Three Team Race For Pettitte

Free agent pitcher Andy Pettitte is drawing interest from at least three teams. The Astros, Rangers, and Dodgers have all expressed interest in Pettitte, who went 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA in thirty-three games last season. He held out for more money with the Yankees, who offered him ten million dollars for one year. Sources with knowledge of the situation said that Pettitte would likely accept a one year deal in the range of 14 million dollars - but teams looking to sign Pettitte probably won't go higher than 10, maybe 11 million dollars.

Astros GM Ed Wade told me at the Winter Meetings that the Astros have had to make serious cutbacks during the economic crisis, meaning they will likely wait for prices to come down even more. As for the Rangers, they have had a bad history of rewarding big contracts to pitchers who didn't pan out, and will likely stay away from a one year investment with someone like Pettitte, especially with guys like Oliver Perez and Mark Mulder still available.