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Pettite reminds me a lot of Jack Morris in the 80s. He gives up hits and runs, but just seems to know how to win.

Normally I don't buy into that-- guys with ERAs and high win totals are usually just lucky (see Rick Helling and Aaron Sele on the mid-90s Texas Rangers). But, there are a few guys that are the exceptions that prove the rule. It might not be pretty, but wherever they go, they win. David Wells was one of those guys. Morris, for sure. To a far lesser degree, Wakefield is one of those. Pettite has proved to be in this category.

Why the Yankees ever let Pettitte get away after 2003 is beyond me.
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Elbow issues?

~~~Elbow issues?~~~

That didn't stop them from laying down bags of money on Andrew Brackman.

Look out, Steve. I think this list forces you to give props to Mussina too, doesn't it?

I thought I kinda did that already:

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2007/08/moose_math.html

I was under the impression that Pettitte wanted to go to Houston. Is that incorrect?

I thought the deal with Pettitte was that he wanted to be closer to home, and his big buddy was leaving to go to Houston. And the Yankees thought his elbow was shredded so they didn't make a big push to talk him out of it.

I was annoyed that he left, but since he got his elbow straightened out on someone else's dime, and is back in pinstripes, I think it actually worked out well.

~~~I was under the impression that Pettitte wanted to go to Houston. Is that incorrect?~~~

FWIW, from the NYT on 12/10/03:

When Andy Pettitte and his father left Yankee Stadium on Oct. 25 after the Florida Marlins won Game 6 of the World Series, Tom Pettitte said that General Manager Brian Cashman told Andy that he would contact him soon.

Andy Pettitte, a 31-year-old left-hander who has spent his entire career in the Yankees' organization, thought that meant Cashman would call his agents in a few days to begin discussions on a new contract.

Instead, Tom Pettitte said, the Yankees did not seriously approach Andy for 14 days and declined to exploit the exclusive 15-day window they had after the Series to sign him. That perceived sluggishness has only added to his son's confusion about whether he will return to the Yankees or sign with the Houston Astros. Both teams have made offers of three years for about $30 million.

''They keep saying Andy Pettitte is their No. 1 priority,'' Tom Pettitte said. ''We've been hearing that since that day we left. If 14 days goes by before you even call someone you're interested in, you're dragging your feet. That doesn't seem like a whole lot of interest to me.'' Frustrated Yankees officials are telling a different story. Cashman refused to comment, but an American League official who has spoken with the Yankees and with Alan and Randy Hendricks, Pettitte's agents, said the Yankees had had conversations with them several days after losing the Series, then made Pettitte a $30 million offer a day before he could become a free agent.

Pettitte made $11.5 million while winning 21 games last season, so it was clearly an opening offer and below market value.

''Boston made an offer that was substantially more than what the Yankees offered,'' Tom Pettitte said in a telephone interview. ''Andy said no to that. That's not him. He said all along he could only see himself playing in a Yankee uniform.''

After the Yankees made their first offer, the official said they waited at least two weeks for a response from either Hendricks brother and were finally told that Pettitte wanted to experience free agency. Cashman said at the general managers' meetings last month that he had stopped negotiating with Pettitte to allow him the opportunity to be courted by other teams.

Once Pettitte's agents told Cashman that they were actively seeking offers from other teams, Cashman told team officials that they needed to begin pursuing other pitchers. The Yankees acquired Javier Vazquez from Montreal last week and are close to re-signing David Wells.

In a brief e-mail response to several questions, Randy Hendricks said, ''Getting frustrated is often part of negotiations, so in that respect, things are normal.''

Still, to listen to his father, Andy Pettitte is exasperated by the slow pace of negotiations and seemingly blames the Yankees, not his agents, for prolonging the process. Tom said ''everyone in the baseball world'' realized that his son would either continue his 13-year relationship with the Yankees or relocate to Houston so he could be closer to his family in Deer Park, Tex.

''We know what goes into running an organization,'' Tom Pettitte said. ''We know it's a business. Maybe they're trying to bide their time to get rid of Andy. You never know what they're thinking.''

When he was asked if he really thought the Yankees would sever ties with his son, he expressed the family's befuddlement by saying: ''I'm grasping for straws. We're racking our brains trying to figure out what's going on.''

http://tinyurl.com/36o9mu

"~~~Elbow issues?~~~

That didn't stop them from laying down bags of money on Andrew Brackman."

The Yankees aren't expecting Brackman to help them out next year. And his contract is worth a lot less if he doesn't start pitching in the majors within a few years.

I thought I kinda did that already:

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2007/08/moose_math.html
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Pretty faint praise. I was only messing with you, since you're lukewarm on Mussina and like and admire Pettitte so much, and this list indicates Mussina has actually been better than Pettitte.