Sources: Andy Pettitte To Return To Yankees On One-Year Deal

Another week, another starting pitcher returning for the New York Yankees.  According to Buster Olney of ESPN, the Yankees and left-hander Andy Pettitte are close to agreeing on a one-year contract worth close to $11 million.  The deal means the Yankees will have the top of their starting rotation (C.C. Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Pettitte) returning for the 2013 season. After retiring for a season following the 2011 campaign, Pettitte returned to the Yankees in 2012.  He was on hand during spring training of last season to help out the Yankees as an instructor and ended up getting the itch to return as a player.  After signing and going thru an extended spring training, Pettitte made his return on May 13th.  He made his first nine starts before suffering a broken left ankle in a June 27th start against the Cleveland Indians.  He returned in September to make three additional starts, allowing just three runs in 16.2 innings.  For the season, Pettitte finished with a 5-4 record, 2.87 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. The only question that now remains for the Yankees rotation is what the back end will look like.  Barring a trade, three pitchers (Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova and David Phelps) will be competing for the final two spots.  Hughes should be the number four starter, after posting a 16-13 record and pitching well in the postseason, allowing just two runs in 9.2 innings over two starts.  He exited his American League Championship Series start vs the Detroit Tigers due to a stiff back.  Meanwhile, Nova struggled in his second full season, posting a 5.02 ERA in his 28 starts despite a winning record of 12-8.  Phelps, in his rookie season, had a solid season for the Yankees as both a starter and reliever.  Posting a 3.34 ERA and striking out 96 batters in his 99.2 innings pitched.  In 11 starts, he posted a 2-2 record with a 3.77 ERA in 57.1 innings pitched. Three main questions remain for the Yankees this offseason.  They’ve yet to sign a catcher, right-fielder and finalize a contract with closer Mariano Rivera.  According to multiple sources, the Yankees hope to get a deal done with Rivera and some point this week.  After getting nowhere with Torii Hunter and the unlikelihood of the team resigning Nick Swisher, it would seem the Yankees will get a deal done with Ichiro Suzuki.  After being traded to the Yankees midway thru last season, Ichiro turned back the clock, hitting at a .322 clip and stealing 14 bases in his 67 games as a Yankees. Rumors have flown around today about a one-year deal worth $5 million between Ichiro and the team but that was shot down by Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  As for the catching position, Andrew Marchand of ESPN tweeted earlier today that Russell Martin, the Yankees catcher the past two seasons, is looking for a four-year deal worth between $9 million and $10 million. Tough to see the Yankees signing Martin to those numbers considering the team’s mandate to lower they payroll to under $189 million by 2014.