What Will Andy Do?

Here’s an interesting set of comments from Andy Pettitte (via the NY Post):

Andy Pettitte isn’t discounting his hectic offseason in which he was named in the Mitchell Report and testified in front of Congress about buddy Roger Clemens as a reason he hasn’t had the type of year he expected.”I feel beaten up this year, maybe. I wasn’t able to work out, you know what I went through,” said Pettitte, who was behind at the beginning of spring training. “There were times I didn’t want to leave the house never mind work out.”

Pettitte, a free agent, says he wants to decide quickly this winter whether to play again.

That could certainly explain Pettitte’s lackluster performance in the second half. He’s had his good days but he’s also had his bad days which, of course, were awful (even on his good days he looked like he was struggling). Pettitte had solid numbers in the first half and he’s usually a second half pitcher so a bout with dead arm could possibly explain the situation in relation to his offseason workout program (or lack thereof). However, the Yankee offense hasn’t backed Andy enough either, and whenever he seems to have a solid performance, the team can’t score him any runs. Hopefully that will change today.

Here’s what Pettitte had to say on returning next year (via the NY Times):

Andy Pettitte, who starts on Wednesday, said he does not know if he will pitch next season but has no interest in playing for any team but the Yankees. “Obviously anyone else would say, ‘I’ll go wherever I want to,’ because people want to try to get the most money,” Pettitte said. “But, I mean, I’m not going anywhere, you know what I’m saying? The Yankees know me enough, it’s not like I’m going to hold out. I guess if I had spent all my money or whatever, it might be different. But it’s not about that, really, anymore.” Pettitte said he would talk with his wife and oldest son in hopes of making a decision sooner than he did last winter, when he waited until December to tell the Yankees he would return.

It sounds kind of selfish and maybe I’m not being as thankful as I should be, but, I don’t think Pettitte really has any choice on the matter. Based on his performance this year, he’ll have to figure out what he wants to do and do it quickly. The team can’t afford to twist in the wind while there are perfectly good pitchers available on the free agent market for 2009. I’d like to see Andy return as our 4th or 5th starter and I think he can rebound a bit (his leadership is key), however, there will be no waiting until December for that to happen and I’m assuming that the Yankees will get him at a discount this year ($11 or 12 million?).