Reasonable Expectations

Questions about how the Congressional circus, its aftermath, and the certain forthcoming hounding regarding his PED use may affect Pettitte continue to be on the minds of many writers. Namely, if Pettitte flares out, what wrath will be incurred for not getting the Santana deal done? Mark Feinsand quotes Hank Steinbrenner in the Daily News:

"I'd love to have a Santana or a Beckett. Hopefully that's not a move we should have made that I'm going to be (ticked off) about. I think by the end of the season we could have that in Chamberlain."

John Harper has a parallel piece examining the situation regarding the expectations of The Big Three, and spoke with Joe Girardi:

"It's an interesting situation," was the way Girardi put it Friday, "because there are some innings limitations on some of our young starters. So you have to be a little bit creative. We'll look at it at the end of March and see where we're at."

So, before his 23rd birthday, a kid who has never thrown a big-league start (and who will work out of the pen for an unknown duration to begin the season) is expected by the end of the season to be more or less on par with the best starting pitcher in the game over the last five years and with a top-tier ace who has turned in a couple of the most dominant post season performances in the history of the game. Oh, and his buddies had better be really darn good in their first full seasons as starters as well.

Okay.

Well, I guess it would be nice.

Momma: Brian! Rings!
Brian: In a minute, Momma.
Momma: Don't you "In a minute, Momma" me! Get off your fat little ass or I'll break it for you!

Comments

[Hudson]

I think Pettitte is the one guy who comes out of this round of PED scandals with his image relatively intact.

So there shouldn't be too much mental distraction from the ongoing "circus." (Some of us take the underlying issues more seriously than others, even if some members of Congress, the media and players have made a mockery of the situation...) I don't see him getting hounded that much more than all major New York players get hounded.

As for dropping off physically, it would appear that his use was long in the past and pretty limited. So any dropoff would be natural aging, no?

[YF]

"there are some innings limitations on some of our young starters. So you have to be a little bit creative."

This sentence suggests that management is thinking (intelligently, one hopes) about safeguarding the assets on which it has leveraged so much. That's encouraging.

Love that separated at birth comp, though. Reminds me of this oldie but goodie:

http://yanksfansoxfan.typepad.com/ysfs/2004/09/separated_at_bi_1.html

[Nick-YF]

the photos say it all!

"I think Pettitte is the one guy who comes out of this round of PED scandals with his image relatively intact."

I don't get this, although you're probably right about it, Hudson. He was caught lying. It's that simple. One thing that hasn't been discussed much is that he provided the new tidbit about his father and his 2004 use of HGH because a Daily News story was about to break about it. He didn't tell Congress because he had sworn before God and he's such a religious guy. It's because the Daily News called him up three days before the deposition with the information they had on him.

I, for one, never bought into the "Honest Andy" rep that he had before this stuff, but didn't the public think he was an honest guy? It's weird to think that this might not hurt that image.

I find Hank's comments about Joba interesting in what they reveal about his thoughts about Hughes. Clearly, he thinks Joba is the next coming--someone who would never have been involved in a trade for anyone. But, he seems to have doubts about Hughes going forward. How can he be so sure of one prospect, and not of the other?

[Jim in CT (SF)]

Andy Pettitte = Fallible Human Being.
How quick would you be to drag your Dad into this publicity cesspool?
I'll give Andy some slack. As a man. As a Yankee starting pitcher, well, fallible would continue to suit me just fine, but I'll expect 4+ competent starts and hope for some timely hits.

Is the picture Joba with some photoshop aging?

[Hudson]

I guess the reason Pettitte comes out smelling better than the rest is that even though he cheated and was, ahem, less than forthcoming until recently, when it came to the big moment he told the truth rather than lying to protect his buddy.

Maybe for some that makes him a schnook.

But I think in the eyes of many, Pettitte has swallowed hard and finally done the right thing... and thus, unlike Clemens himself, he has put the scandal behind him.

[sf rod]

please don't forget how many times andy lied to reporters over the years.....

Houston Chronicle Oct. 1st '06
“I haven’t done anything,” Pettitte said. “I guess reports are saying that I’ve used performance-enhancing drugs. I’ve never used any drugs to enhance my performance on the baseball field before.

pettitte was backed into a corner before he came clean. there should be no reward for that. he'd still be lying if he thought he could get away with it. for waxman to call andy "A role model on and off the field," really turns my stomach.

[attackgerbil]

> Is the picture Joba with some photoshop aging?

The original of Hank is here; the original separated-at-birth that I knocked together isn't nearly so reddish on my monitor, but after the upload the image took on that unnatural red hue. Guessing I might have re-compressed the jpeg accidentally on upload or something. Not intentional. edit: uploaded a new pic that took out a bit of the oompa loompa.

[Pat (SF)]

As good as Beckett and Santana by the end of the year? I'll draft him second round~!!