The motion was the same for New York Yankees starting pitcher Andy Pettitte Monday night against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium after coming off the disabled list, but he didn’t get the win. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The day before Andy Pettitte took the mound against the Cleveland Indians Monday he sounded like anything but a confident pitcher. Being activated from the disabled list where he had resided since May 17, Pettitte did not sound ready to pitch for his New York Yankees. In fact, he sounded defeatist on the eve of going for his 250th career victory.

Pettitte, who admits to being a creature of routine, said he had not yet gotten back into his regular pitching preparation pattern that he uses for his every-fifth-day starts. When asked if he was satisfied with the way he felt going into this start he said, “Right now, I’d say probably not.”

Right then and there Yankee manager Joe Girardi should have begun perusing his roster to see if he could find another arm to stand in for Pettitte one more time. Pettitte has been trying to recover from the strained left trapezius muscle that put him on the DL May 17. Now a trapezius muscle sounds like either a geometry problem or a circus act, but the fact is that Pettitte didn’t seem mentally ready to go.

Much to no one’s surprise, Monday night Pettitte pitched as if he was still on the disabled list. He lasted 4 2/3 innings, gave up four runs and seven hits and was lucky not to be slapped with the loss. Pettitte’s teammates hit well enough to give him a lead and hit well enough after he left the game to come back and win 7-4. Pettitte got a no-decision rather than a milestone victory.

The southpaw is 249-145 for his career with a 3.86 earned run average. He is a three-time All-Star (probably not this year) and has been a member of five New York Yankee World Series-winning teams. Pretty darned good resume. But Pettitte is also 40. For the last couple of years in-between very solid outings he has been bugged by injuries that knock him out for weeks, or even months, at a time.

This season Pettitte is 4-3 with a 4.17 ERA. The Yankees, who have been a MASH unit, need Pettitte to stay healthy. They need him at his best, or at the very least the best he can be at 40. Girardi would have been wise to spell Pettitte for another go-around in the rotation. It doesn’t seem as if too much was accomplished by using Pettitte Monday.

When the game was over, and the Yankees won, even though he did not, Pettitte said, “Everybody else did a good job.”

It won’t surprise anyone if in his next start Pettitte is back to normal. He will slip back into his preparation routine between starts. He will be pretty well rested. And maybe he will be old reliable Andy Pettitte again.

Andy Pettitte will return to the Yankees rotation on Monday, in search of career victory number 250. (Image Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports)

Andy Pettitte will be activated from the disabled list on Monday by the New York Yankees and will start that evening against the Cleveland Indians, according to Andrew Marchand at ESPNNY.com. The 40 year old has been on the DL since mid-May with a strained muscle in his neck.

It’s unclear who’ll be sent out in order to make room for Pettitte. Vidal Nuno appears to be the most likely candidate to be optioned back to Triple-A.

Pettitte is one of ten Yankees that currently sit on the DL, but he’s the lone representative from the team’s expected starting rotation. The team’s overcome various challenges offensively, filling in gaps with part time players who’ve generally exceeded expectations, but it’s rotation has remained largely in tact and has been part of the reason behind the team’s early season success. The return of Pettitte should only help that cause. He’d thrown 49.1 IP on the year over 8 starts before landing on the sidelines – posting a 4-3 record, 3.83 ERA, and 1.297 WHIP over that stretch.

The long time Yankee southpaw has seemingly struggled to remain healthy over the past few seasons, having not made more than 21 starts since 2010 with the Houston Astros. He’d spent the 2011 season in retirement before returning with the Yankees last season. He was limited to just 12 starts on the year, in which he was 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA over 75.1 IP, as a result of a freak incident in which he broke a bone in his leg.

Pettitte will turn 41 in mid-June and is nearing the end of his tenure in the Major Leagues. His next victory will be the 250th of his career – one that to many is a Hall of Fame worthy career. Both Pettitte and the Yankees have to be hoping that this is the last setback along the way, as it’d be nice to see Pettitte be allowed to walk away on his own terms rather than seeing things ended up another injury.

(Image Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

Dickey, winner of the 2012 NL Cy Young Award after going 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA with the New York Mets this past season and the subject of plenty of discussion this winter leading up to his trade to the Toronto Blue Jays, will help lead what will likely end up being a strong starting rotation for the international competition. He’ll be joined by Pettitte, one of the most experienced left-handers in the game today who’s won 245 games in his 17 year career. The pair will also likely be among the tournament’s oldest competitors, as Dickey is 38 and Pettitte is 40. Neither has been in the event previously.

Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, who posted an ERA of 1.01 and saved an NL-high 42 games this past season, will also be joining the roster and will lead what appears to be a fairly formidable bullpen. San Diego’s Luke Gregerson and Cleveland’s Chris Perez and Vinnie Pestano will reportedly also be available to USA manager Joe Torre.

David Wright, Ryan Braun, Giancarlo Stanton, Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira, Brandon Phillips, Shane Victorino, and Adam Jones will all also reportedly participate for the US squad.

Team USA’s first game is scheduled for March 8th, at Arizona’s Chase Field, against Mexico.

Image: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Left hander Andy Pettitte has formally announced that he’ll pitch next season, but ESPN’s Buster Olney says that’s coming soon, as is the announcement of a new one-year contract with the New York Yankees. The contract, according to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman is expected to be between $10-11 million for one year. Pettitte made just $2.5 million last season after retiring following the 2010 campaign.

Pettitte’s 2012 comeback season was interrupted by a broken ankle, but he has quite effective in his 12 regular season starts, pitching to a 2.87 ERA and striking out over eight batters per nine innings, his highest such rate since 2004.

With Pettitte back in the fold and Hiroki Kuroda already re-signed, Yankees GM Brain Cashman has been focused on keeping his club together for 2013, as opposed to adding piece from outside the organization. All indications are that Cashman will continue to work in that direction with closer Mariano Rivera next in line. Outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and catcher Russell Martin are also on Cashman’s to-do list and he’d like to get as much of his team in place as possible before the Winter Meetings begin next week.

Pettitte joins Kuroda and CC Sabathia to form as formidable a top three as any rotation in baseball.

Folks in New York look forward to seeing Rivera back in uniform next season. Image: Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE

Both Pettitte and Rivera are free agents, both are on the wrong side of 40, and both have either already been retired, and openly considered it. Still, in the case with these two, the Yankees are still a much more formidable team if the pair of veteran hurlers are on the roster.

George King III of the New York Post explained that the Yankees have yet to make an offer to either pitcher and said they hadn’t made an offer to catcher Russell Martin or any other free agent, either. Well, obviously they made an offer to Kuroda, who was a free agent, in order to sign him. Saying they haven’t made an offer to anyone else is probably playing a game of semantics. Has there been an official offer sheet given to the representatives of Pettitte or Rivera? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any kind of financial discussions. Remember, Torii Hunter met with the Tigers in person last week, then left town ”without an offer.” The next day a contract was in place between the he and Detroit.

Just as they did with Pettitte a year ago and, to a lesser extend, with Derek Jeter when his last contract ended, the Yankees are in a position where they are the only team negotiating with these players. In each case, if they want to continue their careers, it will be done in New York or nowhere. GM Brian Cashman then must bargain not only based upon the expected contribution levels of well-past-their-prime superstars, but negotiate exactly how much past championships are worth in 2013.

Pettitte came out of retirement to re-join the Yankees last season and did so on a $2.5 million deal. Given the success he had in an injury-shortened 2012, Pettitte could certainly command a higher salary this time around. He hasn’t officially notified the Yankees that he intends to pitch next season, but Jon Heyman says they expect he will and Pettitte will likely tell them by early next week.

The Yankees not only got by after Rivera went down with injury last season, they flourished. Once Rafael Soriano was given the job, he dominated hitters in a manner similar to what Rivera has done in his career. Well, that’s not really fair. Soriano was outstanding last season, saving 42 games and pitching to a 2.26 ERA. The last time Rivera had an ERA that high? 2007. In fact, Rivera’s career ERA is a mere 2.21 and that career spans 18 seasons and over 1000 appearances.

So not only can we reasonably expect Rivera to be better than Soriano or any other closer in baseball next season, even at age 43 and even coming off knee surgery, but we can expect that he’ll settle for a contract that pays him less than the $14 million Soriano was set to make (and opted out of) in 2013.

Regardless of whether or not the Yankees have made any official offers, rest assured both sides have a good idea of where the other stands. No doubt Cashman would like to get these deal wrapped up before the Winter Meetings begin in early December. The Yankees still have a handful of holes to fill and it sounds like Cashman may have a real budget to stay within this year. It will be interesting to see how he handles that.

For Andy Pettitte, this wasn’t what he had in mind. The New York Yankees’ left handed came out of retiement after more than a season away to rejoin his team and make a run at another championship. Now, with his club having been bounced from the playoffs, Pettitte must gain consider his future and whether or not he wants to return to the Yankees in 2013.

Pettitte posted a 5-4 record over 12 starts in 2012. Image: Brad Penner-US PRESSWIRE

According the the New York Daily News, Pettitte plans to consider the idea with his family and make a decision “within a month or two.”

 “I came back because I felt like I had some competition left in me and I wanted to help this organization win another championship. There’s no doubt I still have the desire to compete. For me, it’s the family situation. That’s the biggest thing. I’ll just try to figure that out. It’s a long season. What better job to have than play baseball? But at certain times, it gets tough whenever the family can’t be together.”

Pettitte re-joined the Yankees in May, but saw his comeback cut short by a comebacker that resulted in a broken ankle in June. He returned the the mound in time to make just a couple of starts prior to the playoffs.

In many ways, 2012 was a huge success for the left hander. He posted a 2.87 ERA in his 12 starts, which was the lowest of his career. He also struck out 8.2 batters per nine innings, which was a a hitter and a half more than his career average and his highest rate since 2004. He was 0-1 in two post-season starts in 2012, allowing 14 hits and five earned runs over 14.2 innings.

The Yankees face an off-season of uncertainty and Pettitte’s future is just one of many questions. The starting rotation lack considerable depth as it stands today and without Pettitte, the Yankees will have even more work to do to get back to where they’d like to be.

Pettitte hasn’t thrown a pitch since June 27 after taking a liner off his leg. Image: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

The New York Yankees have been taking on water of late and have fallen into a first-place tie with the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. With just three weeks of baseball left in the regular season, time is running out. Fortunately, it looks like the Yankees will get some much-needed reinforcements soon.

Veteran southpaw Andy Pettitte is slated to throw a simulated game today after finally being cleared to begin a running and throwing program as he attempts to come back from a broken leg. Pettitte hopes to be ready to return the the Bombers’ starting rotation before the end of the regular season.

New York has dealt with injuries and ineffectiveness with most of their starters over the past month as they’ve watched their divisional lead shrink from 10 games to zero. Pettitte’s return is still probably at least two weeks away, but just the news that he’s throwing to hitters again has to be a breath of fresh air for pitching coach Larry Rothschild and manager Joe Girardi.

The Yankees continue their series in Boston tonight while Baltimore hosts Tampa Bay.

For more on the Yankees, visit Yanks Go Yard.

As the 2011 edition of the Yankees saw their season end in the first round of the playoffs, those were all fair questions at the time, or so I thought. I should have known better. One game removed from the All-Star break this season, the Yankees (53-33) are right back where they’re so used to being: on top of the toughest division in baseball. Of course, that’s not exactly newsworthy. Since 1994, the Yankees have failed to finish first in the AL East exactly five times. That’s five teams in a span of 19 seasons in case you wanted to see how the math breaks down on that.

But finishing first in the AL East is a bigger accomplishment now than it has been in the past. It used to be a given that the Yankees were guaranteed for the playoffs, and anyone who wasn’t a fan of the storied franchise would probably have sneered while acknowledging that statement, making a crack about the bloated payroll in the process. Yes, the Yankees have money, but you can’t blame them for simply playing baseball in a big market. Furthermore, while money does come with its advantages, it absolutely does not negate the necessity of having talented personnel in the front office positions. There have been plenty of general managers that could have built a terrible organization with an annual payroll of $200 million or more. In the ever changing climate of today’s game, all teams simply must exercise caution when going after free agents no matter how much money you have. To be successful, an organization, even a rich one like the Yankees, cannot build a roster strictly from the free agent pool. It also must establish an international presence as well as churn out a steady supply of young, homegrown talent that eventually turns into cheap production at the major league level. If the Yankees weren’t doing that, they’d be the worst embarrassingly wealthy franchise in all of the sport.

Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

So give them credit for continuing to stay atop an increasingly powerful division despite the constant need to make adjustments. This year especially, the Yankee offense cannot rely as much on a Teixeira (.830 OPS) or A-Rod (.784 OPS), both of whom are aging and hitting like mere mortals these days. The team’s captain is still producing quite well for a shortstop, but his walks have all but disappeared in the later stages of his career (6.1% this season, a career low), and almost all of his production is tied up in batting average. Even Curtis Granderson has taken a step back from the offensive numbers he put together a year ago. In fact, the everyday Yankee lineup does not have one hitter putting together superstar production this season except for the second baseman whom every Kansas City resident now hates: Robinson Cano. In a big way, this has become Cano’s team. As a whole, though, the offensive unit is devastating; they lead the AL in OPS (.797) and are fourth in runs scored (418).

As good as the offense has been, you can’t forget to give credit to the pitching for doing its part to keep the Yankees on top. Yankee pitchers have contributed an even 12.0 WAR on the season according to FanGraphs, and that number is fourth in all of baseball. Thanks to the emergence of Ivan Nova (1.4 WAR) and the reemergence of Andy Pettitte (who has made a habit of alternating between retirement and mound dominance whenever he feels like it), the rotation is as deep and reliable as ever, and the bullpen is simply outstanding, even without the services of a certain legendary closer with the best cutter, well, ever. Rafael Soriano has done a serviceable job in terms of replacing Rivera as the team’s closer, although anyone that thinks his 1.56 ERA is staying put is delusional. His FIP is almost a full run higher, and his xFIP is over two runs higher. Even so, he leads all Yankee relievers with 1.1 WAR, and his peripherals are fine. David Robertson and Boone Logan are shouldering their respective loads as well, and as a whole, the Bronx bullpen is missing a ton of bats; their 9.11 K/9 mark is third in baseball.

So I don’t have any problem saying I was wrong after writing the Yankees off following last season’s tough first round defeat. I still think the offense needs to have a few of its parts swapped out (of all the players who have received 100 or more plate appearances with the team this year, only Cano and Russell Martin are under 30, and just barely at that), but the minor league system is near the top third in baseball according to several pundits, and there are plenty of hitters in the pipeline. Sure, they have issues. The long-term contracts to Teixeira and Rodriguez are looking dubious at this point, and the end is nowhere in sight for either player, but then again, that’s one area where having money does solve a potential problem for most teams. The Yankees can afford to pay a worthless player big money because they have a bottomless pit to draw from. As long as they can integrate a few new young players into the mix as they gradually phase out the legends one at a time, it’s not a smart idea to bet against them as I did going into the season, and it won’t be a smart idea in the future, either.

Can’t get enough of Spencer? Check out his work at StanGraphs and follow him on Twitter at @shendricks221.

For me the 2012 season started to take a wrong turn when Boston decided that it didn’t want Terry Francona back as manager. Another zag occurred when management let closer Jonathan Papelbon go in free agency. Then we learned that Carl Crawford would not start the season in left field because of injury.

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Los Angeles Angels 13, Baltimore Orioles 1

The Los Angeles Angels remain ultra-hot, as they crushed the Baltimore Orioles into submission Wednesday night. Kendrys Morales drove in four runs on three hits, Mike Trout had four hits and one of the best homer-robbing catches you will ever see, and Torii Hunter went yard for the 10th time this season. Jered Weaver didn’t need to, but he pitched very well (6 2/3 IP, ER, BB, 6 K) to win the ballgame. One of the coolest moments of the game occurred when Trout robbed J.J. Hardy of an obvious home run and Weaver took the time to literally tip his cap to his 20-year-old center fielder. Adam Jones drove in the only Oriole run.

I'm fairly certain no one I know could jump that high. Trout power! Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

Texas Rangers 13, Detroit Tigers 9

Roy Oswalt got hit around in his second Rangers start, but Doug Fister was abused even worse. David Murphy did plenty of damage all on his own, going 4-5 with two home runs, five RBI, and three runs scored. Adrian Beltre also had himself a three-hit game. The Tigers attempted to make a comeback, as Quintin Berry, Alex Avila, and Jhonny Peralta all had three-hit games in the loss. Joe Nathan was able to calm the Detroit offense down in the ninth to secure the win.

New York Yankees 5, Cleveland Indians 4

The Yankees won the game, but they will potentially lose Andy Pettitte for a couple of months after a batted ball struck him in the ankle. I guess this is at least proof that Casey Kotchman is capable of hitting a ball hard. Robinson Cano had another big day for New York, as he went 3-4 with his 18th home run, drove in two, and scored two. Eric Chavez also drove in a trio in the win. Jason Kipnis had two hits and drove in a run for Cleveland.

Chicago White Sox 12, Minnesota Twins 5

As has become customary all season long, the White Sox won with a solid start from Chris Sale and mashing from Adam Dunn. Sale went seven strong innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out five. Dunn had three hits and four RBI, and he cleared the fence for the 24th time this season. The Twins tried to put up a fight late, but fell extremely short. Brian Dozier hit a solo shot, while Darin Mastroianni hit the first home run of his big league career.

Boston Red Sox 10, Toronto Blue Jays 4

The final game of this offensive-minded series went to the Red Sox despite another shaky start from the previously awesome Jon Lester. David Ortiz homered, walked three times, and scored four times. Adrian Gonzalez, recently dropped in the lineup, showed signs of life with two hits and three RBI. The Jays were the recipients of home runs from Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, a pair of hitters who have now combined for 47 bombs on the year. Bautista has reclaimed the MLB lead with 25 home runs.

Kansas City Royals 5, Tampa Bay Rays 4

And just like that, the Royals have completed a sweep of the superior Rays! Kansas City got out to an early 4-0 lead and managed to hold thanks to Billy Butler‘s 15th home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth inning. Mike Moustakas also homered in the victory, while Ben Zobrist had three hits (including a double and a triple) for the Rays. After completing the sweep, the Royals are a very reasonable five games out of first place.

Oakland Athletics 2, Seattle Mariners 1

Jarrod Parker dominated the Mariners to win his fourth game of the season in a daytime contest Wednesday. Parker pitched seven innings, struck out nine, and allowed just one earned run. Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes provided the offense, as each of them contributed a solo home run. Cespedes is now slugging over .500 after his most recent fence-defeating strike. The only Mariner run came on a John Jaso solo homer, and the Seattle catcher added a single and a walk to his performance.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Milwaukee Brewers 8, Cincinnati Reds 4

The Reds took the first two games of this series, but the Brewers were able to claim the third thanks to plenty of early offense and having Zack Greinke. Greinke went six innings while allowing just two earned runs, and he enjoyed home runs from Rickie Weeks and Cody Ransom. Ryan Ludwick hit a pair of solo home runs for the losing Reds, and Joey Votto went ahead and hit what is already his 32nd double. What a beast.

New York Mets 17, Chicago Cubs 1

So the Mets just absolutely unloaded on the poor Cubs. Five players had multi-hit games and four players drove in at least four runs. Daniel Murphy hit two dingers, Ike Davis and Scorr Hairston each hit one, and David Wright led the pack with five RBI. Fifteen of the 17 Met runs were plated between the fourth and sixth innings. Jonathan Niese didn’t get lazy in spite of all the run support, as he went seven innings, allowed one run, and struck out six. If you were curious, Luis Valbuena was the dude that drove in the only Chicago run.

San Francisco Giants 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

Not only did the Dodgers just get shut out for the third straight game, the are now exactly tied with the Giants for first place in the National League West. But wait! It gets worse. Andre Ethier left the game early due to injury, and things looked right with Tim Lincecum. Suddenly San Francisco is looking like the team to beat in the West. Lincecum allowed no runs and just six baserunners to go along with his eight strikeouts in seven innings. Brandon Crawford had three hits, while Angel Pagan drove in a couple of runs. If the Dodgers are going to stay in this thing, they need a bat or four.

Atlanta Braves 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 4

The D-Backs rode home runs from Ryan Roberts and Chris Young in a four-run seventh to narrow the gap, but the Braves were able to hold on for the win. Tommy Hanson logged a quality start to take home his ninth win, while Jason Heyward and Chipper Jones both went deep in the win. Heyward’s season just keeps getting better, as the future star is now hitting .282/.354/.520. Craig Kimbrell struck out the side per usual to earn his 22nd save.

Miami Marlins 5, St. Louis Cardinals 3

The Cardinals got out to an early lead thanks to a sac fly from Carlos Beltran and a run-scoring double from David Freese. Anibal Sanchez settled down for the most part, though St. Louis was able to reclaim the lead on the first career homer from Tony Cruz in the seventh. Fortunately for the Marlins, John Buck and Logan Morrison were able to hit back-to-back shots to give Miami a much-needed win. Heath Bell was able to close this one out and end the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak.

Houston Astros 1, San Diego Padres 0

I’m still confused as to why it took three games in this series for one of them to end up in a 1-0 final. Lucas Harrell went the distance for a complete game shutout, striking out seven and walking four in the process. Matt Downs went to the trouble to leave the yard in the third inning to score what would be the only run in the game and the final run of this dreadful series.

Pittsburgh Pirates 11, Philadelphia Phillies 7

it’s just been a tough year to be the Phillies. The offense is finally looking a lot better, as Chase Utley returned with his first home run in his first at-bat and Ryan Howard is starting to rehabilitate his large self. Carlos Ruiz homered yet again, and seven runs is typically enough to win. The Pirates thought otherwise, though, as they were able to put up crooked numbers early and often. Michael McKenry homered and drove in four, Andrew McCutchen homered and went deep again, and Neil Walker had three hits. James McDonald got another win in this one.

Washington Nationals 11, Colorado Rockies 5

Jordan Zimmermann gave up just one run in seven innings and let his offense do the rest. Ryan Zimmerman homered for the second straight day and drove in three, while catcher Jhonatan Solano chipped in with two hits and three RBI. Marco Scutaro drove in a pair for the hapless Rockies.

If Brian’s writing strikes your fancy, follow him on Twitter at @vaughanbasepct and read his work at StanGraphs.