On September 6th, Jayson Stark mentioned hearing speculation that Andy Pettitte would opt out of his contract after the season and become the best available starter. But even then his source thought Pettitte’s main motivation would be to get more money or years and stay with the Yanks.
It’s clear now that Pettitte has no interest in sparking a bidding war for his services, even if he could. According to Ed Price of the Newark Star-Ledger, it’s the Yankees or retirement for Pettitte in 2008. It’s kind of like Kenny Rogers’ situation, only with an added focus on the desires of family. Reading the quotes from Pettitte, it almost seems like he could just exercise the $16MM option rather than opt out to extract a few more million from the Yankees. He just seems like the kind of guy who wouldn’t care.
You know what would be kind of funny? If the Astros somehow convinced him to return, gave him $16MM, and then his elbow blew up. OK, that might not be funny for some people.
