"I just want to get back to having fun"
I know many fans are frustrated with AJ Burnett. They see a guy with ‘electric stuff’ and wonder why he isn’t better. Unlike many of my Yankee brethren I don’t wonder about these things. His control has never been great, especially his control in the zone. Whether you want to get into his release point or simply watch the catcher’s glove and/or where his foot lands, you know why he gets completely out of whack at times. When he does, his pitches drift over the plate and right into a batter’s wheel house. Other times he loses the zone completely, which is why he’s led the AL in WP for 2 of the past 3 years. He’s a 2 pitch pitcher, so when one isn’t working he makes things very easy for opposing batters. To use the trite, overused cliche ‘he is what he is’ and it’s a glorious example why there’s so much more to pitching than stuff. I trust a guy with more weapons in his arsenal far mare than a thrower like AJ. Heck, I trust Garcia more than AJ, and Freddy can barely break a plane of glass with his fastball.
That’s why I like to refer to him as our #5 starter. I don’t care how much money he’s being paid, that’s Hal’s problem. He’s a career .500 pitcher, has actually been a few games under that in his career as a Yank. That’s tough to do on a team that wins around 95 games annually. But hey, what do you expect from your #5. Don’t sweat it.
Here’s your lineup, courtesy of Chad Jennings over at LoHud:
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones DH
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Brett Gardner LF
The standard order facing a tough lefty like Liriano. GO YANKS!!!
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43 Responses to Game 124-#5 starter in search of August win #2
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TIQ IQ
I think part of the perception problem with Burnett is that the Yankees insist on treating him as a No. 2. If they would finally admit that he’s a No. 5, I think the fans wouldn’t be so upset, to some extent.
Right, that’s my point. You can’t say ‘he is what he is’ and still get all upset over his lack of results.
Yes, I agree. I just add that the fans won’t start treating him like a No. 5 unti the Yankees do. Unfortunaetly, right now it isn’t “he is what he is,” it’s “he isn’t what he should be.”
AA pitcher at best
Personally I think Burnett stinks. Once the oposing team starts hitting him, then they all hit him big time, as almost any yankee fan can see. But, I blame the manager for leaving the guy in up to the point that the oposing team ends up with 6 or 7 runs off of him. Then the Yanks have to play catch-up whenever Burnett pitches. Why not get rid of this sure loser???????
Michael Kay mentioned again that Mauer has had a power outage since the Twins moved to Target Field. But he doesn’t mention that Mauer was only a power hitter for one year. His HR total last year was right in line with his career average, maybe even a little high. And this year he’s been injured.
My point isn’t about Mauer; it’s that Kay isn’t being a very good analyst.
Gardner made that closer than I expected.
He did. Not the strongest arm, but very accurate.
His technique is very good. Stops, plants his foot and throws straight through to his target. If you’re coaching little league, that’s how you’d tell a kid to do it. Very fundamentally sound.
Interesting. I hadn’t looked at it like that. Thanks.
How much of a hole is Girardi going to let Burnett dig?
I’d guess 5 to 6 runs.
I think tonight is the night we let him go all the way until he curls up in the fetal position. Then we lock him in a room with Cashman, and get him to retire.
In all seriousness, don’t you think we could get equally effective pitching from Warren or Noesi for no money and with roster flexibility? .500 record, ERA approaching 5.00 the past two years. The bar isn’t exactly set very high.
Yeah, probably. And it would help going forward.
Kay keeps talking about Burnett’s stuff, which he’s been doing for years. But I know, from reading YankeeAnalysts.com, that Burnett’s fastball is no good, 94 mph or not. It’s hittable, Kyle Farnsworth-like.
Yeah, but lots of factors can go into that. It could have no life, it could be wandering over the plate, or his curve could be so wild that hitters don’t fear it and sit on his fastball. In AJ’s case, I think you could argue its all of the above, at different times.
Right. But sometimes Kay talks about Burnett’s stuff as though it were in Pedro Martinez’s or Nolan Ryan’s class, when you could sit on something, get it, and still come up with air.
Again, my point is that Kay isn’t being much of an analyst by harping on stuff and not going into all these other factors.
I heard a radio interview today with Curt Smith, who has a book out on broadcasters. I liked very much the one Smith book I’ve read, but on the radio he said that modern announcers are too interested in stats and not interested enough in stories. What rot!
ENOUGH OF THIS GUY!!!!
He is a momentum-killer. He was ehhh in his last start, he looks like dogshit tonight.
The Yanks should give him tonight and 8/26 at Baltimore to get it together and if he can’t he should be removed from the rotation, left off the postseason roster, made a mopup man, and given starts only after the Yanks have clinched a playoff berth. He’s already untradeable so I don’t see the quadruple-whammy of “you suck” making a difference.
Even if he’s good vs. Baltimore, no way he faces Boston 8/30, 8/31, or 9/1.
What if the Yanks offered him and $9.75M ($1.5M for 2012 + $8.25M for 2013) to Atlanta for Derek Lowe in the offseason?
I’d say swap one for the other now as NO ONE would block Burnett or Lowe, but I can’t see playoffs-bound Atlanta wanting to take on Burnett this year. They’d most likely want him to start afresh next year if they took him on.
Burnett would cost Atlanta the same as they’d pay Lowe for 2012 ($16.5M – 1.5M the Yanks kick in = $15M) and only $8.25M for 2013 (a $6.75M savings.) If Burnett has a nice 2012 for Atlanta, they still have control over him and he costs them half his salary in 2013 (he could care less since he’s still getting his $16.5M for 2013.)
I’d consider it a $8.25M buyout to dump Burnett’s remaining $33M plus whatever he’s due this year. The Yanks pay Lowe $15M for 2012 only, he costs them the same as Burnett for 2012 since they’d kick in $1.5M towards Burnett’s 2012 salary, and they clear $8.25M for 2013.
I’d rather have one year of Lowe and save $8.25M for 2013 than two more years of Burnett.
As a #5 starter, Burnett is, by definition, the most expendable piece of the rotation. OK, so let’s expend him ASAP.
Feels like Brian C. is fighting Mother Nature.
Hey, smurfy, guess what. I don’t usually watch the Today show, but I had to take my car in for an inspection and had a 7:30 appoint. It was on in the waiting room. Amd just in that half hour, they had a profile of a Foley artist! It’s Kismet!
Hey, Prof. I wish I’d seen it, be nice to learn.
They let him pitch to Morneau and they’re nuts!
AJ-”I suck, give the team no chance to win and you have the audacity to take me out? How DARE You! Do you know who I am? Mr Electricity, that’s who!”
Good to see Girardi take him out, and good to see Girardi go into the clubhouse to talk to Burnett.
Burnett should be removed from the rotation for this backtalk alone.
The Yanks have an off-day Monday so they could skip his next turn and go back to five starters through 9/4 then start Adam Warren at home vs. Baltimore 9/6. How is Warren doing? Is he good enough to get an MLB start?
Wow, even Michael Kay seems to be turning on Burnett at this point.
2011 Derek Lowe:
150.1 IP in 27 GS (12.1 IP shy of being a 6 IP starter but I think he’s essentially that despite being short the IP/GS for the whole of his career as a starter.)
108 SO (2 shy of a 2:1 SO:BB ratio)
55 BB (not bad)
4.73 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in the NL
Only 9 HR (so he gives up a homerun every 3 starts.)
HE ISN’T BURNETT AND CAN HE BE WORSE THAN BURNETT?
Think about it. Do you see Lowe imploding like Burnett? Has Lowe melted down like Burnett melts down? From what I’ve always known about Lowe, he has ice in his veins. The guy isn’t an ace or a #2 and probably isn’t a #3, but he’s probably a #4 at best, #5 at worst, and if he was a #5, wouldn’t you rather have to bear him for one year than Burnett two?
Let it go already. No team is trading for Burnett, not Atlanta, no team. He’s just not good. He need’s to just be cut. The Yanks have made bad decisions and eaten contracts before and they can do it here. This guy is just a loser who needs to be thrown out with the trash.
Let it go that the Yanks are cutting Burnett thus eating his remaining salary this year and $33M due him through 2013 ($16.5M.) They’re not cutting Burnett, period, end of story, case closed.
Atlanta wants to get rid of Lowe’s $15M for 2012. Only the Yanks could/would take on that money. Burnett is five or so years younger than Lowe and could turn it around in the league with no DH and a much weaker bottom of the order. He’s out of NY and in pressure-free Atlanta whose fans and media are chill because their team almost always makes the postseason.
That is my basis for the trade idea. A change of scenery for both guys and both teams unload their burdens for nice returns.
The trade would be low-risk high-reward for both teams (Lowe-risk for the Yanks haha.) If Lowe sucks for the Yanks, he can be cut whenever in 2012 let go after 2012. If Burnett sucks or is good to great for Atlanta in 2012, he costs the same as Lowe for 2012 but only half the price of Burnett’s salary the next year. If Burnett good even in the first part of 2013, he could be a nice trading chip for younger players or one of the rotation horses for the postseason run if Altanta is in it.
You people would rather have a guy who is one injury away from being out for the year (Colon) and a total headcase (Burnett) in the rotation than Jake Peavy and Derek Lowe, two guys better than them who’d be remainder of this year through 2012 only propositions costing ZERO top prospects, just money.
Where’s the moron who said Burnett is better than Peavy? Show me where moron, I need a laugh.
Nova has been great but he’s no lock to be like that in the postseason. Hughes has been solid lately but he’s no lock to be like that in the postseason. Sabathia is no lock to win Game 1 and/or Game 5 of the ALDS when he will draw Verlander, Masterson, Ugando, or Wilson in both games. He could draw Verlander, post a nice 8 IP 2 ER, and the Yanks could still lose 2-0 or 2-1 cuz Verlander was better than Sabathia.
Bottom line is the Yanks need a starter from outside the team because if Burnett keeps pitching like shit, Nova or Hughes suck by late next month, and Colon or Garcia get knocked out with an injury or suck, bye bye Yankees. They’d be lucky to advance to the ALCS let alone win an ALDS game outside of one Sabathia may win. Sabathia could hold them for ransom. Why would Weaver, Hamels, Grienke, and Cain sign with a team who may have only two locks for the 2013 rotation in Sabathia if he stays and Burnett who is a lock in money only?
I guarantee you neither Garcia nor Colon will be Yankees next year, neither Nova nor Hughes will be locks to be in the 2012 rotation the entire season, Burnett will still suck next year and 2013, and Sabathia will be neither an ace nor a #2 starter 2017 on if the Yanks stupidly give him 6 or more years.
Scenario: AJ throws a fit in the clubhouse, punches a wall and breaks his right hand in 3 places. He’s done for the year, and half of next year.
I hate to root for injuries, but that would solve the problem.
I didn’t say I was rooting for it, just a thought that popped up in my mind. He seemed pretty pissed off.
BTW-Since they were discussing the etiquette/rule of sitting on the bench, I always thought a pitcher should stay the entire inning, not just after his runners are done with. Leaving in the middle of an inning looks pretty weak to me, but that’s really for his teammates to decide.
I know, I’m just saying, given that you thought of it, I would root for it if it wasn’t in bad taste.
whew! Wasn’t that fun?
Let’s see: policy of bouncing curves, so they just let ‘em go by, and wait for a juicy fastball, which is inevitable. Definitely need to tune this picher in.
The Yanks sure have pile of wood to chop, to get back in his game.
Be nice to start with 3. go Teix!
Especially if Liriano’s on his game.
His command looks pretty shaky, but he was smart to stay away from Tex, who was committed to swinging.
I think we just have to deal with Teixeira being a low average power guy.
Just in case this game isn’t doing it for you
http://www.mamigoinc.com/thunder/
Graham Stoneburner scheduled to pitch. 2nd game of DH, hasn’t started yet.
Those half-orange uniforms are ghastly.
Over on HBO, they were successful in preventing a train wreck.
Over on Extra Innings, KC is leading Boston 9-4.
girardi should have left him in until AJ gave up… this game should have been sacrificed, AJ needs to be treated like a child..look at this guy, what is with his hair, he really lost it..i would have left him in the game until he walked off the mound..16.5mil..and he gets upset..where is billy martin..for my money he does not see another start in a yankee uniform..trade him for a bag of batting practice balls ..
The Yanks getting Jake Peavy means this:
1. Burnett is off the postseason roster and out of the rotation until next year.
2. Colon is out of the postseason rotation.
3. Hughes and Nova would battle for the ALDS Game 4 start since the front three would be Sabathia/Garcia/Peavy (my choice) or Sabathia/Peavy/Garcia.
4. They have a set rotation to start next year if Sabathia is kept and the Yanks go with Hughes and Nova (Sabathia/Peavy/Hughes/Nova/Burnett.)
5. They have a four-fifths set rotation to start next year if Sabathia signs elsewhere (they’d have to get another starter), all set if he signs elsewhere and Pettitte returns.
But you think a rotation after Sabathia of Burnett (an overpaid #5 headcase), Colon (a guy who’s slipping and one bad injury away from oblivion), Garcia (a guy who may not be able to throw his splitter), Nova (a kid with zero postseason experience), and Hughes (a guy with little starting pitching experience in the postseason who got spanked by the Rangers twice in last year’s ALCS) is good enough to win this year’s World Series, the only objective. Ya better hope Sabathia doesn’t get outdueled by Verlander, Masterson, or whoever Texas starts in Game 1 of the ALDS and/or wet his pants against Boston in the ALCS if they draw the Red Sox there..
…actually now he’s a #6 pitcher or at least should be. Not a #5. And if I may borrow something else from the article “I don’t care how much money he makes”.