A.J. Burnett Is The Tucker Ashford Of Pitchers
Posted by Steve L. on August 20th, 2011 · Comments (29)
And, I think we’ve seen enough.
Just like Mike Griffin, he’s fooled us long enough. We found out about him today. That should do it for him.
Cashman can take the objective pipe and stick it up his poop chute.
Burnett is a turd. And, he must be flushed.
The Yanks are NOT flushing $33 million. It doesn’t work that way.
Since we have five better options in the rotation already, nothing should stand in the way of Girardi and staff immediately finding some reason to put AJ on the DL until further notice.
With the doubleheader next Saturday and then no day off until Sept 8th, we’re probably looking at two more starts from him until they can go back to a 5 man rotation.
Evan3457 wrote:
Really? Didn’t Cashman flush $46 million away when he banished Igawa to the minors?
This is a disservice to Tucker Ashford.
See my evaluation of Burnett @ http://theviewfromthemiddleoftheroad.blogspot.com/2011/08/bit-of-diversion.html
I can’t see Cashman and the Yanks banishing A.J for the rest of this year and 2 more besides, to the minors. Especially as Cash keeps defending him…
They need to move him into the pen for the rest of the season, and trade him for someone else’s problem in the off season.
(Zambrano comes to mind…$18 million + vesting option he probably can’t meet for another $19.250,000)
Mop-up bullpen guy, most likely.
Burnett is headed for a post season like Barry Zito’s last year.
Here’s AJ after the game, “It’s a hiccup, man,” Burnett said. “I had a bad night.”
According to LoHud, Girardi said he still has confidence in Burnett and the Yankees will work to get him back on track.
And of course Cashman said, we all think AJ stinks because he makes a lot of money.
A “hiccup”? The hiccup was the last game he pitched and actually won. The 1st since the end of June and the 1st one in Aug since he’s been a Yankee (despite giving up 10 hits and not getting out of the 6th inning).
They’re going “work to get him back on track”? Joe and Cashman have been saying that since he became a Yankee.
Steve’s right. They blew $46 mill (plus his annual salary) on Igawa. It’s time to admit the mistake and move on.
At this point, I think you have to bury Burnett the way that Jeff Weaver was handled in 2003. And, then, in the off-season, trade him the way that Jeff Weaver was traded.
And, of course, if, for some strange reason that Burnett is in the bullpen during the post-season, DON’T pitch him in a game the way that Weaver was used in the 2003 WS.
By the way, in case anyone is scoring at home, the GM who acquired and gave contracts to both Weaver and Burnett is Brian Cashman.
I reckon he could be moved in the offseason, but the Yanks will have to take on a bunch of the salary. He should definitely not be on the postseason roster. I mistrust him even more out of the pen than in the rotation – lack of control and many wild pitches do not bode well for big relief appearances.
I give Burnett credit for what he did for us in 09, but at this point he’s just a hinderance to the development of one of our young arms by taking up a rotation spot. Even Laffey pitched much better than he did last night. Next year’s rotation will look completely different, so we may as well make a clean sweep of it and sell someone else on the promise of AJ “getting right.”
Steve L. wrote:
And they both were no-brainer moves. Like Sabathia and Mussina.
Greg H. wrote:
No he isn’t.
All you guys that are slamming Cashman and Girardi for what they say in the media about this – what should they be saying? That he’s washed up and isn’t worth a bag of balls? They cannot and should not be saying that. They’re saying exactly what they have to say right now, and nothing more. If they try to move him in he offseason, they need to keep the myth alive that he’s got something left of value. And for the sake of the team right now, they must back their players and hope they turn things around – like Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher seem to have done. The real test of Cashman and Girardi will be to see if AJ’s name is on the postseason roster.
@ Raf:
How do you figure? I’d rather see if someone from AAA has something to contribute in these last couple months than drag that ol’ pony out there. And if he’s back next year he’ll absolutely be a hinderance.
Raf wrote:
No way. Check the resumes of CC and Moose before NY and then check the resumes of AJ and Weaver.
Greg H. wrote:
Like who? If someone in AAA is up against innings limits, they’re not going to contribute much to the postseason run, unless it’s out of the pen. Girardi’s not going to go with a rookie in that situation; look how long it took to bench Posada. Montero’s still @ AAA despite Cervelli’s shortcomings at catcher, and Posada’s shortcomings at DH.
Burnett isn’t blocking anyone.
Cashman and Girardi singing Burnett’s praises, means very little. That they keep doing it tells me that there’s something afoot.
Steve L. wrote:
Yes way. Look at the coverage when either pitcher was acquired.
Raf wrote:
This I agree with 100%.
Something afoot? Not necessarily. It’s basic management that you don’t run down your own organization’s assets, because you don’t want to devalue them in the marketplace. George Steinbrenner forgot this often (and foolishly), but Cashman never does. Plus, I doubt it helps Burnett to call him a turd. Would that help your self-confidence?
I don’t think Burnett is holding back some top prospect at AAA. After all, the Yankees have been using six starters, and dropping him from the rotation would not open a space for anyone. Possibly they will put A.J. in the bullpen in September, but it will be called a temporary move.
After the season, absent a trade, I expect the Yankees to let go either Colon or Garcia. This would restore Burnett to the rotation, provisionally. But next season, when he is again ineffective, he’ll be on a shorter leash. (Please note I am not recommending this course, merely suggesting it is likely.)
Burnett has virtually no trade value. Dealing him for another bad contract such as Zambrano’s does nothing but exchange headaches. The Yankees would have to pay another team a large sum to unload Burnett’s contract. Until there is a top prospect knockign at the door, I would not anticipate that. It is more likely in year five of A.J.’s deal.
Steve L. wrote:
No, actually he didn’t. The two cases are not remotely the same:
1. $25 million was lost before he signed in the bid for his services. Yanks have lost $4 million a year from Igawa. When they sent Igawa to the minors, they were on the hook for $4 million a year, not $16.5 million a year.
2. And they didn’t release him, but sent him to AA and AAA in an apparent effort to make him quit, which he didn’t do. Burnett can’t be sent to the minors without his permission at this point in his career (Does the name Jason Giambi ring a bell?).
Steve L. wrote:
No, actually, Weaver signed a 4 year deal with the Tigers in 2002. Yanks picked up that deal in the trade.
Steve L. wrote:
I would agree with doing that, once Garcia is off the DL.
The market for Weaver was better than the market for AJ would be. He wa 25, and teams thought they might be able to fix him. The market for AJ is the market for Zambrano; which is to say: none. But if the Yanks are able to trade him, and the players they get for him stink, especially any pitchers, make sure you attack Cashman for that, too, just as you do when you criticize him for both Weaver and Kevin Brown.
He might not even make the post-season roster at this point. We’ll see.
Evan3457 wrote:
No, actually, Weaver signed a 4 year deal with the Tigers in 2002.
That would be Randy Smith who signed that deal (with president Dave Dombrowski approving), saying at the time: “In my mind, Jeff is one of the best young pitchers in the game,” Tigers general manager Randy Smith said. “He’s a guy that’s gotten better every single year and I think will continue to improve as we go forward.”
The Yanks picked up that contract in the trade.
The last two seasons have been about this guy. The failed trade for Lee with Seattle in July 2010, and last offseason free agent quest for Lee. The search for a second starter that we kept hearing Cashman would resolve by the end of July. Once again we approach the end of August without that second pitcher that we all know the team will need to have any chance in October.
This won’t be solved in season. Putting him on the postseason roster, leaving him off the postseason roster, doesn’t matter, there just isn’t a second starter available on the trade at this point in the season. He’ll ger one more August start, we’ll see how that goes. He can be spot started the rest of the way avoiding high leverage situations and then placed at the back of the pen or left off the postseason roster. The key, Cashman, Cashman/Girardi must end all thoughts that this guy (a) has egreat stuff (b) can be fixed. Maybe Dave Duncan in St. Louis can do something, whatever, this guy has to be moved after the season. That’s it.
Scout wrote:
Regardless, the rest of the teams in MLB aren’t dumb. Burnett’s struggles aren’t exactly a secret. An acquiring team would be interested because they see something that they could fix (think Victor Zambrano with the Mets), or they think that Burnett would be a better fit in their organization (an NL team, for example), or that they would be swapping one project for another (the oft rumored Burnett for Carlos Zambrano deal).
I don’t think that Burnett will be dealt (he has a NTC, IIRC), but I would not be surprised if he were to miss a turn in the rotation to try and sort things out (whatever that means).
dude, what’s with all the poop chute and turd stuff. they are people. you’d banish me forever if i directed any of that sort of language at you.