Times wires
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
NEW YORK — Andy Pettitte characterized his decision to pitch in 2013 as an "easy" one.
Once he informed the Yankees of that, he said the dominoes fell quickly.
Pettitte officially signed a one-year, $12 million deal — with incentives — Wednesday and said the agreement actually was hammered out before Thanksgiving.
"This was very easy," said Pettitte, 40, who made $2.5 million last season. "The Yankees made it easy on me. Literally the negotiations, it seemed like, were for a day or so, that was it."
Pettitte said when he left for his Texas home after the AL Championship Series loss, his sense was he would return. Conversations with his family reinforced that and, after guiding his son Josh through his college decision — the right-hander committed to pitch for Baylor — Pettitte went about working toward 2013.
"Once I started working out and I felt like I still had to the desire to put in the work, it was pretty easy for me to realize that this is something I wanted to try and do again," Pettitte said.
GM Brian Cashman also played a significant role.
"As soon as the season was over I spoke with Cash and he said, 'As soon as we can, we want you back, as soon as you decide, we want you back,' " Pettitte said. "That's huge for a player. For Cash to reach out to me and tell me that … you feel like the organization feels pretty good about bringing you back and feels pretty good about what you've done. That was a huge part of me coming back also."
REDS SIGN FORMER CLOSER: Cincinnati signed right-hander Jonathan Broxton to a three-year, $21 million contract, giving the NL Central champions a potential closer and a chance to reconfigure their rotation.
Broxton came to the Reds in July in a trade with the Royals and was part of their playoff push. He filled in as closer when left-hander Aroldis Chapman came down with a tired shoulder and had four saves in six chances overall with a 2.82 ERA, impressing the Reds.
Now they have the option of turning Chapman into a starter, which was the plan last season until closer Ryan Madson tore up his pitching elbow.
MADSON TO L.A.: The right-hander agreed to a one-year deal with the Angels, who believe the reliever will make a strong comeback from reconstructive elbow surgery.
DRUG TESTING: Players' union head Michael Weiner said there have been talks with Major League Baseball about increasing the drug testing program.
ROYALS-PIRATES TRADE: Kansas City traded right-hander Vin Mazzaro and first baseman Clint Robinson to Pittsburgh for minor-league pitchers Luis Santos and Luis Rico.
DELMON HAD SURGERY: Free agent outfielder/DH Delmon Young, the former Ray, had ankle surgery Nov. 10 to remove bone spurs and smooth out jagged cartilage. He is expected to be ready for spring training.
A'S: Right-handed reliever Pat Neshek agreed on a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration.
MARINERS: Infielder Chone Figgins, the former Brandon High standout, was released a week after being designated for assignment. Seattle will eat the remaining $8 million on his contract for 2013.
RED SOX: In a flurry of moves, the team traded right-handers Zach Stewart to the Pirates and Sandy Rosario to the Athletics for players to be named and sent third baseman Danny Valenci to the Orioles for cash considerations. The club also hired Greg Colbrunn as hitting coach.