[ESPN Buster Olney] Pettitte will return to the Yankees

Pitching wins ballgames. This was just dumb. "Dreighton" couldn't sign him for that much after signing fat Carlos Lee for 6 years and $100 million?

 

i don't know about 16million for andy. i would have been fine with 12 million plus the option for next year but and that's only if you believe the hendricks brothers are telling the truth about that part. let new york have him at that price.

no way this team is standing pat, after investing in lee and williams. wouldn't make sense. atleast now andy is behind us and we can move on.

i say throw the roger and andy money at zito, trade enserg for some bullpen help and call it an offseason.

roy,barry,woody,hirsh,sampson/buccholz. i'm GREAT with that.

 

correct me if im wrong but didnt he make 17 or 18 million last year?

 

Justice is throwing an absolute hissy-fit at his blog...

In some ways, I agree with him (just not as vehemently). I really think the Woody Williams signing was dumb... he's a good guy to have if everything else is in place, but commiting $12 million to him over the next 2 years definitely had to play a role in the overall budget, and how the Astros started cramping down on the big contract offer to Pettite.

Drayton has emotions, he has feelings, he has money... sometimes those things definitely mix, and you get mixed results (Clemens gets an $18 million deal, a pro-rated $20 million deal... and Andy gets zilch).

You can also look at the fact that he probably maxed out the "love affair" the city can have with these two guys (and that's evident by the amount of "let them go" posts we have in this thread alone)... having those guys around no longer felt as special as it did back in 2004.

Then again... this could definitely come back to bite the Astros in the ass (at least for this year)... they're now going to be back to being an afterthought nationally, and unless they get more pitching, an afterthought locally.

 

3yrs/31.5M

 

LOL TYPICAL ASTROS

ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A HOMETOWN DISCOUNT

 

Lets put Troy Patton in the rotation... let him be our version of what Andy Pettite was back in 96. (I guess since he's only 20... we'd probably have to wait till next year for that comparison to be accurate).

 

16 million for a 5+ ERA in the AL East. Nice!!!

 

but wasnt it backloaded so he made a lot more last year? i think it was

 

Even understanding that they hadn't ever won a playoff series before those guys got here, I don't see how making the World Series and getting swept gets you anything more than a NL pennant hat and t-shirt...which I promptly give away (because really, those are some cheap ass products).

Point being, the idea here should be winning World Series, not getting there.

If a valid argument can be made that signing Andy for $16 million a year, AND giving him a player option for the same price the next year (with what, a verbal guarantee that if he gets injured he won't take the option...what if he is just an average pitcher again, will he promise not to take the option, then) would get us any closer to winning the World Series in the future, than that is valid.

The fact that those 2 were on the team the one time they got there in the past doesn't seem to hold much water.

What is best for the Astros as a team going forward?? IMO, it's not paying Pettite that kidn of money and waiting for Roger to make a decision halfway through the season, again.

 

The Mets, with all the money they spend/waste, have just as many World Series appearences as the Astros the last 6 years... Yadier Molina?!?

 

There is no better big game pitcher in baseball than Andy Pettitte

 

Forget Patton.....get the deal done for Garland and sign Suppan....or trade for Jennings...i dont see Zito as an option for us

 

Right, his contract was funkified to fit within the budget in '04. He wasn't, in reality, a 5.5M pitcher in '04, and wasn't a 17.5M pitcher last year. Take the average, 10.5M

 

The price would have 14 mil for the Astros not 16 mil folks. I'm not sure what to think about losing Andy. I'm not so sure he would have been worth 14 mil in 2007 and 2008, but the dropoff after Oswalt is staggering.

This has the potential to be a Cubs like season of disappointment if we don't get some more pitching.

 

Its not bad... but I think you're overrating a Woody Williams who didn't pitch a full season last year, and when he did, he pitched in the best pitchers park in the majors.

I would have LOVED Woody on this team 3 years ago... now, it just seems meaningless to have a 40-something pitcher if we don't get legitamite #2, #3 guys.

Hell, let Hirsh, Albers, and Patton get some seasoning... they'll be the next Smoltz, Avery, Glavine.

 

The problem to me is that Andy at $14MM is much better value than Jon Garland for $11MM + Willy + Buchholz + perhaps Hirsh (depending on which rumors you believe). Beyond just his general success, you also have a whole lot of postseason experience and poise. It seems that if we are willing to pay Garland's salary, we should be willing to pay Pettitte's. This is very odd if it's true that we declined that.

 

Ever hear of John Smoltz?