The New York Yankees made their first big splash of the offseason this past weekend, signing shutdown reliever Rafael Soriano away from Tampa Bay.
That high, however, is increasingly possible to be followed by the low of Andy Pettitte's retirement, as a team source now says that his return is only 50-50, according to ESPN.com.
"Last week I thought the chances were 60-40. Now I think they're 50-50 at best,'' said a team executive to the website.
His rationale, however, wasn't based in any sort of breaking news. The reasoning was simply that "another week has gone by with no contact.'
Pettitte was among the Yankees' best pitchers in 2010, making the All-Star Game and sporting an 11-3 record and 3.28 ERA. Despite his high level of play, he announced at the end of the season that he was "leaning towards retirement."
General manager Brian Cashman has been working under such an assumption.
"Andy has told me he's not in play, and that's what I am assuming,'' Cashman said, according to the report. "Until he tells me otherwise, I'm assuming he's not going to be here.''
Pettitte has waffled when considering retirement in the past, and the source believes that he ultimately has too many reasons to return.
"My gut still says he's going to come back,'' the source said. "I just can't imagine someone who pitched so well last year, with a chance to win another world championship and maybe even get to the Hall of Fame, not wanting to pitch again this year. But I felt stronger about it last week than I do this week.''
