The LoHud Yankees Blog

Freddy Garcia will start tomorrow’s rescheduled Game 2, and it sounds like there was never much chance of CC Sabathia getting the ball. In fact, Joe Girardi hasn’t committed to Sabathia pitching on Monday. It’s still possible, he said, the he’ll wait until Tuesday to pitch his ace again.

“You’re asking a guy to pitch on Sunday and Thursday, and he threw on Friday,” Girardi said. “To me, it’s too much… You don’t want to send a guy out there if he’s not physically as good as he can be. I’m not saying that any starting pitcher is going to be 100 percent, but if you have a couple games that you can choose from and he can be 95 percent one day and 80 percent the other day, I’m going to take him at the 95 percent.”

Right now, Girardi expects Sabathia to be his Monday starter, but he won’t set that in stone until Sabathia checks in Sunday and confirms that he feels strong enough to pitch the next day.

As for Tuesday’s Game 4, it’s obvious that A.J. Burnett is the leading candidate to start for the Yankees, but Girardi said he hasn’t discussed it with Burnett. For now, Burnett is available as a long man, and if the Yankees get into a crazy situation tonight, Burnett will be available to pitch multiple innings.

“I think you worry about today’s game today,” Girardi said. “You worry about tomorrow’s game tomorrow. That’s what you do.”

How much has this series changed now that Sabathia and Justin Verlander are, essentially, pitching only once.

“It can potentially change a lot, but I don’t think we’re ever going to know,” Girardi said. “That’s for people to sit around and talk about. You’ve got two aces going, a 1-1 game, and now they’re conceivably only going to pitch once each. It changes the complexion of it, but none of us really know if it would have changed the outcome.”

Here’s Girardi’s press conference.

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• Girardi quickly dismissed any notion that Alex Rodriguez might be bothered by playing four games in a row. He said the fact Rodriguez sat out the regular-season finale is a non-issue. “If it wasn’t New York and it wasn’t Alex this wouldn’t have been such a big deal that a guy was a little cranky,” Girardi said. “He played on turf a couple of days. I think you probably could have askd about 10 of our players in Tampa on Wednesday if any of their knees were a little cranky from playing on the turf and you probably would have gotten about seven yeses. Because it’s Alex, it’s a big deal.”

• Rodriguez actually did early work in the field yesterday and today. When I got to the park this afternoon he was taking grounders at third.

• Same thing for Russell Martin. Even with four days in a row and a day game after a night game, Martin is still expected to start every game behind the plate. “He’s ready to go,” Girardi said.

• The closest Girardi would come to confirming Burnett as his fourth starter was to say he’s a “great candidate” to start that game. “He’s pitched well against this team this year,” Girardi said.

• If not Burnett, Phil Hughes is the obvious alternative. “He’s an option,” Girardi said. “He’s not really stretched out over the last two weeks, but I can’t tell you exactly what’s going to happen in the next couple games with the rain in the forecast. ”

• Girardi said he never put a real plan together because he was quickly convinced last night’s game was not going to continue, but he probably would have used Burnett had the game resumed after the rain delay. “That’s probably what I would have done,” Girardi said. “I didn’t even think about that, because when I came in, I looked at the radar and it didn’t look too good. I heard TBS say there was a window and I was wondering where that window was.”

• Girardi said it’s not up to him, but his hope is that MLB will postpone the start of tonight’s game if there’s rain in the forecast for the first few innings. He’d rather not burn out a starting pitcher in another delay.

• The Tigers have not changed anything about their lineup. They’d have to lose a player to do so, so they’re going with their vLHP lineup against the right-handed Ivan Nova.

• Andy Pettitte is here, but there’s no ceremonial first pitch tonight, so the thinking seems to be that he could be throwing out the first pitch tomorrow. Could the Yankees have Mariano Rivera throw to Jorge Posada before Game 1, then have Pettitte throw to Derek Jeter before Game 2?

Associated Press photos

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

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.”

Here’s the Yankees press release about Andy Pettitte. It was sent in the middle of our chat, and it pretty much makes Pettitte’s retirement official.

The New York Yankees today announced that LHP Andy Pettitte will hold a press conference on Friday at 10:30 a.m. to announce his retirement.

Pettitte, 38, finishes his career with a 240-138 (.635) record and 3.88 ERA (3,055.1 IP, 1,317 ER) in 479 starts over 16 Major League seasons with the Yankees (1995-2003 and ‘07-10) and Houston Astros (2004-06). He is one of just 26 pitchers all-time to complete his career 100-or-more games over .500. Of the 19 Hall of Fame-eligible pitchers who have reached that plateau, only “Parisian” Bob Caruthers, who went 218-99 from 1884-92, is not enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Originally selected by the Yankees in the 22nd round of the 1990 First-Year Player Draft, Pettitte played 13 seasons with the club, going 203-112 with a 3.98 ERA (2,535.2 IP, 1,122 ER) and 1,823 strikeouts in 405 games (396 starts). In franchise history, he ranks second in strikeouts and starts, third in wins, fourth in innings pitched and eighth in appearances (405). He appeared in eight career World Series (seven as a Yankee), winning championships with the Yankees in 1996, ‘98, ’99, 2000 and ‘09.

Pettitte is the all-time winningest pitcher in postseason history, going 19-10 with a 3.83 ERA in 42 career starts. He also ranks first all time in postseason starts and innings pitched (263.0), and is tied for second with 173 strikeouts. His personal career postseason win total is more than that of nine other franchises (Kansas City-18; Arizona-15, Seattle-15, San Diego-12, Tampa Bay-10, Colorado-9, Milwaukee-9, Texas-9, and Montreal/Washingon-5). As a Yankee in the postseason, he went 18-9 with a 3.79 ERA (237.2 IP, 100 ER) in 38 career starts. While winning his final World Series with the Yankees in 2009, he became the first pitcher in Baseball history to start and win the clinching game of all three series in a single postseason (ALDS vs. Minnesota, ALCS vs. Los Angeles-AL and WS vs. Philadelphia).

In 2010, Pettitte went 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA (129.0 IP, 47 ER) in 21 starts. He was placed on the disabled list from July 20 (retroactive to July 19) to September 18 with a strained left groin. In the 2010 postseason, he went 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA (14.0 IP, 4 ER) in two combined starts at Minnesota in ALDS Game 2 (W, 7.0 IP, 2 ER) and vs. Texas in ALCS Game 3 (L, 7.0 IP, 2 ER).

A Louisiana native and Texas resident, Pettitte also pitched three seasons with the Houston Astros from 2004-06, going 37-26 with a 3.38 ERA (519.2 IP, 195 ER) in 84 games (83 starts) and appearing in the 2005 World Series vs. Chicago-AL.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Pettitte, a three-time All-Star (1996, 2001, ’10) and 2001 ALCS MVP, holds the distinction of being the only pitcher in Major League history to post a record of .500 or better while making at least 15 starts in each of the first 16 seasons of his career. He also posted a winning record in each of the first 13 seasons of his career (1995-2007), marking the third-longest such streak to begin a career all time, trailing only Hall of Famers Grover Cleveland Alexander (17) and Cy Young (15).

Associated Press photo

Joel Sherman made two good Yankees observations on his Hardball blog this morning.

1. “(W)hatever the rules are in the chill of February, remember that they are always subject to re-write.”

Sherman pointed out that 10 years ago, Alfonso Soriano hit his way into a big league role sooner than expected, and four years ago, injuries forced Phil Hughes into a big league role sooner than the Yankees would have liked. Who’s to say something similar couldn’t happen this season with the Yankees talented young pitchers?

It’s a good point, especially considering Hughes was rushed to the big leagues precisely because the Yankees rotation became very thin, very quickly. That’s a scenario that could easily play out with a rotation that’s pretty thin to begin with. The Yankees would prefer to move slowly with Andrew Brackman, Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos, but if one of those three once again cruises through minor league hitters — especially Brackman, who’s more advanced — the Yankees could combine need with performance and make those moves sooner than expected.

Right now, Hector Noesi, David Phelps and D.J. Mitchell might be closer to a big league role than any of the Killer Bs — Noesi, Phelps and Mitchell have already pitched in Triple-A — but it’s worth remembering that back in 2007 the Yankees went through Darrell Rasner, Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright before calling on their top pitching prospect. Even so, they still had Hughes in the big leagues before the end of April.

2. “I think it remains a pretty good likelihood that Andy Pettitte will return and the Yanks will make a trade in spring for a starter…”

It’s not clear whether this is based on conversations within the Yankees front office or simply a guess on Sherman’s part. The Pettitte part isn’t what interests me — at this point I think everyone has an opinion, but no one has a strong sense of what he’s going to do — but I wonder if Sherman’s onto something about a spring trade.

Obviously the starting pitcher trade market didn’t offer much of interest this winter. I’m sure there were names tossed back and forth, but ultimately Brian Cashman decided nothing made sense for the Yankees. The market, though, might change once spring training gets started and teams get a better sense of exactly what they have.

Who might the Yankees target? I have no idea, and that’s kind of the point. If there were an obvious trade partner right now the Yankees would have pulled the trigger already. As it stands, though, it seems that nothing worthwhile is out there, so the Yankees need something to shake up the market. Spring training might be just the thing to do that.

Associated Press photo of Hughes

Tonight’s Thurman Munson dinner honored six athletes: Nick Swisher, Angel Pagan, Mike Piazza, Julius Erving, Devin Harris and Evan Lysacek. If any of those names is unfamiliar it’s probably Lysacek, who’s an Olympic gold medalist in figure skating and showed up wearing a massive gold watch.

When it came time for Swisher to address the media, the MC introduced him as “the happiest athlete I have ever watched from afar.” Swisher went on to speak glowingly of his relationship with Munson’s widow, Diana, and said he was humbled to have his name mentioned with Munson. It was a universal theme for the night.

Piazza said Munson, “inspired his teammates to get the most of their abilities,” and joked that the award meant even more because he knew it took a lot for a former Mets catcher to be honored by a former Yankees catcher. “As an opponent,” Piazza said, “you can’t help but respect the record and the legacy of the (Yankees) organization.”

Harris said he was “humbled” to receive and honor named after “one of the great Yankees.” Turns out, Harris is a Yankees fan. He was in Yankee Stadium for some of the ’09 World Series game, and he said Derek Jeter is his favorite baseball player. “Has been for quite some time,” he said.

Dr. J called the Munson Award, “an institution in New York.” He called Munson, “a great athlete, great husband and father, (and) a great man.” For whatever it’s worth, Dr. J said he quit playing baseball as a freshman in high school. I think my highest batting average was .190-something.”

I was in the hall talking to Swisher when it came time for Pagan and Lysacek to address the media, but my guess is they had something similar to say. It was a nice event, and a brief Yankees beat reunion — part of it anyway — before we all settle into Tampa in less than two weeks.

Some other notes from today.

• For a while today there was a lingering don’t-know-what-to-make-of-it story about Andy Pettitte and a possible autograph session scheduled for February 15, suggesting he would be signing baseballs — not pitching them — when spring training opened. Steiner Sports momentarily listed the autograph session on its website but removed the listing when it got media attention. Steiner now says a date for the autograph session has never been set, and the group has “nothing planned” for Pettitte.

• Keith Law ranked Jesus Montero 20th on his list of prospects likely to have a big league impact this season. Law writes that he has “little doubt” Montero can hit at the Major League level, but he can’t rank him any higher because he’s not sure how much time he’ll actually spend in New York this season.

• Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez were introduced this afternoon in Tampa Bay. “This is home for me,” Damon said. “This is my dream team.”

• Speaking of the Rays, they’re reportedly on the verge of a minor league deal with utility infielder Felipe Lopez.

• The Red Sox aren’t taking much from Brian Cashman’s comments that right now Boston looks better than the Yankees on paper.

• Looks like Alfredo Simon won’t be in spring training with the Orioles. He’s been denied bail on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Associated Press photo of Pettitte

This afternoon, Ken Rosenthal wondered whether $12 million would be enough for the Yankees to sign Andy Pettitte (assuming Pettitte actually decides to pitch this season). Rosenthal used Hiroki Kuroda — who got exactly one year, $12 million from the Dodgers — as a comparison.

Kuroda, who turns 36 on Feb. 10, was 11-13 with a 3.39 ERA last season, working 196 1/3 innings. Pettitte, who turns 39 on June 15, was 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA, working only 129 innings in the regular season.

Rosenthal noted that Kuroda pitched in a much weaker division, and Pettitte pitched in a toucher park. He also noted that Pettitte was injured last season.

To me it’s pretty even. Kuroda doesn’t have nearly Pettitte’s track record, but he is three years younger. Pettitte was better than Kuroda last season, but he was also injured through most of the second half. A $12-million offer would be a raise from what Pettitte made last season, and that seems pretty fair to me.

But I must admit, there’s a lot about this situation that’s difficult to predict.

Some other links and notes from today.

• Cool little nugget from Cliff Corcoran who notes that Russ Springer retired as the last active player to have played for a losing Yankees team. That was all the way back in 1992, and the Yankees haven’t had a losing season since.

• Good stuff from Buster Olney, who looked at which individual pitches — CC Sabathia’s curveball, for example — were the most effective last season. The most effective curveball, by the way, belonged to Jose Veras. Admittedly, a lot of this data depends on the way a certain pitcher uses a certain pitch.

• From Olney’s usual list of links comes this story about Twins pitcher Brian Duensing, who’s wife was at that Omaha high school where a kid shot his principal and assistant principal earlier this month.

• Derek Jeter isn’t the only American League shortstop to land a four-year deal this offseason. Alexi Ramirez just landed a four-year deal with the White Sox.

Associated Press photo

Yesterday, Jim Baumbach used the word “optimism” to describe the Yankees feelings toward Andy Pettitte.

There is a growing optimism within the Yankees that Andy Pettitte will decide to pitch this season, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Today, Jon Heyman said the same thing.

Yankees people seem a bit more optimistic in recent days. That optimism dates back to several days ago when they learned Pettitte was conducting his usual January workouts.

This after Brian Cashman’s public statements on Wednesday night, saying there was absolutely nothing new to report about Pettitte. Reports of optimism also came 10 days after the Yankees were reportedly growing less optimistic about Pettitte. Cashman keeps saying that he’s moving forward with the belief that Pettitte will not pitch in 2011, and that he feels no need to push Pettitte for a definitive answer.

So what’s optimism worth right now?

It’s probably worth a little bit. Cashman has been in steady contact with Pettitte, and Pettitte reportedly has been working out at home in Texas. Those seem to be good signs — why workout and stay in contact if returning isn’t at least a consideration? — but those things certainly don’t mean anything has been decided.

Optimism is good, but until Pettitte makes an absolute decision, we’re all going to be left guessing.