THE PETTITTE FACTOR

Sooner or later (preferably sooner) Andy Pettitte needs to make a decision. The Yankees cannot go to the winter meetings without knowing if they need a pitcher or not.

Unfortunately, Mike "give it back" Mussina is the "go to" guy right now. I call him "give it back" because he has a habit of giving back runs. When the Yankees score, you can be sure that Mussina will give back some or all of the runs the following inning.

As of now the presumed rotation is Wang, Hughes, Kennedy, Chamberlain and Mussina. Forget Kei Igawa.

That can't happen.

If Pettitte returns, Mussina is out. What the Yanks do with him is anyones guess.

So how long do the Yankees wait? Brian Cashman said Andy can take all the time he needs. You're worng Cash, you need to know before the winter meetings so you can start your shopping.

While every one takes Andy at his word that he will either retire or return to the Yankees, I'm in a different camp.

Sure he's a stand up guy, but he's still a player looking for things his way.

The Yankees have to set a hard deadline. If Andy does not decide by that deadline and the Yankees say bye, thats his out and his ticket to L.A., blaming it on the Yankees. Andy looks like the victim, so when he is in another uniform in 2008, it's somehow OK that he broke his word.

WRONG! If he wanted to stay, he should know by now. I hope I'm wrong, but, I have a feeling.