The LoHud Yankees Blog

Former Yankees outfielder Justin Christian — once one of the feel-good stories of the Yankees farm system – has signed a minor league deal with the Giants. The deal does not include an invitation to big league camp.

Undrafted out of Southeast Missouri State, Christian slowly built some prospect stock and played his way to the big leagues in 2008, hitting .250 and stealing seven bases during his brief tenure on the Yankees bench. He was non-tendered that winter — and wound up injured in 2009 — but the Yankees brought Christian back last season and he hit 297/.374/.472 in Double-A, with a handful of games in Triple-A.

He went to Mexico this offseason and hit .356/.452/.561 in winter ball, and he’s now Mexico’s center fielder in the Caribbean Series (the team’s first baseman is Jorge Vazquez).

Christian was always easy to dismiss as a prospect, partially because he went undrafted out of a small school and partially because he came through the system with Brett Gardner (a similar but much more highly touted player). Covering minor league ball, I always appreciated guys like Christian — or J-Sizzle, as the guys called him — who had to earn absolutely everything.

He’s a good guy, with a good story. Good luck to him.

Associated Press photo

The bench is perhaps the easiest thing to upgrade at the trade deadline. Solid role players, who can fill a specific hole, are generally prevalent and inexpensive. The Yankees made deadline bench moves each of the past five years.

2006: Sal Fasano and Craig Wilson
2007: Jose Molina and Wilson Betemit
2008: Ivan Rodriguez and Xavier Nady
2009: Eric Hinske and Jerry Hairston Jr.
2010: Austin Kearns and Lance Berkman

With the exception of Nady — who was more of a regular than a reserve — none of the moves cost much in terms of prospects, and all were made because a need had presented itself in the course of the season.

That’s why, on February 5, it’s hard to sweat that last spot on the bench. It’s almost certainly going to change during the season. Actually, it’s probably going to change several times, and right now, no team is in a position to know what it will most need out of that final spot.

As it stands, the Yankees have three bench spots set (or at least, they know exactly what kind of players are going to fill those spot).

Backup catcher
Francisco Cervelli is probably the front-runner. Jesus Montero or Austin Romine might do enough to win the spot, if they prove productive enough to deserve regular at-bats.

Fourth outfielder
This spot belongs to Andruw Jones. There are other outfielders coming to camp looking for jobs, but Jones is the only one with a definite role.

Utility infielder
Specifically, someone who can play shortstop. That pretty much means either Eduardo Nunez or Ramiro Pena.

The fourth and final spot on the bench could go to any one of at least nine candidates: Nunez, Pena, Eric Chavez, Ron Belliard, Colin Curtis, Greg Golson, Justin Maxwell, Kevin Russo or Brandon Laird. That’s not accounting for the possibility of someone like Jorge Vazquez, Melky Mesa, Dan Brewer or David Adams making an unexpected impression in camp.

Chavez and Belliard are the new guys, the veterans signed to minor league deals and brought to camp to compete. Both have third base experience, and obviously the Yankees would like to have someone who could give Alex Rodriguez a DH day fairly regularly. But they’ll both have to prove they have something left.

If they don’t, no harm done. If they show something in spring training and fall apart during the season, they’ll be easily replaceable. If the Yankees decide they’d rather give that spot to a fifth outfielder, it’s no loss for the team.

This is the last spot on the bench, and the Yankees might as well give everyone a look and a chance. Right now there’s no way of knowing what kind of player they’ll need in that spot, and there’s certainly no way of knowing who will be filling it on August 1.

Associated Press photos of Hairston and Chavez

As you probably suspect, there are plenty of leftover notes from yesterday’s Andy Pettitte press conference. Of course, one bit that’s been making the rounds is Pettitte’s comment about leaving the door open for a possible — but unlikely — return in 2012.

“I don’t know what I’m going to feel like two months from now, three months from now,” he said during the televised portion of the press conference.

During a separate interview session with the print media, Pettitte addressed the same issue.

“You asked me that, and maybe I talked too much, but I just start thinking,” he said. “If my stomach was just churning once Opening Day started, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have made a huge mistake,’ and I felt like that the whole season, I cant’ say that I wouldn’t say that I wouldn’t consider to maybe do it again. But I can tell you right now that I’d be embarrassed because of what I’ve done right now. You know what I’m saying? Again, maybe I’m talking too much. I’m just telling you, I’m giving you an honest answer. And I might be so embarrassed that I wouldn’t ever play again.

“But I don’t think that’s going to happen because I’ve felt this way for so long deep down, and also because I’ve got such a good peace about it. I know that I’m going to be good with it, but I can definitely tell you for sure that I’m not going to play this year. I’m sold out on that, 100 percent.”

If you’re interested, here’s the audio from Pettitte session with the writers. You can probably tell that most of the writers have an easy, familiar relationship with him.

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• Pettitte said he has no interest in becoming a manager or pitching coach. “No, I don’t think so,” he said. “Too much time. I know how much time it takes. It’s just not anything right now that I can tell you that I would have any desire to do at all.”

• Pettitte would, however, like to be around the team (maybe as something like a spring training instructor) when his kids are older. “When things slow down, I would definitely imagine,” he said. “I have no idea, but right now I can tell you I would imagine I would.”

• Brian Cashman said the Freddy Garcia signing has been in the works for weeks and was not a reaction to Pettitte. “I talked to (agent) Peter Greenberg throughout the winter saying I’d have an interest in Freddy as a non-roster invite,” Cashman said. “It took until Monday to get a non-roster invite agreement banged out as they searched to see what their options were.”

• Joe Girardi said the Yankees rookie starter could go a long way toward solidifying the rotation. “Obviously, you need a guy like (Ivan) Nova to develop,” Girardi said. “It’s important that he develops and continues to get better, like a Phil Hughes would. If he doesn’t, we’ll have to address that situation. It’s not as etched in stone as it would have been if Andy Pettitte were here. But I believe there’s enough talent in that room to get it done.”

• Although it look similar, Girardi said this rotation doesn’t feel similar to the 2008 group. “Does it feel the same? No, because I don’t really look at it as expecting a lot from two rookies,” Girardi said. “We’re looking at one rookie to step up. I think our bullpen is stronger than it was back then, which I think makes a difference. I think we have a chance to have a dynamite bullpen and I think that changes the complexion of the rotation.”

• Girardi on the personality shift without Pettitte: “Guys will step up. The thing is, it’s the personality that you can’t replace. No one ever replaced Paul O’Neill’s personality, no one ever replaced Bernie’s personality, no one every replaced Tino’s personality. But you’ll still have 25 personalities in there and it will still be a good clubhouse. It’s just going to be a little bit different now.”

• Not sure who I was talking to at the time, but I missed the Bernie Williams group session. He said he might make his retirement official at some point this year.

Associated Press photos

The Yankees have already have felt the sting of a diminished free agent market, and that reality came front and center during yesterday’s press conference. The Yankees needed pitching this winter, but they found a market that offered one appealing option.

“I’ve been pursuing things,” Brian Cashman said yesterday. “But when Cliff made his declaration of going to Philadelphia, all of the inventory that we liked came off the board.”

The Yankees really didn’t miss out on much during their pursuit of Cliff Lee, but when he chose the Phillies, the Yankees were left sorting through leftovers. They were left bargaining with pitchers who offered some possibility but no reliability.

“The remaining inventory that could help us, it’d have to be under the right circumstances,” Cashman said. “Freddy Garcia is a potential guy who could help us, but not one that I was willing to guarantee anything. We’ll see him in the spring and that’s the same with anything else that’s on the board.”

As Sean pointed out this morning, next year’s market isn’t likely to be overflowing with rotation talent either. It’s entirely possible that Cashman pounced on the last viable rotation market we’ll see for a while, and while the trade market is still active, it’s also predictably expensive. Player development remains the most cost-effective way of adding talent, and that makes the success of the Yankees young pitchers pivotal to the not-so-distant future of the franchise.

In one way or another, the Yankees are going to need them.

For now, the team is left with a rotation that’s unquestionably flawed. The real question is, how can the Yankees change that with less than two weeks remaining before spring training.

“It’s obviously one that’s incomplete,” Cashman said. “We’re going to wait and see what we’ve got in camp. There is a comfort level with CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett. And then obviously we have some kids in the system, as well as non-roster invites that are going to compete and take a run at the remaining spots. We’ll see what we see when we get there.

“… Our starting rotation is not where it needs to be right now, but I’m confident that we’ll get it there. I just can’t tell you how long that will take.”

Associated Press photo

Next up in our Pinch Hitters series is Sean O’Leary, a 25-year-old freelance web designer, developer and interactive consultant in Rochester, N.Y. He’s a co-owner and co-founder of 161st-and-river.com, an online community for Yankees fans that’s currently under construction but should be open for the 2011 season. It began as a Facebook group and was developed into a fully functioning site providing forums, links to Yankees news, and a blog fueled by fan submitted content.  Sean has also been blogging at Standing Room Only.

For his guest post,

—

I’ve been told on occasion that my excitement during the offseason parallels or even exceeds the feelings I experience during the summer. This winter has been different, however, and my excitement has dimmed somewhat.

I remember the days when I could put together a list of desirable players much like a Christmas list, but this winter I’ve found myself struggling to build cases for the “top tier” talent without saying, “Well, he’s not really what we need, but I wouldn’t be too upset if we sign him.” I’m sure we’ve all noticed it, and it’s a trend that seems to be gaining momentum: The free agent market now carries a stigma that causes top-notch players to avoid it like the drunk girl at a holiday party. As a result, the players that do have the guts to hit the market are experiencing one of two extremes — severe overpayment or settling for one-year deals a few days before Spring Training.

How did this happen? When did it happen? And will it continue? Personally, I hoped to blame the entire phenomenon on Scott Boras, and although he (and all agents, for that matter) should shoulder some of the blame, it seems unfair to fault an agent for succeeding in their ultimate task of squeezing dollars out of teams.

The Yankees, in fact, may be one of the largest culprits in this situation as the long-term contracts offered in recent years have not only locked up a number of elite players, but have also instilled fear in other organizations that if they allow their superstars to reach the market, the Yankees or other high payroll teams will steal them away.

Look at the Rockies, for example: The extensions of Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez are obvious attempts to keep them away from free agency as long as possible. Certainly, there is a distinct possibility that Tulo will continue his somewhat disconcerting injury history and slow starts, and that CarGo will never repeat the numbers he put up in his 2010 breakout campaign. Should either player remain an elite player at their position, however, the Rockies made out like bandits and avoided unmatchable offers by large-market teams during free agency. The idea is to wrap them up while they’re young in order to deny them exposure to what may be a much greener pasture (pun absolutely intended).

And who can blame these young stars for wanting to lock up a long term contract early in their careers? The ever present risk of injury, performance slumps and off-field troubles make the opportunity to sign a high-paying, long-term contract very attractive; in many cases, it’s an offer they can’t refuse.

Then there is the short fuse held by all fans when one of their team’s trademarked players hits the free agent market. Personally, I was shocked to hear some of the things that were said about Derek Jeter this offseason, and I know that I am not alone in that sentiment. At the first muttering of difficulty in the Jeter negotiations — as unfounded as those reports may have been — lifelong Yankees fans and Jeter supporters turned on the Captain. Suddenly, he was greedy, not a team player and one of the worst shortstops in the game. If witnessing this sudden and severe shift didn’t turn potential free agents off to the idea of shopping around for deals, they must not have been paying attention.

Players do not even have to be a member of a team to anger a fan base during free agency. No one knows that better than Cliff Lee, whose image may have taken a serious hit this offseason as a result of him not signing with the Yankees. We (and most of the baseball world) were positive that Lee would be in Pinstripes in 2011, and that led to some very negative feelings when he went to Philadelphia. Interestingly enough, a strong resume playing for the Yankees, and a strong resume of dominance over the Yankees, produces similar feelings when a player decides to take his talents elsewhere. Not to mention, the impact that angering a fan base during free agency can have on a player’s pocket. Especially if that fan base is located in as a powerful city as New York. New York is the center of the world, and the Yankees are the center of baseball — whether the collective baseball faithful loves or hates us, companies want to align themselves with Bronx Bombers.

If this trend continues — which seems likely — then what do we have to look forward to? Well, after 2011, we will be witnesses to a free agent class that, at the moment, is headlined by the best player in the game, Albert Pujols. Adrian Gonzalez is also scheduled to become a free agent, but you can almost certainly assume that he and Pujols will sign extensions before the end of the season. Pujols may be the exception, however, as he seems to have the health and consistent play that makes him the perfect candidate for free agency. He is, however, a very loyal player that has developed deep roots in the St. Louis area; it would be a complete shock to me if he’s not wearing Cardinal red in 2012. Should he and Gonzalez sign extensions (and clubs exercise options on players like Robinson Cano and Roy Oswalt), then the highlights of next years class include Jose Reyes and Wandy Rodriguez.

Scratch that, Rodriguez just signed an extension of his own.

The availability of young talent in the midst of or just entering their prime is dwindling, and that seems to be what the future holds. Teams will need to get creative with their gambles on young players and hope to fill out their rosters with veterans that may have a few good years left in the tank or may end up on the 60-day DL before the end of Spring Training. Speculation of performance enhancement means the days of locking up aging players (cough, Gary Sheffield in 2004, cough) with huge contracts are over, so players and teams are justified in trying to create strong ties between one another. More and more, aging players are experiencing free agency every offseason, and unless a young player creates long-term loyalty between themselves and a specific club, that may be his destiny as well. One thing is for sure: Players are learning that if they spend too much time on the hot stove, they can get burned, and even a child knows that if you get burned once, you should stay away from the heat.

Associated Press photos

Assuming I’ve done some fairly simple math correctly, I have 8,975 words of transcribed quotes from today’s press conference. I’ve been sorting through that most of the day, but believe it or not, there have actually been things going on in the non-Andy Pettitte baseball world, including some Yankees news.

• According to good buddy Sweeny Murti, the Yankees have signed Ronnie Belliard and Eric Chavez to minor league deals. Considering the Yankees have a wide-open spot on their bench, those two could be legitimate candidates for the Opening Day roster.

• Ken Rosenthal says the Yankees have at least discussed attempting a trade for a left-handed starting pitcher. Rosenthal mentioned Joe Saunders, Scott Kazmir, Wade LeBlanc, Clayton Richard and Gio Gonzalez as potential targets. Not sure why Oakland would trade Gonzalez, but to me, he’s probably the name that stands out most.

• Robinson Cano has reportedly switched agents and will now be represented by Scott Boras.

• Vladimir Guerrero apparently got his $8 million. He’s settled on a one-year deal with the Orioles.

• The Rangers might or might not be working toward trading Michael Young to Colorado.

•  Turns out Jim Edmonds is not retiring. He’s heading back to St. Louis on a minor league deal. Another outfielder, Gabe Gross, has landed a minor league deal with the Mariners.

By the end of this morning’s press conference, Andy Pettitte had given a rough step-by-step account of how and when he came to this decision. Some of the dates are definite — Pettitte remembered the exact day that he told Brian Cashman he was seriously considering a comeback — and others are approximate, but the rough idea was laid out through a series of questions and answers.

July 18, 2010
The Yankees were home against the Rays, just a few days after the all-star break when Pettitte went down with a groin injury.

“I really believe in my heart, a lot of this started last year when I hurt myself,” Pettitte said. “I feel like, in my heart, that God was preparing me for this,” Pettitte said. “When I hurt my groin, I was just out of control as far as, I’ll be back in two weeks, I can promise you that. I’ll be back in two weeks, three weeks maybe. I was feeling unbelievable and I thought I had a great chance to do that. And then I re-injured it. Then I felt like I maybe re-injured it again. The next thing you know, it’s two and a half months, and the last month of that I wasn’t doing anything really.”

August and September, 2011
“I’m telling you, at the end of the season last year, I started losing a little bit of that desire to compete,” Pettitte said. “I guess because I was out of it for the two and a half months of the second half. So, I definitely thought about it. but again, for me it’s not the right way to do it. that’s all that I kept telling myself. this in’t the right way to do it.

October 7, 2010
When Pettitte made his first postseason start of the year having pitched only 13.1 big league innings in roughly three months.

“I was shut down for two and a half months,” he said. “And I feel like mentally I was still able to go out in the postseason and compete like I did.”

The lasting impact, Pettitte said, was that he realized he could mentally prepare himself after physically not doing much. That’s how he knew he could have a light winter and still be mentally ready to pitch if he changed his mind about retirement.

October 18, 2010
“When I left Arlington stadium at the end of the season last year, I felt like I was done,” Pettitte said.

“He told me after we played the Rangers in the playoffs that he felt like that was it,” Laura Pettitte said.

“He told me in Arlington, ‘Don’t count on me,’” Cashman said.

Month of November, 2010
“He didn’t do anything for the first couple of months of the offseason,” Laura said.

It’s not especially unusual for a player to take some time off when the offseason starts, but the situation was unusual for Pettitte.

“As banged up as my groin was, if I was planning on playing I would have immediately needed to start rehabbing as soon as the season was over,” he said. “I didn’t do anything.”

December 14, 2010
Cliff Lee signed with the Phillies and Pettitte felt a “huge obligation” to come to the rescue.

“That was why I started working out,” he said.

January 9, 2011
Pettitte remembered this as one of the days he called Cashman. “I told him, I’ll seriously start considering this,” Pettitte said.

It was around this time that Laura told him to “make sure” he was done. “When she tells me that, I have to seriously start considering it,” Pettitte said. He ramped up his workouts and began going through more-or-less his regular offseason routine. The work was familiar. The feeling was not.

“I know exactly what it feels like to be here,” he said. “And it just didn’t feel right for me any more. I didn’t have the hunger, the drive that I felt like I needed. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just knew it was different.”

Mid-January, 2011
“Two weeks ago I told (Laura) I was playing,” Pettitte said. “I said, ‘I’m just going to play.’ I can torture myself. I’ll get through it.”

Although reluctant, Pettitte went so far as to come up with a plan to hire a professional cameraman to record video of his kids’ baseball, tee-ball and volleyball games so he could watch the tapes in New York.

Middle of last week
Shortly after the “I’m just going to play” announcement, Pettitte became such a grouch around the house that Laura told him to get away and go to his ranch in south Texas.

“After I worked out, I made a run down to my ranch,” Pettitte said. “It’s like a four-hour drive, and I came back the very next morning. It gave me like eight to 10 hours to be in the vehicle by myself. She was like, get out of here and go figure this out. Really, (that) is exactly what she said. I’m not in a very bad mood very often, at all, and I was starting to get a little irritable, I think, and was not being very nice. So she basically booted me and said, go figure this out.”

Alone at his ranch — “Nobody’s there, nobody’s around” — Pettitte had one last wrestling match with his desire to pitch one more season.

“When I dig deep down in it and did some soul-searching, I don’t know how to explain it, (but) it wasn’t there,” Pettitte said. “It just wasn’t there like I wanted it to be there.”

Last weekend
Just a few days after Pettitte’s solo trip to the ranch — Pettitte said it was about four-days later — he and Laura went down to the ranch together.

“We were actually, last weekend, on our way home from the ranch and he just said, ‘I’m done. That’s it.’” Laura said. “He wanted to make a decision by this past week, and he did. That’s one thing, when he sets his mind to something, he’s pretty sure of it.”

February 1, 2011
Pettitte called Cashman to tell the GM his decision.

“Tuesday night he came to a conclusion that he had a final (decision),” Cashman said. “He had told me that he wasn’t going to play.”

February 3, 2011
Pettitte had already talked to the Core Four, making sure they heard the retirement news straight from Pettitte himself. On Thursday, though, the news went public and Pettitte’s phone buzzed with text messages. One of them was from Tino Martinez.

“Tino said, Andy, if there was any hesitation at all, you’re making the right decision,” Pettitte said. “To me, that was huge. It verified for me, because he said he had played a year too long.”

Today
“The only time I get emotional is when I think about the guys, you know what I’m saying?” Pettitte said. “I don’t know why. The only thing I can tell you is, because I feel like God has given me a great peace about it, I feel like it’s the right thing. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t feel it was the right thing in my heart.

“And everybody keeps asking me, are you done? Are you sure you’re done? And yeah, I do. I feel right now like I’m done. I don’t feel like I’m tore up. Am I gonna miss it? I am gonna miss it. Am I said? I’m sad, you know. When I walked into this tunnel and walked into the clubhouse and looked around, that’s sad. But when you feel like it’s the right decision you’ve got to feel good about that. And I feel good about it.”

Associated Press photos

Throughout this winter of indecision, there was a constant search for outside forces that might influence Andy Pettitte’s retirement decision. Would he be swayed by a family that wanted him at home? Would he feel compelled to pitch for a team that so obviously needed another starter? Would he be worried about the publicity of a legal battle?

In the end, Pettitte said, the decision was 100 percent his own. As recently as two weeks ago he had decided to come back, but when he went by himself for a one-night stay at his ranch in southern Texas, he made up his mind that he was finished.

“It was all me,” he said. “I just didn’t think that I could be fully committed to it the way I needed to be and the way I wanted to be for the fans.”

The pull of family
Contrary to what you might expect, Pettitte’s family actually pushed him toward the Yankees. “I feel like, maybe, if you’re not 100 percent done then maybe you need to try it one more time,” his wife, Laura, said.

Three of Pettitte’s four children were in favor of one last season. “My 5-year-old,” Pettitte said. “Any time my 5-year-old was around and I was talking to people and I’d say, everybody wanted me to play, he’d be like, I didn’t want you to play, Dad.”

The need of the organization
Pettitte said he felt a “huge obligation” when the Yankees missed out on Cliff Lee. It was around that time that he started working out again, making sure he was in shape. “I felt like I owed it to this team, to this organization,” Pettitte said. “I felt like they wanted me before they got him, but I felt like they would probably need me now that they didn’t.”

In his regular conversations with Brian Cashman, the Yankees GM let Pettitte know that the team could use him, but there was never a push for Pettitte to make a decision immediately.

“If I pushed him in November or December, I knew the answer,” Cashman said. “It was more like, he needs more time so I’ll just give him the long rope. If you pushed him, you’d be pushing him farther away. Time was something that was going to be on our side. He’d already made a decision. It was more like, is there a chance for him to change his mind over time?”

The impact of Cliff Lee
It’s all hypothetical, but if Lee had signed with the Yankees, would Pettitte have come back to fill a remarkably deep five-man rotation?

“I don’t think it would have mattered,” Pettitte said. “I believe I had spoken to Cash right before the Winter Meetings, and I just wanted to let him know (where I stood) because I knew this was such a huge deal. I don’t think I’m coming back. He kept telling me, we want you back and we’re counting on you to come back, but I just didn’t want this organization to count on me, and everybody to be counting on me. Even if you got Cliff or even if they didn’t get Cliff, I felt like I was done. If he would have come, I don’t know. I really don’t know because you don’t know how things change or how you feel, but I don’t think so.”

The pending Roger Clemens trial
A source of much speculation, the Clemens trial hangs as a potential circus, and Pettitte might have avoided discussing it by staying away from baseball.

“I would hope that anyone, any of you guys that have followed me through that whole situation would know that that has not had any affect,” Pettitte said. “I mean, zero. I would never let that interfere with a life decision that I’m going to make for me and my family.

“I have not had one thing said to me or, I have not been spoken to again since all of that stuff has happened. It has not been an issue. I wouldn’t sit here and say that if someone was speaking with me on a regular basis about that whole situation. Since all of that stuff first came up, I have not been spoken to. That never even entered my mind on what I would do or what I wouldn’t do.”

The concern about injuries
Pettitte was hurt at the end of last season. He had a groin injury that cost him most of the second half, and his back bothered him a little bit in the playoffs. None of that, he said, played a factor in his decision to retire.

“My body feels really good, I feel great,” Pettitte said. “My arm feels unbelievable. I threw 120 innings last year, and I started cranking up my throwing like I normally would at the normal time. My arm feels great right now, so physically I thought that I would be OK. And obviously when I started training and doing this again, all my focus was on my groin. So I’ve been working hard on getting that thing strong, because it was beat up when I started working.”

The calls from teammates
Pettitte said that about three weeks ago he “shut everybody down.” By that point he had decided that this had to be his own decision and he “didn’t want any advice from anybody.”

Among the players who had most pushed for a comeback was Alex Rodriguez. “Me and him have built up a special relationship since I’ve been here, and I know he really wanted me to come back,” Pettitte said.

Ultimately, though, Pettitte’s teammates left the decision up to him. And that includes his old friends, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.

“They were just so supportive,” Pettitte said. “They want me to be happy. When I did talk to them in the offseason it was never, hey, you’ve got to play, let’s go. It was, do what’s right for your family. All of them (said that). Do what’s right in your heart. I know they want me to play. I didn’t need them to tell me that.”

Associated Press photo

It can’t be easy for a player, on the day of his retirement, to answer a question about his own Hall of Fame chances. Listening back through today’s press conference, I really feel like Andy Pettitte did a nice job of not only answering the question, but also bringing some perspective about what great players see in other great players.

—

“I’ve never considered myself a Hall of Famer. I feel honored that people are talking about it. I never dreamed that I would be able to be talked about as far as the Hall of Fame. My only desire ever in this game was to go out to try to compete as best I can, and I knew if I kept this team in the game, then I’d have a chance to win and be successful. And over all the years, it’s kind of added up to what it has. I guess I’ve got to be close to having those credentials or guys wouldn’t be talking about it as much as they do.

“But this game has been so difficult for me, and such a grind. The several players that I’ve played with that I know are for sure Hall of Famers, to me they’ve made it look so easy. I know it’s not easy, but they make it look so easy, and they’ve made it look so easy for so many years. That’s who I look at as, those are Hall of Fame players. I can honestly say that this game hasn’t been that easy for me.”

Two hours after it began, the Andy Pettitte press conference is over. As you can imagine, there’s a ton of information to work through. I’ll have plenty for the blog, but I’m going to be transcribing and sorting for a while. Right now, here are some Associated Press photos from the main event.

Associated Press photos