Pettitte in Boston? Why not...

The Bottom Line

December 29, 2008

Pettitte in Boston? Why not...

7 Comments

By bottomlinesox

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Andy Pettitte - Keith Allison

After dropping over $400M on Sabathia and Burnett... the Yankees have reportedly told Andy Pettitte that his price is too high and that they're going to give Phil Hughes another shot.

Since the Yankees out bid us for Teixeira and added insult to injury by signing Kevin Cash... I say we give Andy and call and ask him to come to Boston.

Pettitte's career numbers at Fenway are pretty solid: 6-2 in 13 starts with a 3.53 ERA and his AL East stats are pretty impressive:

vs BOS - 16-8, 3.74 ERA

vs TB - 15-4, 3.63 ERA

vs BAL - 25-6, 3.73 ERA

vs TOR - 17-11, 4.19 ERA

Total - 73-29 (0.72 W%), 3.82 ERA

I know lefties tend to struggle in Fenway and Pettite's career BAA at the Fens is .296... but Jon Lester proved that southpaws can succeed at Fenway in 2008: 11-1, 2.49 ERA, .240 BAA.

Bottom Line: The Yankees reportedly offered Pettite a 1-year, $10M deal, but refused to go any higher. There are also rumors of multi-year deals ranging up to $36M, possibly from the Rangers or Dodgers.

The Sox took a chance with Penny at the cost of $5M... they won't give a 37 year old lefty $36M and multiple years, but some feel that his connection to Roger Clemens and the steroid issue will make it tough for him to sign a new deal.

Pettite did win 14 games for the Yanks last year and I'd love to watch him stick it to the Yankees as a Red Sox...

That's gotta be worth a phone call from Theo... right?

Tags: Andy Pettitte, Boston Red Sox, Brad Penny, Jon Lester, New York Yankees

Discussion

7 Comments on "Pettitte in Boston? Why not..."

Posted by Sean O, December 29, 2008 5:30 PM

Why not, indeed. While we've never had a single bit of luck with any former Yankee signing with the Sox, doesn't mean this one would go as poorly as all the rest.

If we can get him for $10m or so, I'd be all for it. No multi-year, definitely, but I see no reason why we shouldn't kick the tires. And I hate Pettitte as a person.

Posted by Gerry, December 30, 2008 2:35 AM

Sean, I can't believe you would hate anyone, and would like to know what about Pettite makes you feel that way. Would RedSox Nation or the players feel the same? Important question.

Posted by Sean O, December 30, 2008 4:19 AM

You mean the hypocritical pile of crap who wrote a book about how he lives his life based on purity while he was lying about injecting steroids into his ass? Or the fact that his story kept changing once he was caught, where he kept remembering all the other times he injected himself?

Posted by Gerry, December 30, 2008 6:39 AM

Thanks, Sean. Enhances my preference for, if we are to sign a veteran, Schilling, Smoltz or even Pedro or Colon.

Posted by Ryne Crabb, December 30, 2008 3:49 PM

What's funny is ... BottomLineSox has the story right, the Yankees are ready to ditch Pettite. However, on ESPN.com rumor's tab on the front page, the lead story for some time now has been the Yankees are preparing an offer to lock up the veteran ... what a joke.

If you don't have ESPN Insider, they feed you nothing but crap on the "free insider info"

Posted by Shane, December 30, 2008 3:58 PM

If the Sox got Pettitte and Penny turned out the be healthy at the beginning of the year, what would they do? Wake or Penny to the pen?

Posted by Sean O in reply to comment from Shane, December 30, 2008 6:06 PM

I am a big fan of starting Penny in the, uh, pen regardless. Give him some time to get accustomed to AL hitting without being thrown into it, and effectively shortening the game for our fatigue-prone SPs.

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Pettitte in Boston? Why not...

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