If Pettitte tries the staredown, BLINK

I have a great affection for Andy Pettitte. HGH issues aside, he's a battler, a gamer and seems to be a pretty solid family guy. Yes, asking to push aside the HGH use is tough when making a case, but given his elbow injury history, I can see why he'd look that way. Not excusing him, but I get it.

And that's sort of my point: If Pettitte really pushes the Yanks/Cashman into a staredown, I'd hope that Cashman blinks first and lets him return to Houston (or wherever, but logically it'd be his home town of Houston).

Meanwhile, the Yankees want to wait on Mussina before they entertain Andy Pettitte's offer to come back. There are rumblings that Pettitte wants a two-year deal, and that won't be happening with the Yankees, who would ask Pettitte to accept a one-year offer in the neighborhood of $10 million. Pettitte made $16 million each of the past two years.

Pettitte hasn't even filed for free agency yet, but when he does, and if this staredown is still going on with between Pettitte and the Yankees, expect the Astros to try to bring Pettitte back to his hometown. The Astros, from owner Drayton McLane to manager Cecil Cooper to ace Roy Oswalt, are very fond of Pettitte. It's a saga on which to keep an eye.

His elbow history, his decline in 2008, his desire for a multi-year committment are all reasons enough to let him return to the NL to enjoy his final playing years.

I'll cheer like a madman whenever he returns for Old Timer's Day or as a Spring Training Special Instructor. But I'm tabling my nostalgia for the sake of improving this team, something the Yanks have historically been loathe to do (and something the RedSox excel at; Damon, Pedro, maybe even Varitek).