Yankees Have Plenty of Free Agent Questions to Answer

The Yankees have some huge names hitting the free agent market this year. Some will surely be back, some most certainly will not; then there are those who may or may not be back. There are also other free agents hitting the market that could be good fits for the Yankees. Let's take a quick look at where the team stands now.

Cliff Lee Dominates Yankees, is Now Their Daddy

Another cool October night at Yankee Stadium began as a celebration of the life of Freddy Sez, the most devoted Yankee fan any of us has had the pleasure of meeting in either the old or new Stadium. It then continued as a celebration of the Yankees dynasty of the 90s with former first baseman Tino Martinez throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to a thunderous ovation. When it comes to bringing out the ghosts of the past to intimidate their opponents in the post season, no one does it better than the Yankees.

With his Yankee legacy already set in stone and the Hall of Fame not too far away, pitcher Andy Pettite took the mound with Hall of Fame captain Derek Jeter just over his right shoulder manning short stop. Both players, along with catcher Jorge Posada and closer Mariano Rivera, were team mates of Tino Martinez's; a sign of both their storied careers and that they will soon be joining Tino in throwing no more than ceremonial first pitches. Tonight one of them fought back the hands of time and turned in another vintage performance while the other one continued to wilt into the twilight of his career.

Derek Jeter came into this game hitting over .400 against Phillies starter Cliff Lee in 44 at bats with only a handful of strikeouts. This was the night for him to break out of his post season slump and show he isn't old yet. This is the type of night that his excellence in built the reputation earning him the nickname "Captain Clutch" that has defined his career.

Andy Pettitte: Big Buck Hunter

Andy Pettitte makes a stronger case for a future induction into the Hall of Fame with every post season start he makes. He has a major league record 19 career playoff wins, winning his last 5 playoff decisions. Beating Cliff Lee for number 20 in the ALCS will make it harder for detractors to doubt his case for the Hall. His pitching opponent for tonight is Rangers ace Cliff Lee, who surrendered one run on 2 hits over 8 innings with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks in his last start against the Yankees on September 8th.

Cliff Lee remarked of Pettitte in a report on MLB.com: "In my opinion he's probably the best postseason pitcher of all time just by the number of wins and the number of rings he's got."