I'll admit Andy Pettitte has always been a favorite of mine.  A first class person and professional who personafies excellence.  Which is why the Yankees as A-Rod did to them, must go to Andy's doorstep and get on their knees and beg for him to come back to the Yankees.

If there's one lefty hurler the Yanks should focus their immediate attention on, that won't cost them as much money or any prized prospects it's Pettitte.  Thus with virtually every other Yankee being brought back and given a pay raise, there's no reason why the Yanks can't do the same for Pettitte.  If it means giving him $20 million + with an option an a "Roger Clemens family plan," then do it!

Granted the Yankees have stressed the importance of wanting, needing and having Pettitte in their rotation but one would think they would like to add an extra incentive to one of their own homegrown winners, a "true Yankee." 

Pettitte is a proven winner in New York, in the playoffs and in the clubhouse.  Pettitte is also a gamer, the ultimate stopper and would be an invaluable asset in mentoring the Yankees young trio of Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.  Plus Pettitte is a lefty, the Yankees haven't won a World Series without a lefty in their rotation since 1958.

If not for poor run support and a shaky bullpen in the early going, Pettitte easily could've won 20+ games last season and won 15 as it was.  Pettitte also threw over 215 innings, his most in the Bronx since 1998.  With 14 playoff wins and 4 rings, one cannot begin to stress the importance of bringing back # 46.

When pitching ace Jimmy Key went down in 1995 a rookie by the name of Andy Pettitte stepped up and won 12 games.  In 1996 when another ace David Cone went down, Pettitte answered the call and won an AL best 21 games finishing 2nd in Cy Young voting.  In the 2004 ALCS when the Yankees basically had no game 7 starter, they then realized how much it hurt and how badly they needed Pettitte.  If only for one more year, please come back Andy!

Pay Pettitte or regret it.

Week 11 NFL Picks (Last week 6-7, overall season record 85-58). 

Browns over Ravens: So Cleveland loses another heartbreaker to Pittsburgh, tell me something I don't know.  Baltimore's defense looks very mortal.

Jaguars over Chargers: These two teams make you scratch you head every week.

Eagles over Dolphins: Miami has been close the last couple of weeks, while Philly is very inconsistent.  It wouldn't shock me to see an upset here.

Vikings over Raiders: Uh next game please.

Colts over Chiefs: Colts are an absolute mash unit, but KC is lousy.

Packers over Panthers: Favre vs. Testaverde and yes it is 2007.

Giants over Lions: Giants will not unravel this season and the Lions could be looking ahead to the Packers on Thanksgiving.

Buccaneers over Falcons: Best rivalry in football... or not.

Saints over Texans: Just when I want to believe in the Saints they lose to the Rams. 

Cardinals over Bengals: Clearly two model franchises of the 1990's, no reason they shouldn't keep up with those high standards this decade.

Steelers over Jets: If it wasn't for the Browns the Steelers would own the Jets, which by the way they do.

Seahawks over Bears: These two were in the divisional playoffs against each other last year?  Wow.

Rams over 49ers: The Rams beat an old NFC West rival, why not an old intra-state rival?

Cowboys over Redskins: I have to admit I have a lot more respect for Dallas after last week's win.  Washington seems to lose all of these heartbreakers.

Patriots over Bills: I could see the Bills putting up an early resilient fight, but the Pats are just too much.

Broncos over Titans: Well at least it ain't as bad as last Monday's game.

With the hiring of Manager Joe Girardi, Hank Steinbrenner stressed patience and many scoffed.  However if one looks at the Red Sox of 2006 and 2007, patience was a key ingredient to their success.

If one will recall, the natives in Beantown got mighty restless at the 2006 trade deadline when BoSox management essentially stood pat.  This after an off-season of losing Johnny Damon and making a deal with the Florida Marlins which saw SS Hanley Ramirez take home NL Rookie of the Year honors and pitcher Anibal Sanchez throw a no-hitter while winning ten games.  Granted the Red Sox did fall to 3rd place and ulitmately missed the playoffs, however they refused to deviate from their plans. 

As a result of that patience, young players such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester and Dustin Pedroia helped the BoSox to win this year.  In addition, Josh Beckett turned from a 5+ ERA to ALCS MVP and Mike Lowell from adequate 3rdbaseman to World Series MVP.

Thus the key to the Yankees future success will be hanging onto guys like Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy, just as they did at this past Summer's trade deadline.