies. AJ Burnett had decided that one good World Series performance was enough for him and he decided to take his talents on a vacation. We haven’t seen much of the good AJ since.

That said, enough with the cheap shots. I published a Yankees article in the wee hours of the morning that day. Game Six was that night. Thanks to the Yankees, I was reeling and finding myself unable to sleep. What I wrote was very much a rant, criticizing any player that I felt warranted it.

I began to conclude the article like so:

“How confident am I about Andy Pettitte in Game Six? Not in the slightest for the 37-year-old lefty going on three days rest, especially considering his last start against the Phillies was probably his worst of the postseason.

I talked myself out of him closing it out within three hours of the completion of Game Five.

I haven’t talked myself out of CC against Cole Hamel’s damaged psyche or whoever the Phillies would throw out on the mound in Game Seven. I will though. Don’t worry about that, it’s coming.”

Pettitte had suggested some possible skepticism in interviews about him pitching on three days rest before the series started. He said that he couldn’t remember the last time he pitched on such short rest.

He didn’t seem nervous. He was clearly well past the stage of ever feeling nervous about pitching in a baseball game. But you wondered how his body would do. As stated, he wasn’t even that great in Game Three. 

But he had been good enough.

Which brings back to the opening quote. That quote is actually the first comment I received on that article. The man who posted it goes by the name of Tom Schecter. And how did our friend, Tom, fare in the predicting business?

He just about nailed it. Pettitte actually gave up three runs. But he pitched precisely as Tom expected. Andy Pettitte was out of gas and he kept coming at the Phillies’ batsmen with a handful of nothin’.

“Yeah, well, sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.”

The Yankees won that game, 7-3. Pettitte got the win in a World Series clinching game (we’d heard that sentence before). He’s had more impressive stat lines than the five and two-thirds of an inning and three strikeouts that came with those three earned runs. But he did what he had to do. And he probably pitched as well as he could have. What one can accomplish with mental toughness, with a strong heart.

And that was the epitome of Andy Pettitte, the pitcher. He won’t be remembered, first and foremost (by me at least) for having a sensational pick off move to first base, for his cutter or change-up, or for how revered he appeared to be by fellow baseball players. It’ll be for the heart that he displayed on the mound, time and time again. It’ll be for all the times he wandered into trouble on the mound, only to battle through it and leave base runners stranded. It’ll be for the way he never backed down in big games.

I don’t want to be seen as a blind follower or as misrepresenting what he was. He wasn’t automatic every single time he took the mound, not even in the postseason. 

The first time he ever took the mound in the World Series (1996), Pettitte was pelted by the Atlanta Braves for seven runs in less than three innings of work. In the ’97 and ’98 postseasons, Pettitte lost three times to the Cleveland Indians, only reaching the sixth inning in one of those games and gave up a combined total of 17 runs (four home runs in the third game alone). And in Game Six of the 2001 World Series (when his team could clinch another title), Pettitte couldn’t even make it through the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks, en route to a 15-2 loss.

But more often than not, Pettitte came through. And he seemed to get better with age in the big spots. He seemed to become a more mature pitcher and smarter pitcher by the inning. 

If this really is the end of Andy Pettitte forever, the pitcher, he will walk away holding the all-time records for most starts and innings pitched in the postseason. He is also second all-time in World Series starts.

He will finish 19-10 in the playoffs with an ERA of 3.83 and 173 strikeouts. And since 2003, Andy went 9-3 in the playoffs with an ERA of 2.93, 86 strikeouts, and 13 quality starts.

In 2003, Andy Pettitte won Game Two in all three of his team’s postseason series, each time his team was down 1-0 in the series! In 2009, Pettitte became the first pitcher to start and win the clinching game of all three postseason series. Aside from the Phillies series, he pitched in two other World Series clinching victories for the Yankees (he got a no decision for one of those but he did not give up an earned run in either game) The man, quite simply, is clutch personified.

He pitched pretty well the other months of the baseball season as well, leading the league in regular season wins for the new decade (and in wins from ’95-’09 as well). He won 20 games in a season two different times and earned three all-star appearances, along the way to tallying up 240 regular season wins and 2,251 strikeouts.

But if not for the month of October, Andy would be ‘just another really good pitcher.’ That’s where legends are made. He was fortunate enough to play along with some terrific players on a great organization. But Andy, made the most of it. One would not able to convince me that many others would have had the same postseason success if given so many opportunities. Andy Pettitte, along with Curt Schilling, is the best big game pitcher of the last 20 years.

So what Andy did on the Fourth of November, 2009, should not have been a surprise to anyone. Tom Schecter was merely reacting, rationally, to what he had seen from Andy Pettitte for (at that time) 15 big league seasons. I just was a little too emotional at the time to see it.

And maybe I’m being too emotional right now. Pardon the sense of defeat, especially since the season hasn’t even started yet, but there is just no replacing Andy Pettitte. I will watch 150+ games this season and root fervently for the Yankees, just like I did the season prior and the season before that. However, the announcement that Andy Pettitte will retire tomorrow hurts (even if not a surprise).

One last thing, remember that article I wrote on November 4, 2009? That, up to this point, had been my last sports article. It was for reasons not having to do with sports.

But this tribute felt very much warranted. I feel like I can safely speak on behalf of other Yankees fans in saying this: We love you, Andy.

Best of luck in future endeavors.

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The news no New York Yankee fan wanted to hear came today, as pitcher Andy Pettitte is hanging up his pinstripes.
 
Not only is this a sad day because Pettitte is a legend, but it marks the end of an era, as fans will never see the Yankees’ “Core Four” play together again.

Where does this leave the Yankees heading into the 2011 season?

Without Pettitte in the rotation, there is no doubt the pressure is on.
 
In his 16-year career, Pettitte has 240 career wins, 203 of which were won during his 13 seasons in pinstripes. He has made 42 playoff starts, winning 19 of them, making Pettitte the winningest pitcher in postseason history.

So how could a 38-year-old southpaw be such a season-changer?

In 2010, after winning the World Series in 2009, Pettitte was having a career year and was named to the All-Star team.
 
Prior to a groin injury that put Pettitte on the DL on July 19, 2010, he had made a total of 18 starts. Pettitte’s record was 11-3, but the team went 15-3 in his starts. Pettitte didn’t return for two months, and he did struggle for his first two starts back, but he won his final regular season start and once again was dominant in the postseason.
 
Pettitte was a rock in the Yankees’ rotation with a cemented reputation to come through when the team couldn’t. He provided a sigh of a relief when on the mound, because Pettitte was unswerving and reliable.
 
If anyone thinks that this is not a major blow to the Yankees, don’t listen because it is a complete lie. Pettitte’s absence will affect everything, from making the postseason to winning, if the team can qualify in the first place.
 
It puts a mandatory need to win on A.J. Burnett, which is the last thing he needs. It also leaves not one, but two holes to fill at the back end of the rotation.
 
The guys auditioning for these spots include Ivan Nova, Sergio Mitre (I am completely against this), Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and a few promising prospects.
 
Honestly, looking at this group since the Pettitte news, which is still so fresh, is only providing me with abundant discomfort.
 
I would rather have Nick Swisher pitch than see Mitre start. Colon went AWOL in Boston and don’t think that can’t happen just because it’s New York. Nova can pitch well enough, as we saw last season, and he should be improved since he knew what to work on in the offseason. I hope the Yankees take a chance on a prospect, specifically Manny Banuelos, and just let him pitch.

Can the Yankees win without Pettitte?

With Pettitte, life would certainly be easier in the Bronx, but I believe the Yankees can still win without the southpaw. Here are a few things that now cannot happen:

Burnett’s role just went from critical to vital, and that is a tough spot to handle for anyone trying to prove himself again.

CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira cannot afford slow starts, as both tend to struggle in April, especially Tex, because last season it wasn’t until well into June until he showed any consistency.

Alex Rodriguez should be back to normal, unless the jet-setting partying with girlfriend Cameron Diaz has gotten in the way.

Joe Girardi has to break it off with Mitre; Mitre is NOT a starter, has never been productive and is injury prone. Mitre as a long man is the only spot where he has displayed any worth.

Girardi has to be on his game, because getting off to a hot start will help the team’s confidence sans Pettitte.

Hopefully, GM Brian Cashman will get a solid starter before the trade deadline, and New York is fit for a King.

I like the idea of letting a prospect fill the fifth spot.

The reigning World Champion San Francisco Giants had a 21-year-old in the rotation, Madison Bumgarner, who posted a 3.00 ERA in the regular season and won all his three of his postseason starts. Bumgarner turned 21 last August.
 
This will all be figured out as time goes on, but getting back to Pettitte, I have a few things left to say.
 
As a fan, it breaks my heart to know I will never see one of my favorite players on the field again.
 
I grew up with Pettitte and have seen him pitch in the Bronx countless times, including going to Philly to cheer him on in Game 3 of the 2009 World Series. Pettitte also had a clutch hit that game in a performance I will never forget.
 
The only feeling I have is that it has been an absolute honor to have Pettitte represent my hometown of New York City.
 
I wish him all the best in his future endeavors and hope to see him on Old Timers Day!

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For his career he posted a 240-138 record, including 25 complete games and four shutouts. He struck out 2,251 batters in 3,055.1 innings and finishes his career with a .635 winning percentage, which ranked as seventh-best among active pitchers before he made his announcement.

And as a loyal Orioles fan, more than just a part of me is thrilled that Andy Pettitte has finally called it quits. It seems like the O’s never had a chance when Pettitte was on the mound, even late into his career.

And as the numbers on the last slide bear out, it was a lot uglier for the O’s against him than I thought.

But Pettitte didn’t just torment the O’s. He was just as filthy against plenty of other teams. In fact, Pettitte only has an ERA over 5.00 against one team that he had more than three starts against. Kudos to you Texas Rangers!

So, here they are, without further ado, the ten teams most happy to bid farewell to New York Yankee Andy Pettitte.

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You will never see it on CNN or Fox News.

It will never appear on the front page of any newspaper across the globe.

You will never see it in a documentary on Discovery or the History Channel.

It will never be spoken of in any church on any given Sunday.

Yet according to many Yankee fans and sports media alike,  Andy Pettitte seemingly walks on water.  He is apparently the Yankees own personal second coming and the only one that can salvage their upcoming season.

Andy Pettitte, all by himself at the ripe old age of 38 and coming off his best statistical season cut short by injury, can save the entire Yankee season single-handedly.  

Apparently.

Andy Pettitte, the man that left the pinstripes for the uniform of the Houston Astros (for whatever reason you want to believe), can single-handedly save the season for Derek Jeter and company just by showing up it seems.  It was apparently because he left that the Yankees never won during his absence and only when he came back did they win again.  Yes, I get it. Right.

Apparently his mojo went on strike last season.

Andy Pettitte, the man who puts everyone through the same “will he or won’t he” dance every off season—the one who needs to decide every off season if he wants to play for the team that put him on the map—has, and he alone, the mojo that can fix what’s wrong with the Yankees of 2011.

Oh YES! Testify my brother!

Imagine that—Andy. Pettitte. Is. A. Super.Hero.

Newsflash.  If the Yankees landed Cliff Lee, you know the other dude that apparently walks on water, the Yankees would not be calling Pettitte and the fans would not be clamoring for his return so much.

If WE GOT LEEEE!!!!!, it would be nice to have Andy too.

Now—WE DID NOT GET #%&^$ LEE!!! WE NEED #^z*(^&$ PETTITTE!

If the Yankees landed Lee, Pettitte would be playing because the pressure would be off.  Without Lee, Pettitte knows he will be looked upon to be a savior.  It’s not a role he wants, never has.

Who the heck wants to come back for the grind with a sketchy back at age 38 if you are expected to hoist the team on it?

Andy Pettitte is many things but stupid is not one of them.

As a Yankee fan, Andy Pettitte will always hold a special place in my heart—but Andy was the one Yankee that taught me to not get used to Yankees staying Yankees.

The Yankees “Desperately Need” Andy Pettitte?

He would be nice to have, he surely could help, but “Desperately Needed”?

Sorry but this Yankee fan refuses to drink the Kool-aid so many of you are apparently drunk on.

One can argue that Andy Pettitte is a borderline Hall of Fame pitcher right now but we know he won’t get in. He is a Yankee and well there is that lil’ PED thing.  No one can argue that he is now, and will always be a legendary Yankee.  No one can argue (except the BBWA and the Elitist Brethren of the H.O.F), that he has been one of the best left handed pitchers in the history of the game.

However, and with all due respect to the many columnist out there including some of my fellow Bleacher Report columnists, stating that the ‘Yankees Desperately Need Andy Pettitte” is quite frankly a joke.

Could they use him?  Absolutely.

Could he help them?  Sure if he stays healthy.

Will he all by his awsome-ness save the season?  Umm…no.

Listen folks, I have been a Yankee fan since 1976.  Andy Pettitte is one of my all-time favorite Yankees, but he is neither the saving grace or nail in the coffin of this team.

It’s time to get real.

Yes I get the fact that he not only knows how to pitch in New York, but he knows how to win in New York.  I get that.

Yes I get that he is a big game pitcher and his presence on the mound motivates the players behind him.

I also understand that he is but one man.  He is 38 years old.  He is prone to injury.  His heart is not 100 percent committed to the game or the team.

Did you get that last part? His heart is not 100 percent committed to pitching.  I don’t think that when he came back from injury last year he was fully committed either.  I think the injury was a wake up call that he just did not want or need to do this anymore—or at least for a whole season.  I think before the season was over last year he knew that was it—or that was it for an entire season.

See where I am going? (Hint…repeated references to “entire season”…hint, hint).

The Yankees missed out on Cliff Lee, whom by the way also does not walk on water despite what the media and some fans believe, and all the sudden the Yankee Universe is coming to an end and Andy Pettitte is the only one with pinstripe tights and cape?

Shoot, why even play the season, just hand the trophy to Philly for the next five years and send everyone on vacation.

There is a reason the games are played on the field and not paper.

Come on people, this is nothing new in the world of the Yankees.  Pettitte would be nice to have but the Yankees are hardly desperate here.

Let’s look at this realistically.  How many games do the starters need to win the East or the Wild card and make it to the playoffs?

In a very strong East and in an improved American League in general, the Yankees, or any team for that matter, will not get into the post with anything less than 90 wins, in my opinion of course.

With a very good staff, okay we will use the Philadelphia Phillies dammit—a team can only hope for 63-65 wins max (18, 15, 12, 10, 8= 63) and that is really pushing the envelope.  Most team only get 40-48 wins per starting rotation but most teams don’t make the playoffs.  A good chance to dance requires a minimum of 55 wins out of the rotation with a decent bullpen backing it up.

The Yankees have, arguably, one of the best pens in the game (on paper). So what about the starters?

What can we expect given the rotation New York is fielding this year WITHOUT Pettitte?

The 2010 San Francisco “World Champions” top three starters won 43 games. They had a rotation of six and their “regular” top five starters won a total of 58 games.

More relative, if slightly less recent, we can look to the 2009 World Champion Yankees who went with a 4 man rotation most of the year and their 4 starters won a total of 55 games. 

Sabathia won 19, Pettitte won 14, Burnett, yes that guy, won 13 and Joba Chamberlain (I just threw up a little in my mouth), won nine.

C.C is still around.  Anyone think he can’t win, oh say 18 games in 2011?

Hughes chipped in eight wins in relief that championship season and turned in 18 wins a year later despite stamina problems the second half which should be corrected come this season.  He may not win 18 games again this year but is anyone doubting he cannot win oh say 14, like Pettitte did in 2009?

Can anyone on the Yankees current Staff win 12?  Yes, A.J Burnett, who averages 12 wins per season, and won 13 in 2009 when the Yankees won it all.  Yes he is coming off a poor season of 10 wins but they Yankees pitching staff is focusing heavily on his mechanics and I believe he can win 12 games this season, simply because he won 13 for New York in 2009.

That’s 44 wins among three starters right there people.

 “Desperate”?

How many wins will Ivan Nova notch?  No one ones but I would not be scared to bet the house on eight wins.

Freddy Garcia has a decent chance to make the Roster.  He rebounded last year and won 12 games for Chicago. I am not fool, so I am not expecting that so let’s be reasonable and give him eight.

Okay.  Of those five starters, if that is how it falls (and who the heck knows), without Pettitte the Yankees starting rotation would notch 60 wins…

“Desperate”?

Garcia does not make it and Sergio Mitre is there? Okay—five wins for him, that’s still 57 wins by starters.

That is still two more than the 2009 World Champion Yankees and one less than the pretenders to the throne last season.

Hell, Sabathia could go down on injury in his first game and everyone else wins less than 10 games and the Yankees finish last.  What would Andy’s presence do then?

There is a reason they play the game one out and one inning at a time people.  No team wins games in the off season.  Calm your doom engine down.

The 2011 Yankee Bull pen, on paper, is a lot stronger than the 2009 version so excuse me if I actually seem hopeful. 

Pettitte, at best, would contribute maybe 14 wins, his yearly average, if healthy and playing a full season which it appears he won’t do.  At age 38,  the chances he works the entire season anyway given his health issues is a huge risk without enough reward for him, his family or the club.

Even if he returned and won 11 games, it is possible that Nova or Garcia can equal that total.

STOP before you go there—no way shape or form am I suggesting Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia are equal to Andy Pettitte.  I am using realistic reasoning here (hopeful is another word), to get everyone off the “we need Andy or Armageddon is a coming’” bandwagon of doom.

Oh and btw, before you start on the “Andy is a big game pitcher and we will need him for the playoffs!”  He is.  I cannot argue with that however, no one knew when he pitched his first post season game that he would be the post season stud he has become.  Another in pinstripes can be born this season, who knows.

Andy Pettitte is a big game pitcher.  Andy Pettitte is one of the greatest Yankees and left handed pitchers in the history of the game.

Andy Pettitte is also one man, aged 38, coming off a great season that fell far short due to injury.

Andy Pettitte is not the answer folks.  He is a cog in the machine—he is not the machine itself.

However, have faith though my friends, all is not totally lost.

Andy Pettitte is also a business man and a smart one at that.  He learned something of value from Roger Clemens, his former mentor.  No, I am not talking about using PEDs.

Pettitte has learned to earn a full season’s salary for half a season of work so if the Yankees are somehow still in the show at the half way mark, rest assured the call to Deer Park Texas will be made and Pettitte will once again don the pinstripes in yet another quest for Glory.

However, it would only happen under certain conditions.

The rotation the Yankees have, as rag tag as it is, is not far off from the cluster mess that showed up in 2008.  If each performs up to expectations or level of talent, the Yankees will be in position to make that call for Mr. Big Game at the mid mark.

Before he answers the call, it must be right for Pettitte. 

In order for that to happen the Yankees must be healthy.  They need Sabathia at his ultimate Cy Young best, Hughes to live up to his hype, Burnett to get his head from out his backside and just pitch and Nova, Garcia or someone else to step up and do the unexpected .

Pettitte will be back for the stretch run is there is one and if and only if it’s almost a certainty they will get in.  Andy wants to be along for the ride.

He just does not want to drive the bus.

Like I said earlier—the man is not stupid.

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Albert Pujols contract is up at the end of the year.  Oh, did you already know that?

Everyone in the baseball universe already knows that, of course, and we’ve got 19 days and counting left before his self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement with the Cardinals on an extension.  The two sides aren’t releasing much info on the progress of talks (to each side’s credit), but indications are that they’re still not especially close on their numbers.

If Pujols becomes a free agent in nine months, where could he go?  He’s been a model citizen in St. Louis, and is more the face of their franchise than any other player in any city.  He’s never played anywhere else, and he’s certainly seen how the LeBron drama played out last summer, with all the bad press he got for leaving Cleveland.  I can’t help but think that even if this reaches that point, he’d come back into the fold with the Cardinals.

Unlike LeBron in Cleveland, Pujols knows that the Cardinals are capable of putting together a team that can win it all, especially since they already did back in 2006.  With Matt Holliday locked up for another six years, he’s also got great lineup protection already in place for the long haul.  Fans of other teams can dream about him jumping ship to a rival (like the Chicago Cubs), but once they get the final questions ironed out, expect to see Pujols mashing in middle America for a long time to come.

MLB Spring Training is now just a few weeks away, and two of the biggest names looking to rebound from lost seasons in 2010 are Joe Nathan and Chipper Jones.

Nathan missed the entire season after blowing out his arm early last Spring Training and having Tommy John surgery.  But prior to that, he had been one of the best and most consistent closers in baseball.  He’s looking to regain that form in 2011.  As reported on TwinCities.com, Nathan expects to be ready to throw with no restrictions when pitchers and catchers report on February 17th.  His return to full strength is a key for a Twins team that lost a number of relievers this offseason.

Meanwhile, Chipper Jones has also quietly been rehabbing in his attempt to return from suffering a torn ACL last August.  He had previously been contemplating retirement, walking away into the sunset with the only Major League manager he had ever known, Bobby Cox.  But the injury was one factor that convinced him to give it one more go.  As reported by MLB.com, he’s battled some tendinitis recently, but has had no other setbacks, and is also planning on being ready to go in a few weeks.  With a more potent Braves lineup around him, like offseason acquisition Dan Uggla, Jones’ ability to get back in the swing of things is one of the team’s major question marks.

But if he is healthy, he’ll be another reason why the Braves can again contend this year.

As the month of February is upon us, baseball season gets a step closer to returning.

In a few short weeks, pitchers and catchers will be reporting for teams in Florida and Arizona.

In Tampa, the Yankees will begin their 2011 season with a few question marks, mostly residing in their starting rotation.

They wanted Cliff Lee, but lost out on him when he returned to the Phillies in perhaps the biggest surprise move of the winter.

The Yankees have been scrambling and searching all winter for a Plan B.

We all heard the ideas and suggestions tossed around on this site and many other sites.

Brandon Webb: he went to the Rangers.

Justin Duchscherer: he just signed with the Orioles.

Armando Galarraga: he was traded to the Diamondbacks.

Jeff Francis: he went to the Royals.

There is still Jeremy Bonderman, Kevin Millwood and Freddy Garcia out there who the Yankees have been linked to, options that might not sound too attractive to Yankees Universe.

There is still one name out there that would be the best option and may in fact always had been the best option after Lee.

Andy Pettitte.

As of February 1, Pettitte still has not decided on whether he wants to pitch in 2011 or completely hang up the spikes and retire for good.

We’ve heard all the rumors and speculation on Pettitte.

Mark Teixeira said when he last talked to Pettitte, he thought Pettitte was leaning towards retiring.

Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman feel as if he might be leaning towards retiring when Pettitte told them to go on without him.

But then there have been reports that Pettitte’s family has given him the go-ahead to pitch this season.

There are also reports that Pettitte has been working out in Texas to get himself into baseball shape.

Here’s my question, if he was leaning towards retirement, why would he be working out now? Seems like maybe Andy has had a change of heart.

The 38 year old left-hander has been drawn towards retirement for the last couple of seasons, but the passion of playing and winning a championship has drawn Pettitte back every time, which is why he left Houston after 2006 to return to the Bronx.

Pettitte did in fact win that championship with the Yankees in 2009, and nobody would have blamed him if he retired after that year, but he came back.

He pitched extremely well in the first half of 2010, earning himself a trip to the 2010 All Star Game. A two-month trip to the DL was the only thing that stopped Pettitte, but he still finished with an 11-3 record and a 3.28 ERA in just 21 starts.

In the playoffs, Pettitte went 1-1 and went inning for inning with Lee in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Rangers, but because Lee shutout the Yankees for eight innings, Pettitte left the game losing 2-0.

If Lee were not pitching that night, Pettitte and the Yankees win that game, so despite being away from two months with a groin injury, Pettitte still showed the world why he is a big-game money pitcher, and has been for 16 years.

This is why the Yankees still need Pettitte back for this season. If he couldn’t pitch anymore it would be one thing, but Andy still has capability to help the Yankees win.

If the season started right now, the Yankees rotation would look like CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett as the guaranteed starters with Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre as the possible back-end of the rotation.

While the first three of that rotation look good, the back end doesn’t, especially with Mitre, who is not a good starter at all. I’d be all for giving Nova that fifth spot and getting Andy back.

A rotation of Sabathia, Hughes, Burnett, Pettitte and Nova would be 100 times better going into the 2011 season. That rotation right there nearly got the Yankees to the World Series last season if not for Lee and the Rangers.

Aside from re-signing Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, the biggest move the Yankees made was signing Rafael Soriano to be the set-up man to Rivera, and to eventually take over as the future closer.

Until Soriano signed, their biggest moves were signing Russell Martin, Pedro Feliciano and Andruw Jones. Getting Soriano was a big move.

Getting Pettitte back would be the best move and the last one needed for the winter.

Some wonder if the potential Roger Clemens perjury trial has anything to do with holding up Pettitte’s decision.

It could, but honestly, I think if Andy wants to pitch, he’ll find a way to put those pinstripes on one last year.

And that’s all the fans are really hoping for out of him, one last season.

For the many fans of Yankees Universe, they are patiently waiting to hear his decision.

A decision that many hope will see number 46 throwing off a mound in Yankee Stadium in 2011.

One more year, Andy. No matter what happens, the fans will still love you no matter what, mostly for what you have accomplished in your 16 year career, 13 of them in the Bronx.

Hopefully, he’ll want to be a Yankee for the fans, his family and for himself one last time.

One thing is for certain though.

The Yankees need Andy Pettitte in 2011.

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Vladimir Guerrero joining the Baltimore Orioles is something that seems inevitable, but nonetheless, it hasn’t happened yet.

The O’s are still the only team confirmed to have offered Vladdy a contract, supposedly a one year deal for between $3 to $5 million.  The holdup is that Guerrero is looking for something more along the lines of $8 million.  Even that is a far cry from the 2 year deal for $16 million that he was said to be seeking at the beginning of the offseason.

The problem for Vlad seems to be that he’s past his sell by date.  Most other AL teams in need of a DH have found their solution for 2011.  Minnesota kept Jim Thome.  The Yankees signed Andruw Jones.  The Rangers are using Michael Young after Adrian Beltre supplanted him at third base.  The Rays took a chance on Manny Ramirez.  The A’s signed Hideki Matsui.  The Angels committed significant money to bring in Vernon Wells.

So while he’s certainly still a feared hitter, whatever market he once had has dried up.  His camp has tried to make the Orioles outbid themselves by floating a rumor of a better offer being out there, but that offer has never materialized, and the O’s seem to be standing firm.  Maybe he just doesn’t like Baltimore?

He’s still got a gun for an arm, but his dwindling mobility have limited his value.  Whenever he finally swallows his pride and goes to Baltimore, expect another big year from a seriously ticked off (read: motivated) Guerrero.