Roster Decision Roundup

Well I guess 23 out of 25 ain't bad, huh?  I thought I had it nailed down this morning, but the Yankees hit me (and I'm sure many others) with a few surprises today.  I covered some of this on the AB4AR Page earlier, but here's a quick recap of the day's roster events.

- David Phelps was named the long man out of the bullpen.  I preferred D.J. Mitchell but you really can't say this is a bad choice.  Phelps probably is a better pitcher than Mitchell and I always say bring your 25 best.

- Francisco Cervelli was NOT named the backup catcher.  Instead, he will be heading to Triple-A to replace Austin Romine while Romine recovers from his back injury.

- Replacing Cervelli on the 25-man will be former Snan Francisco Giant and Yankee MiL catcher Chris Stewart.  Stewart is an all-field/no-hit catcher if ever there was one, and he cost the Yankees George Kontos to get.  Kontos was possibly undervalued as a potential relief arm, but not a huge loss.

- OF Justin Maxwell was designated for assignment, a move that wasn't surprising but a bit disappointing considering what he brings to the table as bench insurance for Andruw Jones.  There's no chance he slips through the cracks like C-Dick did.  Even if he clears waivers, Maxwell can choose free agency over a Triple-A assignment.

- IF Bill Hall was granted his release.  He didn't have an out in his contract, but he requested it and the Yankees honored that request.  One less thing I'll have to complain about this season.

- 3 other guys on MiL deals- Doug Bernier, Jayson Nix, and Dewayne Wise- were not offered roster spots by other teams and so will be retained as emergency depth in Triple-A.

BREAKING NEWS: Yankees Bring Back Andy Pettitte

I'm a little later than most on this because I was out at lunch when the story broke, but according to Jack Curry the Yankees have signed Andy Pettitte (yes, THAT Andy Pettitte) to a 1-year/$2.5 million MiL contract.

There are still very few details about this move, but a conference call is scheduled this afternoon to formally announce the signing and Pettitte himself will be on the call.

I really don't know what to say about this.  I can't imagine why the Yankees felt they needed to bring Pettitte back, and I'm shocked that Pettitte is interested in playing again.  He sounded like he was enjoying retirement when he showed up at camp a few weeks ago and spoke to reporters.  But it's never a bad thing to see Andy Pettitte in a Yankee uniform, and as an added bonus I have a reason to use this Photoshop again.

** UPDATE- 1:35PM- Curry has a story on YES.com describing how some of this came up.  It all goes back to Andy's visit to camp three weeks ago. **

** UPDATE- 2:09PM- According to Mark Feinsand, the deal was finalized last Saturday.

** Via Joel Sherman, a Yankee source on the Yankees' position with Pettitte- "If he wants to come back, we say yes."