The Picture Starts To Become A Lot More Clear

Some comments from Cash on the status of Andy Pettitte today:

"I don't think he's determined if he's officially finished or not, but he's chosen at this stage at least not to start in 2011.  If that ever changes he'll call us. We're not going to hound him or bother him.  Andy's been very communicative on these issues and right now he's not in play, and if he does decide to play he'll play for us. "He's a Yankee from start to finish." (courtesy of the NY Daily News)

Well there you have it, folks.  It sounds like Andy may very well be done.  Cash may be trying to leave the door open here if Andy hasn't officially come out and said he's retired.  But if the guy isn't planning on starting the 2011 season (which means he hasn't started working out), then I think it's a safe bet that nothing is going to kick in once the season starts that will inspire him to start working out and come back some time in the mid- to late summer.

Call me naive, but in the back of my mind I still held this small glimmer of hope that Andy would wake up one morning after having some Yankee-related dream and realize he still had a little bit of an itch to play, enough of an itch that it would have been worth it to him to scratch it by playing one more year in 2011.

But if this is really it.  If he is really done, then I'm OK with his decision and every other Yankee fan should be too.  This man has given everything he's had to this organization, from the time they drafted him in 1991 to the time he stepped on the mound in Game 3 of the 2010 ALCS.  I could give a shit less about the years he spent with the Astros, Andy Pettitte has always been and will always be a Yankee.  Say what you want about the steroids, there is no denying that Andy Pettitte was a gamer, an ideal teammate, a professional, and a great Yankee.