andy pettitte

The demise of the Yankees was written at least a dozen times from February 1 until now.  The injuries, oh the injuries.  But baseball people must not have been baseball people through and through because they forgot that CC Sabathia and Robinson Cano and Mariano Rivera were still around and the bullpen was in tact.  And the division actually wasn't that good if you know how baseball teams win in 2

  The Yankees and upstart Royals play three in Kansas City. New York comes fresh off a series win in rainy Colorado. Kansas City comes off a series loss to the Orioles in Baltimore.  Here is a Yankees-Royals series preview. Royals general manager Dayton Moore had a plan a couple years ago.  It was a plan to build through the farm, get pitching with some prospects and build an actual baseball team.

Back in 2010, the Yankees failed to get Cliff Lee because minor league infielder David Adams didn't pass a physical due to a bum ankle and so the trade never happened with Seattle and Lee went to Texas instead and helped the Rangers win the pennant.  Lee, at that time, was the surest pitcher in baseball.  He isn't that now, at the age of 34, but the Yankees should still go get him.

The Yanks enter a home series with Oakland having won four of the last five series, including recently Houston, where the pinstripes were crushed in game one but took the next two.  Moneyball-run Oakland, meanwhile, took two of three from the Angels.  These two teams will play three in the Bronx.  Here is a series preview.

Talk all day long about the 2013 replacement players in pinstripes.  Talk about general manager Brian Cashman taking chances.  Talk about the starting pitching being good enough in spots.  Talk about whatever you'd like as the main reason for the Yankees' demise not quite happening just yet like some thought.  The real talk is the leadership and presence of Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Andy Pet

The Yanks come fresh off a four-game home sweep of overrated Toronto.  Houston is the worst team in baseball and was overwhelmed at Fenway Park, losing four straight to the Red Sox.  The Yanks and Astros play three in the Bronx.  Here is a series preview:

The Yankees topped Tampa Bay in game two of a three-game series 4-2.  What seemed like a potential Rays sweep after game one and Matt Moore's dominating performance while CC Sabathia struggled could now be a Yankees series win, their fifth straight.

Andy Pettitte, the old grizzly veteran of the Yankee rotation, is off to a fast start with a 3-0 record and just over 2.00 ERA despite his age and recent back spasms.  Can he hold up?  The Yankees' season partly depends on it.  If Pettitte stays healthy, the sky is the limit on what he can do this season...

The once promising trio of Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes was supposed to be pitching greatness in pinstripes for 10 years.  Except that it never happened.  Ian Kennedy was traded to Arizona, the Yanks messed with Joba so much that he never regained his true set-up stuff and Phil Hughes became a wait-and-see ballgame that ended 100 innings ago.  But Ivan Nova was the savior.  Until

The Yankees won another series in Toronto and now head to Tampa Bay for three games. The Rays, fresh off a three-game sweep of the Athletics in which they outscored Oakland 17-4, are riding high.  Here is a preview of the upcoming series between the 2nd place Yanks and 4th place Rays in terms of the AL East division.

It's time to start wondering just how good the Yankees will be this year based on three factors.  The lineup hitting in timely spots, health and the depth of the pitching staff.  Andy Pettitte arrives in the last two categories and could realistically be the difference in New York making the playoffs and winning the division.

The new-look and struggling Blue Jays welcome the Yankees to Toronto for a three-game set.  New York comes in having won two of three from Arizona at Yankee Stadium.  Toronto recently lost two of three at home to the White Sox.  Here is a look at the coming weekend North of the border in a short series preview.