Pettitte back with Yanks
NEW YORK — Andy Pettitte's new baseball home is one he knows oh so well.
Pettitte bolted from his hometown Houston Astros and came back to the Bronx on Friday, reaching a preliminary agreement on a $16 million, one-year contract with the Yankees.
Now that the left-hander has returned to New York, could Roger Clemens be far behind?
"Roger has yet to decide what he wants to do," Randy Hendricks, the agent for both pitchers, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "He has, however, followed the events with Andy and the Astros very carefully."
A day after the winter meetings, former Yankees reliever Octavio Dotel agreed to a $5 million, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, who also agreed to a $4 million, two-year deal with left-hander John Bale. A day earlier, the Royals gave pitcher Gil Meche a $55 million, five-year contract.
"I feel very happy because of the confidence the Royals have shown in me," said Dotel, who picked the Royals over the Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays because it gave him the best opportunity to be a closer.
San Francisco agreed to a $3.5 million, two-year contract to keep left-hander Steve Kline, and St. Louis gave right-hander Russ Springer a $1.75 million, one-year deal.
Third baseman Brandon Inge, who would have been eligible for free agency after next season, agreed to a $24 million, four-year contract with the AL champion Detroit Tigers.
"It's awesome to get this done because Detroit is the only place I wanted to play," Inge said.
Also, the Los Angeles Dodgers finalized a $47 million, three-year contract with right-hander Jason Schmidt and a $7.35 million, one-year deal with outfielder Luis Gonzalez, agreements struck during the winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Barry Bonds, Schmidt's old San Francisco teammate, gave him a call.
"He's like, 'You're leaving me? I can't believe you're leaving me,"' Schmidt said. "I told him, 'I have to.' We had fun with it. We got to be pretty good friends while I was in San Francisco."
Late Thursday night, Bonds and the Giants reached a preliminary agreement on a $16 million, one-year contract.
"I'm seeing guys sign for stupid amounts of money and they're not even premier players," San Francisco shortstop Omar Vizquel said. "They're average. You see a guy like Barry Bonds who's been in the record books forever and is an MVP, he's going to get paid."
Across San Francisco Bay, catcher Mike Piazza finalized an $8.5 million, one-year deal to take over from Frank Thomas as the Oakland Athletics' designated hitter.
"Swinging the bat, I'll do what I do: be a complete hitter and be a veteran in the lineup," said Piazza, who had spent his entire big league career in the National League.
