Yanks & Buccos Close To Burnett Deal
Via Ken Rosenthal -
The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to talk with the New York Yankees about right-hander A.J. Burnett, with most signs pointing to a trade. But as of early Sunday, the two sides were still haggling about the money and players in the deal.
The Yankees likely will pay $19 million to $23 million of the $33 million remaining on Burnett’s contract and receive multiple minor leaguers in return, according to one source with knowledge of the discussions. Those minor leaguers would not be players on the Pirates’ 40-man roster, the source said.
For clubs that trade high-salaried players such as Burnett, the more money they include, the better the quality of the players they receive. The sliding scale makes the discussions fluid and capable of changing at any time.
The Pirates are one of four clubs pursuing Burnett, but one of those clubs is on his 10-team no-trade list, sources say. The Yankees are exploring all possibilities, as are the Pirates. But the Yankees view the Pirates as the partner that “makes the most sense” for Burnett, a source said.
So, what’s Burnett’s place in “great” pitching acquistions by Brian Cashman since 2002?
| Player | WAR 5 | From | To | Age | G | W | L | SV | IP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Karsay | 2.3 | 2002 | 2005 | 30-33 | 91 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 101.0 | 3.39 |
| Jeff Weaver | 1.1 | 2002 | 2003 | 25-26 | 47 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 237.1 | 5.35 |
| Mike Thurman | 0.1 | 2002 | 2002 | 28-28 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33.0 | 5.18 |
| Adrian Hernandez | -0.3 | 2002 | 2002 | 27-27 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 12.00 |
| Jose Contreras | 1.8 | 2003 | 2004 | 31-32 | 36 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 166.2 | 4.64 |
| Antonio Osuna | 0.8 | 2003 | 2003 | 30-30 | 48 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 50.2 | 3.73 |
| Alberto Reyes | 0.2 | 2003 | 2003 | 32-32 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 | 3.18 |
| Armando Benitez | 0.2 | 2003 | 2003 | 30-30 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.1 | 1.93 |
| Dan Miceli | 0.0 | 2003 | 2003 | 32-32 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.2 | 5.79 |
| Felix Heredia | -0.1 | 2003 | 2004 | 28-29 | 59 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 53.2 | 4.86 |
| Jesse Orosco | -0.4 | 2003 | 2003 | 46-46 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.1 | 10.38 |
| Gabe White | -0.5 | 2003 | 2004 | 31-32 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 33.0 | 6.82 |
| Juan Acevedo | -0.8 | 2003 | 2003 | 33-33 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 25.2 | 7.71 |
| Tom Gordon | 6.5 | 2004 | 2005 | 36-37 | 159 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 170.1 | 2.38 |
| Javier Vazquez | 2.0 | 2004 | 2010 | 28-34 | 63 | 24 | 20 | 0 | 355.1 | 5.09 |
| Kevin Brown | 1.6 | 2004 | 2005 | 39-40 | 35 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 205.1 | 4.95 |
| Juan Padilla | 0.2 | 2004 | 2004 | 27-27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 3.97 |
| Paul Quantrill | 0.0 | 2004 | 2005 | 35-36 | 108 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 127.1 | 5.23 |
| C.J. Nitkowski | -0.2 | 2004 | 2004 | 31-31 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13.0 | 7.62 |
| Donovan Osborne | -0.3 | 2004 | 2004 | 35-35 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17.2 | 7.13 |
| Esteban Loaiza | -1.4 | 2004 | 2004 | 32-32 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 42.1 | 8.50 |
| Randy Johnson | 5.8 | 2005 | 2006 | 41-42 | 67 | 34 | 19 | 0 | 430.2 | 4.37 |
| Shawn Chacon | 1.5 | 2005 | 2006 | 27-28 | 31 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 142.0 | 4.69 |
| Jaret Wright | 0.9 | 2005 | 2006 | 29-30 | 43 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 204.0 | 4.99 |
| Felix Rodriguez | 0.1 | 2005 | 2005 | 32-32 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32.1 | 5.01 |
| Buddy Groom | 0.1 | 2005 | 2005 | 39-39 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25.2 | 4.91 |
| Carl Pavano | -0.1 | 2005 | 2008 | 29-32 | 26 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 145.2 | 5.00 |
| Wayne Franklin | -0.4 | 2005 | 2005 | 31-31 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12.2 | 6.39 |
| Tim Redding | -0.5 | 2005 | 2005 | 27-27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 54.00 |
| Darrell May | -0.6 | 2005 | 2005 | 33-33 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | 16.71 |
| Alan Embree | -0.6 | 2005 | 2005 | 35-35 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14.1 | 7.53 |
| Brian Bruney | 2.5 | 2006 | 2009 | 24-27 | 153 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 144.0 | 3.25 |
| Mike Myers | 1.0 | 2006 | 2007 | 37-38 | 117 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 71.1 | 2.90 |
| Kyle Farnsworth | 1.0 | 2006 | 2008 | 30-32 | 181 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 170.1 | 4.33 |
| Jose Veras | 0.6 | 2006 | 2009 | 25-28 | 106 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 103.2 | 4.43 |
| Cory Lidle | 0.4 | 2006 | 2006 | 34-34 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 45.1 | 5.16 |
| Ron Villone | 0.1 | 2006 | 2007 | 36-37 | 107 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 122.2 | 4.77 |
| Darrell Rasner | 0.1 | 2006 | 2008 | 25-27 | 36 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 158.1 | 5.06 |
| Kris Wilson | -0.2 | 2006 | 2006 | 29-29 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.1 | 8.64 |
| Scott Erickson | -0.4 | 2006 | 2006 | 38-38 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 7.94 |
| Octavio Dotel | -0.6 | 2006 | 2006 | 32-32 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 10.80 |
| Sidney Ponson | -0.9 | 2006 | 2008 | 29-31 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 96.1 | 6.63 |
| Luis Vizcaino | 0.4 | 2007 | 2007 | 32-32 | 77 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 75.1 | 4.30 |
| Chris Britton | 0.1 | 2007 | 2008 | 24-25 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35.2 | 4.54 |
| Edwar Ramirez | -0.2 | 2007 | 2009 | 26-28 | 96 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 98.1 | 5.22 |
| Kei Igawa | -1.0 | 2007 | 2008 | 27-28 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 71.2 | 6.66 |
| Dan Giese | 0.3 | 2008 | 2008 | 31-31 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 43.1 | 3.53 |
| Humberto Sanchez | 0.0 | 2008 | 2008 | 25-25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 4.50 |
| Jonathan Albaladejo | -0.1 | 2008 | 2010 | 25-27 | 49 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 59.1 | 4.70 |
| LaTroy Hawkins | -0.2 | 2008 | 2008 | 35-35 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 41.0 | 5.71 |
| Billy Traber | -0.3 | 2008 | 2008 | 28-28 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.2 | 7.02 |
| Damaso Marte | -0.5 | 2008 | 2010 | 33-35 | 76 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 49.1 | 6.02 |
| A.J. Burnett | 3.4 | 2009 | 2011 | 32-34 | 99 | 34 | 35 | 0 | 584.0 | 4.79 |
| Chad Gaudin | 0.7 | 2009 | 2010 | 26-27 | 41 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 90.0 | 4.00 |
| Josh Towers | 0.0 | 2009 | 2009 | 32-32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 3.38 |
| Brett Tomko | -0.1 | 2009 | 2009 | 36-36 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 20.2 | 5.23 |
| Sergio Mitre | -1.2 | 2009 | 2011 | 28-30 | 43 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 111.0 | 5.35 |
| Dustin Moseley | 0.4 | 2010 | 2010 | 28-28 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 65.1 | 4.96 |
| Romulo Sanchez | 0.1 | 2010 | 2010 | 26-26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.1 | 0.00 |
| Royce Ring | -0.2 | 2010 | 2010 | 29-29 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 15.43 |
| Chan Ho Park | -0.5 | 2010 | 2010 | 37-37 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 35.1 | 5.60 |
| Freddy Garcia | 3.4 | 2011 | 2011 | 34-34 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 146.2 | 3.62 |
| Bartolo Colon | 2.4 | 2011 | 2011 | 38-38 | 29 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 164.1 | 4.00 |
| Cory Wade | 1.3 | 2011 | 2011 | 28-28 | 40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 39.2 | 2.04 |
| Raul Valdes | 0.2 | 2011 | 2011 | 33-33 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 | 2.70 |
| Aaron Laffey | 0.2 | 2011 | 2011 | 26-26 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10.2 | 3.38 |
| Buddy Carlyle | 0.1 | 2011 | 2011 | 33-33 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.2 | 4.70 |
| Andrew Brackman | 0.1 | 2011 | 2011 | 25-25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 0.00 |
| Amauri Sanit | -0.3 | 2011 | 2011 | 31-31 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 12.86 |
.
I’m curious to the other 3 clubs?
All signs point to a deal being made with the Pirates, but you never know with these things. Burnett should be ok with a return to the NL. His numbers should improve based on regression of his HR rate, though the narrative is going to be that he escaped the pressure cooker of NYC or some other nonsense.
I’m also curious to see how Andrew Brackman does with the Reds.
“So, what’s Burnett’s place in “great” pitching acquistions by Brian Cashman since 2002?”
Better than most, because:
1) The Yanks won a title while he pitched for them…
2) He helped them win that title, and…
3) Of the 7 post-season starts he made for the Yanks 4 of them were good to excellent.
@ Evan3457: So, then, why are they willing to eat close to $20 million to let him pitch for the Pirates?
@ Evan3457:
Agreed.
AJ always takes the mound, he never hides from the media, he seems to be a good teammate, and he has helped the Yanks win a championship. I’ve been frustrated a lot by AJ, I always root for him and keep hoping he’d be the pitcher many thought he would be. He hasn’t lived up to the potential people think is in that right arm.
@ Steve L.:
The numbers say he hasn’t been the all-star signing he was paid to be, but I still respect AJ and know things could have been way worse. So far he hasn’t performed on the field, and there are many times that leads to things compounding off the field. I respect AJ for keeping his struggles to just on the field performance, and if he does get traded then I will absolutely wish him well and hope he turns it around.
The money is the Yankees leverage, and as long as people keep watching, they keep going to the games, then we will keep enabling the Yankees to use their biggest leverage. It pisses off a hell a lot of people, to see money being spent in a way that may be called “reckless”, but it is their business model.
When you look at their business model as just that, a business model: where they are continuously bringing in a ton of revenue, generating a profit, and keeping their product in high demand, then where have they failed?
If Cashman was measured on the pitchers he signs, then he would have been fired a long time ago. We can make the deduction, no? Because obviously that is not how Hank & Hal are measuring Cash. What if they are measuring him based on the revenue coming in, team performance (and no, I don’t mean that stupid edict “Championship Only”), generating a profit, and keeping their product in high demand, then would you say he’s failed there?
What if they are measuring Cashman differently than you think he should be measured?
Steve L. wrote:
Because when they bought him in the 2008-2009 offseason, they didn’t have any better options, but now, they do.
I agree with Evan. Yanks have a lot of pitching depth and clearly wanna get rid of the headache that is AJ. He’s not going to get better, just worse. Yanks are trending toward a young rotation. AJ is now dead weight.
@ Garcia: Sure, the bottom line, under Cashman has been good. But, if he didn’t make stupid and expensive moves – like Igawa and Burnett – then the bottom line would be better…if he could get the same number of wins without throwing money away on overpaid and garbage pitchers.
No reason why a team can’t win 95+ games every year with a payroll of, say, $150 milion instead of one over $200 million.
I think the Yankees would be thrilled if they could add that $50 million difference to their bottom line, no?
Evan3457 wrote:
This is where my fustration lays with Cashman… Our options just the year before 2007 2008 was IAN KENNEDY and PHIL HUGHES!!.. Cashman pointed out that these two kids were going to be the front line pitchers for years to come.. How did that turn out?.. I am sorry you make some great points and I am not calling you on this, but this is why Cashman would never last in another other club because his mistakes and long term out look is ummm anything but horrible.. ITs becauase the Yankees can afford to pay for a player not to pitch on this club.. can you imagine the set back this would cause the Twins or the Indians?.. Never mind the real small market teams but just the middle of the pack market teams this would hurt them for years and remove them from any playoff hopes..
Raf wrote:
I was surpirsed to see that Yankees simply cut him.. All that time invested on him making a come back and giving him the time to show why he was the high draft choice and get nothing in return?.. I got to follow this kid when he pitched for the Scraton Wilkes Barre and he showed no control.. I am starting to wonder, is it the pitchers or the coaches that are not performing?..
Garcia wrote:
@Garcia…. Personally, its about building a company and developing a sensible business model that yields the most for your business..Which includes using all of your resources wisely.. If you want to make a comparison on Cashman, have a look at other captains of business industry.. Not only baseball but other business… Lets say Cashman worked for APPLE or Microsoft.. Would the late Steve Jobs accept him spending all this money on say IT or programmers who yielded the same type of results? Or lets say your the owner samll time company that has unlimited profit potenial, would you use the same business model cashman uses with the Yankees?.. I think we all know the answer to that…
So, what’s Burnett’s place in “great” pitching acquistions by Brian Cashman since 2002?
@Steve L……. Any idea what the cost was on this list?.. OMG… I knew there was some bad signings but wow!!.. I am surprised the yankees werent looking for a bailout package after this!!!…
@ sicilianlou:
If your company is bringing in a ton of revenue, yielding great profit margins, and you have a product that’s in high demand, then guess what? Wall street doesn’t care what you are paying a programmer.
The Yankees still haven’t had two years like the Red Sox just had. If they did, then Cashman probably would be gone already.
@ Steve L.:
Agreed, they can ALWAYS make more money but you can ALWAYS do things better (e.g if he hadn’t signed Igawa). I don’t see how Burnett was a bad investment (Pavano was a bad investment), it’s just an investment that didn’t pan out for the entire length of the contract, but like Evan said: they won a championship because of Burnett. That has a lot of value, whether you care to admit it or not.
sicilianlou wrote:
If only we lived in a world where programmers where payed like baseball players…..
Corey Italiano wrote:
where programmers where
where programmers were**
sicilianlou wrote:
While I need to see IPK have another few seasons like he just did in Phoenix, he has a front line pitchers performance under his belt.
And, to be fair, he turned IPK into Curtis Granderson who put up an MVP-like year last year.
How was this list generated? I don’t see Roger Clemens’s name on this list, nor Mike Mussina’s, nor CC Sabathia’s (nor Andy Pettitte’s, who was signed as a free agent after the 2006 season).
If a list trying to prove a point is going to be created, make it a complete record, free of selective omissions.
@ MJ Recanati:
Cherry picking low WAR totals since 2002 for non-home grown pitchers.
Steve L. wrote:
There’s a huge gray area with your classification of “non-home grown” since several of these names spent as much or more time in the NYY minor leagues as they did with their original clubs.
Also, how does Brackman make the list if it’s cherry-picked to include only non-”native” Yankees? Brackman might’ve flopped but he doesn’t qualify as a “non-home grown” pitcher.
Garcia wrote:
fair enough.. But if the Yankees werent a private company, you bet one thing, all of this spending would come into question every quarter!! But I guess I am failing to make my point with you Garica is that YES network generates 500 million in revenue a year for this team!!. I live in the south and I have to pay 70 dollars a month for YES!. Without this cash cow, what would the Yankees do?.. Let me remind you, that merchandise and ticket sales, parking and food etc are not part of this… YES.. is the reason the Yankees are the elite franchise in all of sports.. That is why they are worth 1.7 billion dollars according to Forbes.. And the only reason they were able to build that 1.5 billion dollar stadium.. The Yankees have no other vested interest other than baseball, YANKEE GOLBAL ENTERPRISE LLC is the true parent of this franchise. This is what Cashman helped build and the revenue generated from the YES network is why the Yankees are in the black each year ..In the years leading up to 2010 the Yankees net profits were 264mm, 277mm 302mm and 327mm. Well, by my math, the Yankees without YES wouldnt be able to afford this high spending.. They would be in the RED the past 6 years!!! Compare this with some of the so called smaller market teams like the TWINS, which by the way, their net holding value of all business combines is over 3 billion dollars yearly!!. If the Yankees are looking to lower the payroll and reduce the luxury tax that other teams are collecting, then you have to ask yourself would the yankees be like the RedSox if this business model of spend and fill and plug model continues?… And here is a bit of FYI.. John Henry’s business value makes the Yankees look like a Mom and POP grocery store compared to Walmart!.. That guy is one of the richest men in the world!!. Simply, for someone who is in charge of running the day to day operation of the Yankees from spending its money and making money, the YANKEES can do so much better than what Cashman has given them.. The numbers dont lie..
@ Steve L.:
YOU were cherry picking!?!?! OMG! I’m so “surprised”.
Is Waswatching back to being a Yankee blog? Back to hating on Cashman and/or ARod. You know you can’t stay away from your two favorite topics, no matter what coating of lipstick you put on the pig (err, blog).
Corey Italiano wrote:
Dont tell that to guys who work at GOOGLE,FACEBOOK, or Microsoft!. They are richer than most players!!
Corey Italiano wrote:
Might be, or is that the result of pitching in NL?.. After all, how big of a threat are pitchers with a bat?.. but how did he pan out in NY?.. And the reason why the Yankees had to sign AJ.. Another bust of a draft choice along with Phill Hughes..
.Corey Italiano wrote:
And why they are left without a DH today and why they traded for a front line starter and signed an another 10 million dollar pitcher this past off season.. Round and round we go.. but lets face it, they had they chance to trade for DOC, Santana and didnt pull the trigger on Kennedy and Hughes or Montero.. Hmmm.. the results yielded??? most likely 25 million dollars for a player not to pitch on this staff… where is the $$cent in this!!!..
sicilianlou wrote:
Call me when the AAV of a player of mlb is lower than that of a programmer.
sicilianlou wrote:
I’m not saying it’s not, but people put Cain and Lincecum on silver pedestals and IPK had a better year than both of them.
Garcia wrote:
Nope. Still anything baseball that strikes my fancy blog. I can’t help it that Cashman and Burnett being traded are the two biggest baseball stories at the moment.
That said, if, somehow, Cashman gets fired – and I know that’s a LONG SHOT – and the Yankees hire a GM that I find interesting, maybe I would swing back to being a Yankees blog, or mostly Yankees.
But, for now, it’s just baseball.
And, if it had been Kenny Williams who got caught giving money to a wack-job fling to shut up, and/or the Red Sox looking to eat John Lackey money to trade him, I’d probably be posting on that now.
sicilianlou wrote:
The draft pick of Kennedy can’t be a bust if that draft pick was used to acquire Granderson.
@ MJ Recanati:
I probably should have sliced Brackman off. He belongs on a different list.
@MJ
True..And your correct, however, IPK was rumored to be one of the players for the Santana deal along with Hughes.. Both were untouchable or at least thats what the Yankee GM said.. But so was Montero not allowed to be traded for DOC to the Jays
my point is we lead up to this situation which is now a costly signing that the Yankees for the first time are not willing to up the payroll to land a needed lefty DH bat.. lets play devils advocate for a moment, lets suppose the Yankees traded Montero to the Jays and what ever player needed to get that DOC deal done.. wasnt it AJ who said he credited DOC for helping him regain his pitching form when he won 18 games with the Jays?.. Now you have no need to go get Pineda and instead of using the 10mm to sign Kurdoa you spend that on the DH you need.. Long run, You might have a better pitcher in AJ and the DH you been trying to sign already. wouldnt that be the better way to protect your investment and save a few million too?..
So there’s a problem when Cashman spends money, there’s a problem when he doesn’t spend money. There’s a problem when Cashman works the kids in, there’s a problem when he goes with proven veterans…
You guys can’t have it both ways.
The Yankees for the most part have had high payrolls. They have been for the most part active on the FA market. That has been the way since Steinbrenner bought the team.
Why all of a sudden it’s a bad thing under Cashman is beyond me…
Steve L. wrote:
Why are the Pirates interested in taking on Burnett when they aren’t going anywhere?
Because Burnett’s better than the options they currently have.
Evan3457 wrote:
They had the option to let Kennedy, Joba and Hughes develop.
clintfsu813 wrote:
I think he’ll get better.
Steve L. wrote:
Jeter, Posada, Rodriguez, Rivera et al, don’t come cheap.
sicilianlou wrote:
The problem wasn’t Hughes and Kennedy, it was the offense.
Raf wrote:
Then why did they sign two pitchers and one hitter?… front line pitching was the excuse on that 400 million dollar shopping spree.
Raf wrote:
ITs not the spending, its not the veterans or kids, thats what builds dynasty ballclubs..Its about how he spends it and what players are signed.. If your going with the kids why not simply makes Hughes your number 5 guy this year and see if he is going to amount to anything? Did you need to sign another aging pitcher for 10mm? I see the Pineda and Kuroda situation just like CC and AJ in 2008.. You still have Hughes your not willing to admit is not going to be more than a number 5 or a long term relief option… at some point, some one in Yankee land has to make a decision on the future he plays….
sicilianlou wrote:
Most of these guys were minimal cost; many of them picked up as minor league free agents or waivers or in very low cost trades. 36 of the 68 on the list to be exactly.
Raf wrote:
Well, not exactly. They couldn’t let Joba spend the whole season in rotation, the rotation, pre-AJ, was CC, Pettitte, Hughes, Kennedy, and…Darrell Rasner.
Cashman, trying to win in 2009, as the Yanks say they do each year, could not NOT pick up another veteran for that rotation.
In choosing AJ, did they make the most efficient acquisition they could’ve made? No; clearly not. But they weren’t going cheap again with free agent pitchers, because boy, does that suck. That’s what Cashman learned from 2002-2008.
Hence, AJ. And then Kennedy and Hughes pitched themselves out of the rotation inside of a month, anywat Should the Yanks have stayed with them longer? I guess so, but then, just as the Yanks under George had always spent big money, the Yanks under George never gave pitching prospects the chance to get untracked at the big league level, completing their development. It was always “win now or get lost”.
sicilianlou wrote:
Because it was available?
Posada coming back, Cano & Melky not sucking, Jeter & Damon bouncing back had just as much an impact on the Yankees winning 103 games. In 2007 & 2009 they hit, 2008 they didn’t
You may want to take a closer look at the dynasty Yankees then; they were fulla veterans. Jeter was a rookie (and got a shot because Tony Fernandez got hurt), but he was flanked by Wade Boggs and Mariano Duncan, he threw over to Tino Martinez, brought over because the M’s couldn’t afford him. Darryl, Raines and O’Neill were already seasoned veterans, and Bernie had been a starter since late 1992.
Pitching staff had Pettitte surrounded by Cone, Rogers & Gooden. Jimmy Key was there as well. Wetteland, was there the year prior, courtesy of the Expos’ fire sale.
Evan3457 wrote:
Of course they could have. They’ve added a couple of arms just about every year, starting with Hawkins and LaPoint. Probably even further back
Exactly. That said, it still doesn’t mean that development wasn’t an option.
sicilianlou wrote:
Because the Yanks, like most teams in MLB, prefer proven veterans, to untested rookies. Remember Sterling Hitchcock’s rant all those years ago?
Raf wrote:
So far the Angels and Indians have been linked as potential trade partners.
http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2012-02-14/indians-angels-join-pirates-as-teams-interested-in-yankees-aj-burnett
@ Raf:
Apparently AJ doesn’t want any part of the Angels. I’m sorta surprised that he wouldn’t want to pitch for a decent team but I guess he and his wife are east coast folks and they’d rather stick around the eastern time zone.
Also, as an Angels hater, I’m pleased with AJ’s choice.
@ MJ Recanati:
That is correct, Mrs Burnett has a fear of flying, IIRC. Based on geography, I’d say the Pirates are the odds on favorite to land Burnett.
Personally, I think Burnett will bounce back next year, be it with the Yanks or elsewhere.
Raf wrote:
I think he’s got a good chance to bounce back in the NL and/or a pitcher’s park.
I don’t share that viewpoint if he were staying on the Yanks…as the strikeouts decline to new career lows and the walks stay the same (too high), he’ll always be susceptible to the big inning. At Yankee Stadium, vs. lefties…that means HR’s…
I wonder if the Nationals are interested or maybe their the 4th team no one is mentioning.. After all, AJ lives in Maryland… But here is something I dont get, if you fearfull of flying which most people are these days.. Well, the question that begs to be asked is why not move to the West coast with him if your traded?.. Dont most wifes do this?.. Didnt CC’s wife do this? And she is a west coast native.. Am I missing something when I hear he will not go to a west coast team?..
MJ Recanati wrote:
He pitched better @ home than he did on the road.
His peripherals were right around his career averages. He wasn’t as good as he was in 2009, but he was better than he was in 2010. The only thing of concern is like you mentioned, the HR rate. If it’s a spike, he’ll be fine. If not, then it will be trouble.
sicilianlou wrote:
Could be a comfort issue, if they have roots in the MD area, it would make sense that they wouldn’t want to move.
Done deal, AJ to the Pirates for Diego Moreno (P) & Exicardo Coyones (OF)
2011
H: 7-6, 4.41, 8.2 (k/9), 2.31 (SO/BB)
A: 4-5, 6.28, 8.2 (k/9), 1.82 (SO/BB)
2010
H: 5-7, 4.59, 7.5 (k/9), 2.03 (SO/BB)
A: 5-8, 5.76, 7.3 (k/9), 2.00 (SO/BB)
2009
H: 5-3, 3.51, 8.9 (k/9), 2.00 (SO/BB)
A: 8-6, 4.59, 8.0 (k/9), 2.02 (SO/BB)
Getting in front of the meme that AJ couldn’t handle NY
MJ Recanati wrote:
All it would’ve taken was Bobby Abreu… Hmmm, I wonder how much money would’ve gone either way, but I guess it’s moot.
Raf wrote:
I’d rather them sign Ibanez, give him a short leash and if he sucks then trade for a bat at the deadline with the pitching depth. You have a much better chance of getting someone who can be an impact in the lineup that way, IMO.
Plus Abreu just isn’t that good anymore
@ Corey Italiano:
Maybe not, but he’s better than Ibanez.
You can do the same (punt) with Abreu as well, if he doesn’t pan out
FWIW
BA:.253/.353/.365 (1.3 WAR)
RI:.245/.289/.419 (-.4)
vs RHP
BA:.259/.366/.400
RI:.256/.307/.440
I guess it’s closer than I originally thought.
Raf wrote:
Save more money sending Burnett to the Pirates and signing Ibanez for $1mm. No sense in paying more for essentially the same player.