The LoHud Yankees Blog

Andy Pettitte signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Yankees that — after much negotiation — was laden with incentives.

Pettitte was able to earn bonus payments based on how many days he spent on the active roster and how many innings he pitched.

Tomorrow will be his 170th day on the roster. That will give him an extra $1.6 million, a figure that will rise to $2 million once the season is over and he reaches 180 days.

Pettitte also has thrown 184.1 innings. That has paid off to the tune of $2.25 million. He is 5.2 innings shy of another $750,000. If Pettitte gets to 200 innings, that would be an additional $750,000.

With two starts left, it’s likely Pettitte will only break the 190-inning threshold. When it’s all said and done, he’ll probably get $5 million in extras for a total salary of $10.5 million.

Given the state of the free-agent market last winter, that’s a pretty good figure for Andy and his agents, the Hendricks Brothers. The Yankees also will be pleased knowing they received the value of that many innings, a vast majority of them good ones.

———–

Speaking of agents, Scott Boras has a suite right behind the plate at Angel Stadium and almost always arrives early to watch batting practice and consult with his clients. At one point yesterday, Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez were literally lined up to speak to Boras.

Fans get riled up about Boras. But it’s important to remember that the players hire him to represent them. He’s only doing what they ask him to do. Given the amount of money in the game, a player has every right to get what he can.

————

UPDATE, 4:05 p.m.: The new Boras ESPN commercial is hilarious. Watch it here:

watch?v=SIcV6I7GiPo

This from the Yankees:

The New York Yankees will hold two special ceremonial first pitches during the team’s final regular season homestand to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Panama President Ricardo Martinelli will do the honor the night before, on Friday, September 25, prior to the Yankees’ 7:05 p.m. game vs. Red Sox.

————–

If you’re the president of Panama, one would assume that staying on the good side of Mariano Rivera is key to retaining power. One word from the Sandman and you’re out.

As for Judge Sotomayor, hopefully she will be able to take the time to rule on these thorny disputes that have long troubled the Yankees. The backlog of cases includes:

Cabrera v. Gardner.

Torre v. Levine

Mussina v. Pavano

Joba in the rotation v. Joba in the bullpen

UZR and WAR v. Intangibles and Leadership

Common sense v. Pitching Brian Bruney

Posada v. Burnett

Hal v. Hank

Ran into Xavier Nady in the clubhouse after the game on Monday. He has rejoined the team and will accompany them back to New York and remain with them through the end of the season.

“I’m along for the ride now,” he said.

Nady had Tommy John surgery in early July after a failed try and rehabbing his torn ligament. It was the second time Nady has had the surgery but he’s hopeful of being ready to play some spring training. He is limited to rehab exercises at the moment but can start throwing again in November or December.

Nady, who lives in southern California, has been at home since the surgery. He’s a popular guy with his teammates, even if they haven’t seen much of him this season.

“He is the best,” Nick Swisher said. “We all feel for him. It’s great to have him around again.”

Nady is only 30 and — don’t forget — was the starting right fielder when the season got under way. The Yankees will have some interesting decisions to make as they construct their outfield for 2010 and perhaps Nady will be considered for a spot

Andy Pettitte’s return to the rotation was a positive but the Yankees lost again in Anaheim.

Chad Gaudin has a chance to move up in the rotation as he faces the Angels tonight.

The Yankees have an eye on a Cuban pitcher. This notebook also has updates on Hideki Matsui, Dave Robertson and Xavier Nady.

————

If you’re interested, here is the link to a radio interview I did yesterday for WTIC in Hartford with Joe D’Ambrosio. Go over to the right side of the page and it’s under “Sports Talk.”

Joe is the voice of UConn sports and an old friend from way back.

Let’s start out with the good news, and indeed it is good news.

Andy Pettitte went six innings, threw 91 pitches and said his left shoulder felt good. His health is of paramount concern as the Yankees prepare for the postseason.

Now for the bad news. The Yankees have lost six of 10 and are stumbling around a bit. I’m sure those inclined to panic are lining up at assorted bridges and tall buildings. But the Yankees will wrap up a playoff spot and the division soon enough.

But home field is a serious concern. The Angels trail the Yankees by 4.5 games for the best record in the American League and there are two more games left in this series. The Yankees are running Chad Gaudin and A.J. Burnett out there the next two days. If Anaheim sweeps, the Yankees have some issues.

The Yankees are 5-18 at Angels Stadium in the last five seasons and 0-4 this season, getting outscored 34-20. They simply don’t play well here and have not for years.

If the Yankees play the Angels in the ALCS, I think the team with home field wins. It’s that simple.

Meanwhile, Dave Robertson looks better and better with every day that passes, doesn’t he? With Robertson out, Joe Girardi went to Brian Bruney in the seventh inning and he gave up a home run to Kendry Morales that just seconds ago passed over Brazil.

Bruney said his mechanics were improved and that he “wasn’t aggressive enough” with the pitch to Morales. Meanwhile he has allowed 28 hits — six of them home runs — and 15 walks in his last 21.1 innings.

Jonathan Albaladejo came out for the eighth inning and he, too, gave up a run. Shocker.

Girardi manages his bullpen a lot like Joe Torre did. You have relievers who pitch with leads or when the score is tied and relievers who pitch when the team is losing.

The “winning” relievers are Rivera, Hughes, Aceves, Robertson and Coke.

The “losing” relievers are Bruney, Mitre, Towers and the assorted September call-ups like Albaladejo.

The difference is that Girardi allows more guys into the circle of trust than Torre ever did, which cuts down on visits to see Dr. Andrews. But every manager has basically two pools of relievers.

Here is Girardi talking about the game and his use of the bullpen:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thanks to everybody for reading today. Back at it tomorrow.

But the Yankees have lost six of their last 10. Back in a bit with some reaction.

YANKEES (95-55)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Swisher RF
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (13-6, 4.14).

ANGELS (89-60)
Figgins 3B
Aybar SS
Abreu RF
Guerrero DH
Hunter CF
Rivera LF
Kendrick 2B
Quinlan 1B
Mathis C

Pitching: LHP Joe Saunders (13-7, 4.75).

TIME/TV: 10:05, YES.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: There is a little hitch in the giddy-up of the Yankees. They lost two of three in Seattle and have dropped five of their last nine. Their lead on the Red Sox is down to five games with 12 to play. The magic number at the moment is nine.

BIG GAME FOR BIG-GAME ANDY: Andy Pettitte will be pitching on nine days of rest as the Yankees were concerned about a “fatigued” shoulder. He has been terrific since the All-Star break but has allowed seven runs on nine hits and eight walks in his last 11 innings. Keep an eye on how he looks as the game goes on as that is when his shoulder could bother him.

ON THE MARK: Mark Teixeira is 16 of his last 33 with 10 extra-base hits, six runs scored and 12 RBI. His batting average climbed from .281 to .292. Of his 167 hits this season, 82 have been for extra-bases. He was 7 for 12 in the Seattle series.

MATSUI MANIA: Hideki Matsui is 18 of his last 44 with three homers and 12 RBI. He is up to.278. His last double was on Aug. 29.

POWER OUTAGE: Alex Rodiguez has six home runs in his last 199 at-bats. He is 4 of his last 21 with one RBI. But keep in mind he loves hitting at Angel Stadium. He has hit .335 there with 35 home runs. It’s the most home runs for any park he has not called home in his career.

CURSE OF THE MONKEY: The Yankees are 5-17 in their last 23 games at Angel Stadium. They were swept in a three-game series in July, getting outscored 29-18. The Yankees are 3-4 against the Angels this season.

NOT DELIVERING: Melky Cabrera is 1 of his last 16.

RISKY WITH RISP: The Yankees have seven hits in their last 39 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: Searching For A Heart by Don Henley from the Warren Zevon tribute record Enjoy Every Sandwich.

Back later with more.

UPDATE, 7:34 p.m.: Girardi said he wanted to load up the lineup with right-handed hitters, hence the absence of Matsui. … Girardi reacted to Joba Chamberlain’s comments by saying that the right-hander does in fact need to pitch better, whether he says so in public or not. A few minutes later, Girardi mentioned that Chad Gaudin could work his way onto the postseason roster.

UPDATE, 7:46 p.m.: Here is what Girardi said:

“I think that at times any one can be in some form of denial. What he tells you and what he says to us can be two different things. Players are positive people and they’re confident people. But there is no doubt about it: Joba needs to pitch better. He knows that. He’ll be the first one to tell you he knows that.

“One or two bad pitches usually doesn’t lead to seven runs unless there’s some errors or funny things that happen. That was not the game he’s capable of pitching. We need him to pitch much better this weekend.”

UPDATE, 8:54 p.m.: Xavier Nady is on the field watching the Yankees take batting practice. It’s the first time he has been around the team since his Tommy John surgery in May. X will be a free agent after the season. He’s a nice guy and it’s a shame what happened to him. This is the second time he has had the surgery.

UPDATE, 8:58 p.m.: Phil Coke is back at the hotel with what is being called “acute gastritis.” He will not be available today.

UPDATE, 10:35 p.m.: Sorry for the delay with the Angels lineup. Had some issues getting on line here in Anaheim. I finally gave up and rebooted, which is what I should have done in the first place.

Meanwhile, this is not a promising start for Andy Pettitte. The question now is whether this is being rusty or whether his shoulder his bothering him.

UPDATE, 11:05 p.m.: Andy has retired seven straight and looks good. Maybe it was just some rustiness. Now the Yankees need to get the bats going.

To try and calm the bridge-jumpers in the comments section, I’ve asked the Elias Sports Bureau to check if any team in history has ever come back from a 2-0 deficit after the third inning. They’re checking.

UPDATE, 11:32 p.m.: That’s on Johnny Damon. Quinlan tagged up and went to third when Damon caught the fly ball ball by Figgins. That allowed him to scored on the single.

Poor outfield communication has been a problem for the Yankees off and on this season. There’s really no excuse for it. The center fielder is supposed to catch every ball he can get to. Damon knows that.

Meanwhile, that inning is a little concern as it was around this time his last start when Andy started having issues.

UPDATE, 11:54 p.m.: As reported in the pre-game notes, Alex does love hitting here.

Meanwhile, Brian Bruney in a 3-1 game?

UPDATE, 11:59 p.m.: It’s not that complicated. Brian Bruney hasn’t been a good pitcher since he came off the disabled list. He should not pitch in close games. Where was Alfredo Aceves?

UPDATE, 12:09 a.m.: The mistake of using Bruney gets magnified now as Matsui drills a pinch-hit homer to center field. Instead of 3-2, it’s 4-2.

The Minnesota Twins have played 149 games and are three games out of first place. Joe Mauer leads the American League in batting average (.374), on-base percentage (.442) and slugging percentage (.611).

He also has 88 RBI in 124 games and has scored 88 runs. Did I mentioned that he is a catcher?

It seems safe to say at this point that the first decision to make when filling out an MVP ballot is who comes in second.

I’m planning to submit my ballot after the final game of the regular season. The biggest questions in my mind are:

• Which Yankee — Teixeira or Jeter — should be first on the list? Should Mariano Rivera get a vote?

• Where do you figure in Zack Greinke and Felix Hernandez?

• The Red Sox have the second-best record in the game at the moment and should be represented. Kevin Youkilis belongs on the list, and fairly high.

It’s an interesting process.

Meanwhile, for those who have asked, I informed BBWAA national secretary Jack O’Connell that I am switching jobs and offered to give up my vote. But he said that since I will have covered the entire regular season for a newspaper in New York, I can continue to be one the two New York voters.

Keep in mind that the MVP covers only those accomplishments of the regular season.

UPDATE, 5:22 p.m.: MVP talk always stirs debate and it has again. Jeter has had a terrific season and is worthy of recognition. But Mauer is having an historically significant season and is doing so while playing a premium defensive position.

Jeter is eighth on his own team in OPS and seventh in OPS+. And spare me the “he’s great leader” stuff. Do you think Joe Mauer walks around kicking old ladies and discouraging his teammates from playing well? I’ll check to make sure, but I’m guessing he does not.

Nobody outside of the team — and that includes reporters — can quantify leadership. That is impossible. I personally believe Jeter is a very fine leader. But I can’t say he’s any better at that than Mauer is. How would I know?

I’ve tried to look at every statistic — even those I find fishy — and I’ve talked to a bunch of people to solicit opinions. It keeps coming back to Mauer every time.

It’s not a lifetime achievement award. There’s a nice building in Cooperstown for that. It’s the MVP for 2009.

Joba Chamberlain hasn’t won a game since Aug. 6 and now sports a 4.72 ERA. But Joe Girardi said on Sunday that Joba would be the No. 4 starter in the postseason.

What do you think?

Vote in the poll over on the right for your choice behind CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte. Phil Hughes is not listed as a choice because it would be impossible to stretch him out at this point.

Joba’s demise makes it almost certain the Yankees will take the longer division series — assuming they get a choice — so they can use only three starters. But a fourth starter would probably be needed in the ALCS unless the Yankees decide to use Sabathia on short rest.

A secondary question, perhaps, is whether Joba deserves to be on the roster for the division series.

Tonight: LHP Andy Pettitte (13-6, 4.14) vs. LHP Joe Saunders (13-7, 4.75), 10:05, YES

Tuesday: RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0 3.68) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (7-8, 5.43), 10:05, MY9/MLB Network

Wednesday: RHP A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.22) vs. LHP Scott Kazmir (9-8, 5.08), 3:35, YES