Pettitte will soon be wearing the familiar pinstripes again.

Andy Pettitte has re-signed with the Yankees. They reached a preliminary agreement on a 1-year $16 million contract, with a player option for a second season, at the same dollar amount.

This is a great move for both parties. Though only 34, Pettitte toyed with the idea of an early retirement this off season. This short contract gives him the option of still retiring early. The Yankees needed to sure up their starting rotation, especially with Randy Johnson recovering from back surgery, and perhaps due to miss the first month of the 2007 season. The Yankees have some fine young arms coming up through the system, and the commitment of a long-term deal that Barry Zito, Ted Lilly, or Jason Schmidt were demanding wasn't very appealing.

One question: Will Pettitte resume wearing his old number 46, or stick with the number 21 that he wore with the Astros? My guess is 46. Though he's been retired for several years now, 21 is still Paul O'Neill's number.

The rotation now looks like this:
Chien-Ming Wang
Andy Pettitte
Mike Mussina
Randy Johnson
Carl Pavano or Kei Igawa

Welcome back, Andy!


A ball Pettitte signed before the '96 season, when I saw him at a card show at the Westchester County Center.