The offseason started with news of the unexpected death of Cory Lidle , who was an occupant in his own plane that crashed into a Manhattan high rise shortly after the Yankees were eliminated in the 2006 ALDS . The Yankees made news by trading right fielder Gary Sheffield to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for pitching prospects . The Yankees also traded away pitcher Jaret Wright to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for reliever Chris Britton . On December 21 , 2006 , Andy Pettitte signed as a Free Agent with the Yankees . However , no offseason move was bigger for the team than trading Randy Johnson back to the Arizona Diamondbacks , the team who he was with when he won the 2001 World Series against the Yankees , for pitcher Luis Vizcaíno and three minor league prospects . Joe Torre is managing the team for the 12th consecutive season . On May 6 , Roger Clemens announced his return to the Yankees after a three-year absence from the team
that crashed
2006 New York City plane crash
2007 New York Yankees season