"Now, what is this site about, how Joe Torre ruined pitchers' arms? Is that it?"
-Michael Kay, August 18, 2009

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The deal with Pettitte's deal

Peter Abraham relays an AP report regarding Andy Pettitte's incentives:

Base salary: $5.5 million.

Innings bonuses: $500,000 each for 150, 160 and 170 innings pitched and $750,000 each for 180, 190, 200 and 210 innings.

Roster bonuses: $100,000 for 120 days on the active 25-man roster, $200,000 for 130 days, $250,000 each for 140 and 150 days, and $400,000 each for 160, 170 and 180 days.
They're mostly health-based and not performance-based, but it seems fair to me. It will keep Pettitte motivated, because, as we've seen this offseason, Pettitte really does care about the money.

Meanwhile, Mike Ashmore (via River Ave. Blues) from Thunder Thoughts does not like the move. He believes it hinders the development of the younger starters.
Consider the starters that will be without a big league job come April…

Phil Hughes
Ian Kennedy
Phil Coke
Alfredo Aceves
Jason Johnson
Dan Giese
Kei Igawa
Chase Wright
Eric Hacker
Christian Garcia
George Kontos
Humberto Sanchez
Alan Horne

Where do all of these guys go? How many of them end up moving to the bullpen — some like Coke, Sanchez and Giese already have experience having done so — or starting at the minor league level.

Yankees fans have to ask themselves…what’s more important, Andy Pettitte getting 30 starts or Phil Hughes/Ian Kennedy/Phil Coke/Alfredo Aceves getting 30?

If the consensus is that Pettitte is little more than a placeholder, why not use one of your numerous starting pitching prospects in a meaningful role at the big league level instead of picking up garbage innings as a long man in the Bronx or spending another year in Trenton or Scranton?
Hughes and Kennedy need more time in the minors, I believe. Hughes was rushed up in 2007 and has proven he can't stay healthy. I also don't think Kennedy is a very good major-league pitcher. Coke was solid out of the bullpen last year, and Aceves would be a great long reliever/spot starter.

To answer Ashmore's question, I'd much rather have Pettitte get 30 starts. With A.J. Burnett's injury history and Joba Chamberlain's innings limit, there could be some extra starts to go around. Some extra polishing in the minors for both Hughes and Kennedy is a good thing.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

i concur 100% lol

Anonymous said...

Absolutely correct! So glad Andy is back even with the shenanigans.

Lenny Neslin said...

Nice post, I'm not so sure about Aceves though... This seems to happen with a lot of our fill-in starters. Aaron Small ring any bells? No doubt, Aceves was solid for us down the stretch last year, but this year could be a different story. Now teams have seen him and his secret is out. Teams won't take him for granted anymore. Keep Giese and Coke in the bullpen.

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