According to this Joel Sherman column in Thursday's New York Post, there is optimism over Andy Pettitte pitching again in 2011, within the New York Yankees organization.
SAYS SHERMAN: "...optimism has risen within the Yankee family that Pettitte will indeed pitch in 2011. Two people briefed on the most recent conversations between the Yankees and Pettitte say the team is upbeat because Pettitte is working out regularly, has not firmly committed to retirement and because it is hard to dismiss the $12 million to $13 million Pettitte knows the Yankees would pay for his services."
We have previously mentioned that Pettitte was not only working out, but that he also has the go-ahead from his family to pitch again for the Yankees in 2011. Without family approval, there was basically no chance the veteran lefty would return.
Sherman notes that after being injured and pitching in pain last season, one of the remaining hurdles Pettitte must clear is to pitch without pain. So far, so good on that front, says Sherman.
So will Pettitte pitch for the Yankees in 2011? And if so, when can an announcement be expected? According to another national baseball writer, Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Yankees are still waiting.
The return of Pettitte might qualify as the best news so far in an all-but-lost winter for the Yankees. More importantly, New York would head into spring training, which is less than a month away, feeling much better about a rotation that currently consists of CC Sabathia and varying degrees of question marks.
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