"It was with Joe Torre as his manager in New York that Andy Pettitte emerged in 1996 as one of the Majors' premier pitchers, winning 21 games in his second season.

Could Torre and Pettitte be in line for a reunion on the opposite coast?

While there are no indications of any negotiations between Torre's Dodgers and Pettitte, who is a free agent, it is understandable that the two would have stayed in touch, as Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, quoting Major League sources, is reporting.

They did, after all, work together for nine years, producing four World Series championships and countless thrills for Yankees fans.

With the Yankees in hot pursuit of all the big names among starters in free agency -- including Derek Lowe, a Los Angeles stalwart the past four seasons -- there could be stranger developments than Pettitte dealing for manager Torre again, this time in Chavez Ravine.

Pettitte delivered his customary solid work in 2008 for the Yanks -- 33 starts, 204 innings, 14-14 record -- and he wants to return for a 15th season. With the Bombers' attention focused on the likes of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Lowe, and with the Dodgers unlikely to bring Lowe back, Pettitte conceivably could be a fit for Los Angeles.

Along with Lowe, Brad Penny was allowed to become a free agent. That leaves Hiroki Kuroda, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley as returning starters -- and Billingsley is recovering from a broken fibula in his left leg from a fall on ice at his home on Friday.

Billingsley is expected to be ready for Spring Training. The Dodgers are hoping veteran right-hander Jason Schmidt, expected to be the ace after arriving in 2007 as a free agent, will be functional this spring after pitching a total of six games in his two seasons with the club.

On another front, with Rafael Furcal surveying the free-agent landscape and apparently finding considerable interest in his services, the Dodgers remain unsettled at shortstop. "