Andy Pettitte "Itching" To Return – Jeter [VIDEO]

Derek Jeter says he sensed that Andy Pettitte wanted to pitch again.

Three months shy of his 40th birthday, Pettitte ended his brief retirement Friday. The left-hander signed a minor league deal with the Yankees with an invitation to spring training.

VIDEO: Gary Gellman talks to Andy Pettitte

Jeter said before Saturday’s game against Houston that he knew Pettitte was “itching” to play and “thinking about it.”

Pettitte is not expected be ready to break camp with the team when spring training ends early next month. If he’s added to the major league roster, he would get a $2.5 million, one-year contract.

Jeter, the Yankees’ captain, says if that happens Pettitte will “add to our team on the field, off the field.”

The 39-year-old Pettitte last played in 2010. The left-hander sat out last season, but was with the Yankees in camp this spring as an instructor. He recently threw batting practice for the team.

Pettitte is 240-138 lifetime. In his last season with the Yankees, he was an All-Star and went 11-3.

For many years, Pettitte was an ace for the Yankees and one of their most dependable pitchers in the postseason.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)