Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting that Andy Pettitte's agents are telling teams that he's got a serious, big-money offer on the table.
It's been a mystery to many why veteran left-hander Andy Pettitte hasn't taken the Yankees' $10-million offer. But here could be a clue as to why he hasn't: Pettitte's people apparently are telling folks he has a $36-million, three-year offer from another, unnamed team.
You know how to tell that Pettitte doesn't have a three-year, $36 million offer on the table? He hasn't signed it nor has he signed off on the $10 million from the Yankees. If Pettitte really wants to keep playing baseball, he would take one of those two offers and start working out down in Houston, although not with his former workout partner Roger Clemens.
Heyman reports that the Yankees haven't upped their offer in the face of this news, which either indicates they don't believe it exists or that they could care less about losing Pettitte now that they've got CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Those are both smarter courses of action than digging any deeper to pay Pettitte when there are several other pitchers on the market who could fulfill the innings-eating, league average pitching role that Pettitte would play next season.
The Yankees have made it pretty obvious that they'll pay any amount to land the players that they really, really want. Pettitte may be peeved that he has to take a $6 million paycut, but if he's sincere about his desire to play for the Yankees that's really the only shot he's got. Otherwise, we'll see you at Old-Timer's day.
