Pettitte and Yankees back together again

Well, that was easy!


Less than a day after Andy Pettitte informed the New York Yankees that he has another year of baseball in him, the two sides reached a fair deal that will bring the lefty back to the Bronx.

The deal was easy to negotiate because both sides really wanted each other. Pettitte could have decided to call it quits with no regrets after his comeback this year (he had a good year that was unfortunately interrupted by that freak ankle injury). But when he decided he wanted to keep pitching, the Yankees were the only option for him, especially with Brian Cashman reaching out early in the offseason to make sure Pettitte knew how wide the door was open for a return to the Bronx.

The Yankees desperately needed Pettitte to round out their rotation again. With Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda back in the mix, the Yankees have a solid 1-4 starting rotation and will roll the dice that one of their internal candidates can win the 5^th man job. But without Pettitte, the Yankees would have had a gaping hole in the middle of their rotation that would have been costly to fill at a time when they are really trying to stick to a budget.

With the Yankees expected to reach a relatively painless agreement with Mariano Rivera soon, the Key Three (Pettitte, Rivera and Derek Jeter) will be back in the pinstripes together for at least one more year. And that’s critical if the Yankees hope for success in 2013. For all the talk about the Yankees trying to get younger and all the attention Alex Rodriguez and other players receive, the Yankees rely on their core, home-grown veterans more than ever.