Burnett Becoming Yanks Staff Leader?
Via Joel Sherman -
On a suggestion from A.J. Burnett before a Feb. 28 game at Steinbrenner Field, the members of the Yankees’ projected rotation went to watch Joba Chamberlain warm up. And a habit was born.
“We have Five Musketeers,” manager Joe Girardi said.
One for all, all for one.
Pettitte and Wang are the rotation holdovers. Chamberlain, now a full-time starter, brings his Red Bull enthusiasm daily to the group. Sabathia arrived with the reputation as one of the game’s best teammates and has only burnished that image. He has, for example, bought four courtside tickets to six Orlando Magic home games and has been taking a variety of teammates with him. He has become quick pals with Burnett, a mentor to Chamberlain and a guy already unafraid to good-naturedly get on a fellow pitcher he feels has gone astray.
But the surprise of the group has been Burnett. His reputation was as prickly and different. However, he has belied that, so far. He has opened up his boat on nearby Lake Tarpon to teammates for fishing jaunts, and is planning to rent a second boat this week for a full-out bass fishing competition for any Yankee who wants to participate.
As for attending other starters’ bullpen sessions, Burnett said that was a habit ingrained in previous stops with the Marlins and Blue Jays. But around the Yankees this is unique. Girardi went as far as to say, “I have never seen it before.” The idea is for the starters to learn from each other, pick up or share tips, and offer support.
Is A.J. the anti-Pavano?
Hey, at the least, the guy deserves props for trying. Although, maybe something like Mike Mussina’s white board would be a safer choice in terms of a unifying vehicle?
Not everybody agreed with signing Burnett, and everybody certainly didn’t agree on the money and years that were thrown at him. I think we all know anything can happen during the next five years with AJ. He can be a stud, he can be a bust, we just don’t know.
All I can say is, so far, you can’t be disappointed with his effort. For all the reports over the kind of person he is, none of it has come out up until this point. So let’s hope it continues, and hope he can stay healthy.
All I can say is that 82 million dollars makes people act strangely, that’s for sure. I hope that Doc Halladay rubbed off on Burnit and this is not an extended bullshitpen session if you will. I give him some credit because he learned in a soft media town(not for hockey but for baseball) what pissed off fans and press can do. Henceforth, he is acting like a model citizen to his credit. This current behavior is out of sync for him, being that he pitched with the hardest working pitcher in the MLB, Doc Hallday and didn’t act accordingly on the Bluebirds. The problem with AJ aside from his attitude(which will probably will come out during the season) is that he was great against the Red Pox and the YankCrankees, but not really against the rest of the AL. That has me worried more than anything else. He has dominant stuff when healthy BUT even then isn’t that amazing against most of the teams. Brad Arnsberg who was the pitching coach for the most part during his Marlins and Blue Jays years got to him in the last year of his contract? He has a great incentive to act like an adult and hopefully he can pitch up to his potential BUT I remain doubtful on both fronts.
The problem with AJ aside from his attitude(which will probably will come out during the season) is that he was great against the Red Pox and the YankCrankees, but not really against the rest of the AL
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Uh oh, did I inspire a nickname for the Yankees?
Uh oh, did I inspire a nickname for the Yankees?
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Consider it an honor