The Yankees are, apparently, on the verge of trading A.J. Burnett to the Pirates for nothing, while eating a ton of money in the process, $19-23M according to this report. Many in the Yankee Universe are pretty pumped about the prospect of Burnett, however involuntarily, shedding his pinstripes to join Pittsburgh. After all, for most of 2010 and 2011, he was hot garbage on a pitching mound and it was painful to watch him work. Looking at the 2012 Yankee roster, there doesn’t seem to be a fit for him. There are five starters and all of them are better than Burnett. There are also options he’d be buried behind in the bullpen. Most of the signs point to trading Burnett as the right move. There’s a lot inside me, though, that’s saying, “Maybe not.”
While I’ve pretty much unequivocally said that Burnett should not be the fifth starter this year and that he doesn’t fit in the bullpen (even if his stuff does), I’m not sure if trading him is quite worth it. I’m of the opinion that if you’re going to eat that much money on the contract, you may as well stick it out with the guy, see what else he can give you. That’s just one side of it. Of course you have to look at what the money’s being freed up for. In this case, it’s a left-handed hitting designated hitter who’s either going to be Johnny Damon, Raul Ibanez, or Hideki Matusi. The Yankees also seem to want to re-sign Eric Chavez as the last bench infielder, which does make sense. Right now, with Burnett on the payroll, they can only sign one of those things, and I assume it’d be the former. If they need to move (some of) Burnett’s money to accomplish signing the latter, is that really worth it? I’m not so sure.
If Eric Chavez is signed, he’d probably have a relatively regular role in relieving Alex Rodriguez at third base, but given his injury history and his lack of production over the last few years, is he really worth it? Would he really be more valuable than Burnett on the roster? Burnett may not be first (or second…or third…) out of the bullpen, but he could make an impact there and, as always, pitchers will get hurt. I think I’d prefer to just keep the pitching depth.
Of course, I won’t exactly be crying if Burnett is traded to the Pirates (or anyone else). The Yankees do have sufficient depth at pitching and it would be nice to free up some cash and be rid of the sometimes-maddening Burnett, but for whatever reason–maybe it’s because I like A.J. and think he’s a good guy and a great teammate–I can’t fully get on board with the idea of trading him.
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9 Responses to Gathering my thoughts on the A.J. Burnett situation
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When and if this deal goes through, millions of Yankee fans should face west to Pittsburgh with their arms over their heads bowing in thanks. You seem to think Burnett would be good in relief but you quickly forgot all the wild pitches, stolen bases, and HBP’s he authored. Isn’t a relief pitcher’s #1 job to hold baserunners?
My thanks to this site for always giving me things to think about. You guys are great!
I would hope Cashman would be more focused on getting a return in talent than on saving a few extra bucks. Yanks will have multiple lineup holes developing over next few years, what with aging players and expiring contracts. The upper farm is virtually bereft of position prospects. Yanks need to get a couple of position players — especially at least one outfielder — to manage transition to lower-level talent base, still 3-4 years away. Trading Burnett should be an opportunity to land at least one useful veteran or prospect. And this emphasis on payroll reduction seems somewhat bogus as Burnett’s contract does not even figure for 2014. Take less money and get somone usable in return.
They’re not going to get any sort of legitimate talent back in a trade for Burnett, and why should they? Would you give back any talent for him? The only way they’re going to get anything even close to useful in return, player-wise, is if they eat the entire contract. The freeing of payroll isn’t about 2014 and beyond; it’s about this year and trying to sign a LHH DH and Chavez.
If AJ is worth dollars to Piirates, he’s also worth players. Do you really believe Pirates would pay $10-12 million but that all their decent prosepcts are worth more than that? Ridiculous. It’s the Yankees decision as far as what dollar/player mix they choose. Impossible to believe there isn’t a useful player in the entire Pitt system that wouldn’t be worth say $5 million in place of outright dollar payment.
And as to payroll concerns this year, it is beyind ridiculous that the Yankees would need to worry about the $2-3 million it will take to sign Cahavez/Ibanez. I realize the need for payroll restraint but it should not intefere with roster maintenace and building when such small sums are involved.
I think AJ is worth something. The Mets got a top prospect for two months of Carlos Beltran by eating salary. AJ is a veteran 200 innings guy that the Pirates have not been able to sign on the free agent market. Pittsburgh is not going to win the division this year or next but have a strong farm system with big prospects in the way. They need some stability and innings in the starting rotation. There are few comps for thus sort if deal so it’s hard to come up with trade value. But if Pitt offered Edwin Jackson a 3 year deal, he will not outperform AJ by that much and would not have helped them contend. AJ will be cheaper in years and salary with Yanks eating $.
I never bought the “if you’re going to eat the money, keep him” argument. The money is gone regardless. Keeping him (and increasing his chances of hurting the team) over money is nothing but a face saver.
I’m also not particularly excited about someone with AJ’s control coming out of the bullpen.
I truly believe there is such a thing as addition by subtraction. Unless you really, truly believe AJ Burnett is going to be *good* next year, you send him on his way.
And good. Not “less awful.” Not “better than the last two years.” Not “well, he’s awful, but he gives you (awful) innings.” Because as long as he’s on this team, Joe’s going to trot him out there regularly, even if it means going to silly six man rotations to do it.
AJ is not what I would want in a relief pitcher unless he was used as a mop up guy…up 6 or down 6 runs…he can’t come into a game with pressure and throw a wild pitch, then walk a guy. But as a mop up guy he might excel. I’d dump him without regret, except the regret I signed him in the 1st place. If they save a few bucks and free up a roster spot for a young pitcher, dump him. Hello, Pittsburgh.
The bottom line is if AJ were a free agent now and Cashman were to sign him to a 2 year, $10 million contract to be part of the mix for the fifth starter competition and possible depth/bullpen arm, we’d all think he was nuts. So if Cashman can get someone else to pay $10 million of his remaining contract, I’m all for it. We may not see an immediate use for that $, but that doesn’t mean that the Yankees are better off keeping AJ around. If Hughes and/or Garcia flame out or one of the other starters gets hurt and none of the AAA starters step up, they’d still be better off having the extra $5+ million for this year for a trade deadline upgrade to the rotation of a pitcher that might actually make a difference rather than Burnett.
I’m guessing that Cashman will someone back that could potentially help in a small role. Perhaps another Romulo Sanchez type arm or a lefty reliever prospect or a speedy outfielder with options left to assume Golson’s role but it will be mainly a salary dump.
If Burnett is on the team opening day, he has to be the 5th starter. We all don’t want that. While it would be nice to get a player of some kind of use back for him, I think the Yankees are in a take what you can get for him. There is really no other option. He really doesn’t help the Yankees at all. I know he can still go out and throw close to 200 innings and thats valuable, but at the cost of slowing down the development of a younger, cheaper, probably more effective arm.