Andy Starts Offseason Workouts

The next, and possibly final, piece of the 2013 rotation puzzle may be starting to get put into place.  At least that's how a positive-thinking person would take Mark Feinsand's report Sunday about Andy Pettitte starting his offseason workout program as a test to see how his body responds and see if he thinks it will hold up for another season.  After the earlier report that Pettitte would make his decision sometime this week, this latest news makes it look more like we're going to see the lefty back in pinstripes for one more season.  There's no guarantee, but there are 2 big things to take away from this:

1) Andy's family is cool with him playing

The first check when on the stay/leave fence is always making sure it's OK with your family if you play.  Andy, like many players before him, cited the desire to spend more time with his when he retired before, and got their blessing before coming back last season, so there's no reason to think he wouldn't go through that same routine this time.  If Andy's family hadn't signed off on him playing 1 more year, he wouldn't even go through the motions of offseason training to prep his body.

2) Andy WANTS to play

That fire to come back and play wasn't there after the 2010 season, when Andy hung them up and spent 2011 on the sidelines.  He got it back after that season and called Cash up as a first step to his 2012 comeback, and if he's squared it away with his family and already started his workout program, then it's pretty obvious that fire is still there and the desire to come back for 1 more year is evident.  Andy probably surprised himself with how well he pitched in 2012, whether he admits it or not, and he knows his season got cut way short by a freak play.  If his body can hold up, the mind is already there.

And there's no reason, barring something freak again, to think that Andy's body won't be good enough to start 2013.  He's already coming into this offseason workout in better physical shape than he was before this past season because he's worked himself into game shape again.  He's only a little over a month removed from competing, not over a year removed like he was last December.  Physically, he's got a headstart on his training for 2013, so these test workouts should be just a formality.

When it comes down to signing a contract, Pettitte will surely make more in 2013 than he did in 2012, but I expect those details to get worked out quickly.  The good news is that all signs are pointing towards Andy coming back for one more go.