This has to be a major coup for the Yankees. It looked like things were falling apart after the whole Joe Torre thing but the Yankees now are putting the finishing touches on signing the fourth of their big four potential free agents. Andy Pettitte, through his agent, has said he’ll return for one more year for the $16 million option he had in his contract.
This is pretty huge because with the question marks surrounding Mike Mussina, the Yankees needed a veteran prescence in the rotation and Pettitte fits that bill admirably. He was also one of the guys who helped the Yanks win four World Series in five years and I think he saw the Yankees definitely have a chance of winning it all in 2008.
Now, they just have to get on or off the Johan Santana band wagon. That would be huge pickup considering the Red Sox are one of the other front runners for his services but with the Yankees solid core of talent, you could be looking at a Yankees team that is good for some years to come. Still, nabbing Santana would put the Yankees as the front runners heading into the 2008 season.
