Pettitte to return, rejects Yanks’ initial offer
December 7, 2009, 11:17 am by iYankees · Leave a Comment
UPDATE (11:50 am) — According to Mark Feinsand of the Daily News, no official offer has been made to Pettitte, despite Sherman’s report. However, the Yankees are expected to send him a proposal today for more than $10M (which is inline with Jon Heyman’s tweet). “They don’t intend to lowball him,” Feinsand writes, which I believe is a quote from his source on the subject.
11:17 am — From Joel Sherman of the NY Post, we learn that the Yankees recently made an offer — their only offer, thus far, in fact — to southpaw Andy Pettitte which he subsequently rejected. The offer was believed to be around $10M, which is an increase in guaranteed dollars when compared to Pettitte’s $5.5M base salary in 2009. Buster Olney (ESPN) is tweeting that Pettitte will definitely pitch again in 2010, therefore, the rejection is a negotiating ploy rather than an indication that Pettitte wants to retire.
Pettitte ultimately pulled in $10.5M this season, after incentives. According to Jon Heyman (SI), the Yankees are expected to begin negotiations with Pettitte by offering him slightly more than $10M (basically, he doesn’t want a pay cut). Hopefully that will be enough for the veteran lefty.
