Andy Pettitte

With the Yankees having signed 3 type A free agents (Teixeira, Sabathia and Burnett) - correct me if I'm wrong - they cannot sign another type A free agent because they are at the limit set by the CBA.

That means that Andy Pettitte and his agent may have the Yankees over a barrel. They can't sign another pitcher and without Pettitte the Yankees are no better off pitching wise than they were last year (the incoming combo of Sabathia and Burnett is marginally better then the combo of Mussina and Pettitte).

They can sign one type B because they are losing Pudge Rodriguez - so that means Jon Garland, Brad Penny or Randy Wolf as possible options other than Pettitte.

Am I wrong in my reading of the situation?

 

The Yankees can replace as many Type A free agents as they lose, PLUS the additional one, two or three Type A free agents allowed (a number based on how many Type A's are available).

Therefore, the Yankees can re-sign any of their own Type A free agents, no matter who else they've already signed.

I'm not sure how many Type A free agents are allowed to be signed this year, but the Yanks also lost Abreu (a Type A) and Pudge (a Type B).

 

Sabathia and Burnett are only marginally better than Mussina and Pettitte? Not sure I agree there, but I guess that depends on how you define "marginally."

Getting Wang back after he started only 15 games in '08 should also make an impact.

 

Yanks signed Kevin Cash yesterday.

 

Well that just fucks everything up.

 

I guess compared to last year, but I think most of us would take Sabathia and Burnett going forward.

 

...has never taken steroids in my kitchen.

 

Compared to last year, it was certainly not marginal.

 

Outside of Torre and the Dodgers, where else can Pettitte go and get prtety good money?

I don't think he has the Yanks hostage -- they can very easily go with a rotation of Wang, Sabathia, Burnett, Joba and let Hughes, Kennedy and Aceves fight it out for the fifth spot.

 

True, and Pettitte isn't worth more than $10 million for a season at this point. I don't think this is even about possibly taking more money to go elsewhere. This is about Pettitte being upset because the Yankees are spending like crazy to bring in these free agents, but they are holding firm with him.

 

Why should Pettitte be upset?

He's 36 coming off 14-14, 4.54...including 2-7, 6.23 in his last 11 starts

CC is 28 coming off 17-10, 2.70
Burnett is 31 coming off 18-10, 4.07


Pettitte should be happy anyone wants to pay him $10 mill

 

Using 2008 numbers:

Sabathia 17-10 / 35 GS / 253 IP / 76 ER / 2.70 ERA
Burnett 18-10 / 35 GS / 221 IP / 100 ER / 4.07 ERA
Combined 35-20 / 70 GS / 474 IP / 3.34 ERA / 6.77 IP/GS

Mussina 20-9 / 34 GS / 200 IP / 75 ER / 3.37 ERA
Pettitte 14-14 / 33 GS / 204 IP / 103 ER / 4.54 ERA
Combined 34-23 / 67 GS / 404 IP / 3.97 ERA / 6 IP/GS

The incoming tandem had 1 more win and 3 fewer losses (and yes I know how subjective wins and losses are). Even if you added 4 additional wins to the Yankees in 2008 - they still would have finished in 3rd place.

Probably most significant among the above stats is the fact that the new combo pitched about 1 more inning per start than the old combo. The Yankees bullpen was a weak spot for the team last year (and probably next as well) so going deeper into a start is a big plus. The caveat that has to be noted is that both CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett had their career bests in innings pitched last year. Asking them to match those numbers may be asking too much. It is very likely that the extra inning per start will evaporate and the production levels will be along the lines of what Mussina and Pettitte contributed.

An independent measurement of a player's contributions is Bill James' Win Share Method (where 4 win shares = one team win). Here's how the 4 players did in 2008:

Sabathia 25 WS
Mussina 18 WS
Burnett 14 WS
Pettitte 11 WS

Based upon those numbers the incoming duo had 10 more win shares which translates to 2.5 more wins.

Marginally better.