Yankees Find a Few More Million for Fan Fave Pettite

After spending most of the winter cleaning up the free agent market with new additions CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and AJ Burnett, the Yankees finalized a deal today with a familiar face, longtime starter Andy Pettite. Pettite will return to the Bronx for a contract that reported guarantees him $5.5 million. That's a significant pay cut from the $16 million Pettite made last year, but this contract could more than double if he meets various incentives. Despite shedding bloated contracts for players such as Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano and Bobby Abreu, the Yankees are nearing last year's payroll of $209 million (that cost them just under another $30 mil in luxury tax)—the opening day total is around $196.8 million now. Sealing up the deal with Pettite appears to lock in next season's starting rotation where newcomers Sabathia and Burnett will join Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain.