Andy Pettitte, and the Retirement Conundrum

Yankee officials recently announced that the odds for Andy Pettitte to return in 2011 were "fifty-fifty".  Pettitte, 38, told Yankee management to assume he won't be pitching next season.  Despite this, there are some reasons to believe that Andy Pettitte won't retire and will in fact return to the Yankees for another season.  Manager Joe Girardi recently mentioned that Pettitte has begun strength and pitching conditioning at his home in Deer Park, Texas.  Also, General-Manager Brian Cashman hasn't ruled out the possibility that Pettitte could return mid-season in a manner akin to Roger Clemens' return in 2007.  Although management has signed several pitchers in an attempt to stabilize (and relieve) the questionable rotation (Bartolo Colon, Rafael Soriano, Pedriano Feliciano), they should wait on Pettitte with bated breath, as the 38 year old veteran's dubious return (or lack of) will either make or break the Yankees 2011 season.
 
Andy Pettitte's phenomenal 2010 season was tragically cut short when a nagging groin injury limited him to only 21 starts (4 after the All-Star break).  Before the All-Star break, Pettitte compiled a record of 11 wins and only 2 losses, with an incredible win/loss percentage of .846.  His ERA of 2.70 (an incredible feat in itself, given the fact that the AL East is the hardest hitting division in the MLB) also ranked 4th in the American League, and as a byproduct of these sensational statistics, the gutsy southpaw was named to the 2010 All-Star team.  It seemed like every time he got into trouble, he would immaculately place his next pitch in a perfect spot, and would get his opponent to ground into an inning ending double-play.  It truly was a thrill to see a pitcher command such confidence and authority.  Simply put, Pettitte was having a Cy Young Award worthy season.  The groin injury that Pettitte sustained on July 15th, his first start after the All-Star Break, sidelined him until September 19th.  When Pettitte went down, the Yankees winning ways deteriorated, and they stumbled into October.

The 2010 season proved how important Andy Pettitte is to the Yankee franchise.  The rotation floundered without Andy's steady arm.  Behind C.C. Sabathia, the team had nobody to rely on: Hughes wore down, mercurial A.J.  was anything but reliable, Javy Vazquez was depressingly bad, and the fifth slot in the rotation was filled by unknowns Sergio Mitre, Ivan Nova and Dustin Moseley.  Expect much of the same for 2011 if number 46 chooses to retire.  While he may not be as dominant as he initially was in 2010, you can expect steady Andy to gut out 15 wins and have an ERA around 4.00.  The future Hall of Fame candidate's consistency makes him one of the best #2 pitchers in all of baseball, and the Yankees in all likelihood go from a 90/91 win team to a 96 win team with him in the rotation.

I hope Andy does come back, because above all else, I love to see the man pitch.  It is such a joy to watch a genius like him throw the baseball, and he most certainly is a pitching genius.  The way he knows exactly how and where to throw a pitch corresponding to a certain game time situation is simply incredible.  It thrills me to watch him play this game of baseball, and for just one more year, I'd like to stay enraptured.