AJ Burnett - I'm intrigued by this.

[element1286]

Pirates Prospects Pirates Expressed Interest in A.J. Burnett

I'm intrigued by this. Yanks would almost certainly pick up a significant portion of his salary, and I doubt it costs more than two C+ prospects, and the upside is that Burnett becomes a 4+ WAR pitcher again. As much as he has been lamented in New York, he's been worth 6 WAR the past three years, which isn't bad.

 

[thecrow124]

He is probably the equivalent of Charlie Morton with no upside and clearly in decline. He needs to learn to pitch instead of just throwing or he is useless a la Carlos Zambrano. Would I take him, sure if the Yankees pay over half of his salary and don't want much in return.

 

[Illinest]

i'd give up a few longshot prospects if the yankees took on enough of his salary. seems like he could be a reliable bottom of the rotation guy (a la Maholm)

I think I would be relatively content with the starters then. Morton, Bedard, and McDonald are the upside guys, Karstens is.... well I'm still not ready to believe in him but he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Burnett would potentially be a really swell guy to have as the fifth starter. It would be a stable-looking rotation with the chance to be good. Probably not great but good enough for a Bucco fan.

Then the AAA guys are jockeying for time in the bullpen and/or fighting for a spot rather than simply being given one. Best situation that we could hope for.

 

[thecrow124]

After a good nights sleep, Burnett is probably no better that Brad Lincoln at this point. His FB will probably slip into the 91MPH range this year and that means his one plus pitch he had will be completely gone and he still hasn't been able to develop a consistent second pitch. I would rather see Lincoln every 5th day. The only reson the Yankees are trying to move him in the first place is to open up enough money to sign Edwin Jackson, so I can't see them paying much of Burnett's salary, not enough to where it should even be viable for us to get him.

 

[magnumo]

Tim's article ends with the following quote: "There are too many red flags with Burnett, even if the Yankees pick up salary." That says it all for me. No thanks.

 

[element1286]

Would I take him, sure if the Yankees pay over half of his salary and don't want much in return.

That's essentially what I was thinking, if the Yanks payed 20+ million of the 38 he is owed and wanted Gorkys Hernandez and Nate Baker in return.

But the concerns of his velocity dropping three years in a row are something to be taken into account for sure. It looks like a big problem is the lack of separation between his average fastball (92.7 mpg) and average changeup (88.0), as he has lost velocity on his fastball his changeup has gained velocity, no idea what that means, but it seems significant.

 

[element1286]

After a good nights sleep, Burnett is probably no better that Brad Lincoln at this point. His FB will probably slip into the 91MPH range this year and that means his one plus pitch he had will be completely gone and he still hasn't been able to develop a consistent second pitch. I would rather see Lincoln every 5th day. The only reson the Yankees are trying to move him in the first place is to open up enough money to sign Edwin Jackson, so I can't see them paying much of Burnett's salary, not enough to where it should even be viable for us to get him.

Probably, although Edwin Jackson really isn't a prize, but I think the Yanks want to be rid of the Burnett headache, if he is on the team, he has to start.

 

[element1286]

Also, since I've been scouring AJ Burnett's stats all day.

He has had a lot of trouble giving up HR's to right handed batters of all things.

Over the past three years, all with the Yanks, Burnett has given up 46HR's to right handed batters in 266.2IP's while giving up 35HR's to left handed batters in 317.1IP's.

If PNC park is good for anything it is keeping right handed batters from hitting home runs, just putting it out there.

 

[Illinest]

CI dont expect a whole lot from burnett but the thing i keep thinking about is sheros handling of the penguins defense. He always has extra depth signed and always looks like a genius when its necessary to use that dept,h.

Burnett may only be a fifth starter by this point but i think the same could be said of lincoln, locke, etc...
Acquiring burnett would give us an extra 200 innings, open the possibility of a bounceback year, and probably do a lot to help the bullpen. If hes cheap enough. I wouldnt pay more than half of his salary and i wouldnt give up any real prospects.

 

[thedddd]

If they can get him cheap for a C- or non-prospect and the Yankees pay money I see no reason with it. The pitching depth can only help this team (ala Reyes but that is another thread and I use his name loosely)

But honestly if the Yankees want to give him up for that I see some real contenders willing to offer more.

 

[element1286]

[MEDIA=twitter]167749494270734336[/MEDIA]

Garrett Jones for AJ Burnett?

 

[magnumo]

[MEDIA=twitter]167749494270734336[/MEDIA]

Garrett Jones for AJ Burnett?

Hmmm.

Just think..... if the Pirates trade Garrett Jones for AJ Burnett, that would open up the lefty-hitting side of our 1B platoon for.....


.....DMITRI YOUNG!!

 

[element1286]

As a basis for a deal, I think it's ok, depends if any prospects would be exchanging hands, or how much salary each side is picking up. But I'm surprised the Yanks would want Jones, since I don't see where he fits on their team.

 

[Darkstone42]

I don't generally like "opening a hole to fill a hole," but I'm sure the Pirates can gain more from Burnette pitching than Jones hitting, so I would be fine with the deal, regardless of potential negative effects on first base offense (which is going to suck anyway).

I do like the aggressiveness of the move, though.

 

[Illinest]

G.I. Jones is one of the only guys on the team with any pop in the bat and he's one of the only guys with a good nickname.

 

[pixburgher66]

I had no idea we had this many Bucco fans. YEAY! I'm Pix. Hello to all. Okay, intros over....


I'm all for this type of move. Keep in mind Burnett in the was in the AL East. A move to the NL, let alone the NL Central, would be good for him. It's never a bad thing to have depth, and honestly he takes the rotation from borderline to respectable. Going into this season with basically the same rotation by just replacing Maholm with Bedard isn't quite enough. Seeing the Pirates being aggressive and willing to spend money is a breath of fresh air regardless of who it is.

 

[Illinest]

Yeah ya know what? I'm for it. Go for it. The Pirates have better defense than the Yankees at many positions, a ballpark that doesn't lend itself to extreme homerun totals, and Burnett was the unluckiest player in baseball by certain crazy sabermetric stats. Not to mention that his life will be a lot easier facing the Astros and the Cubs than it was facing the AL East. Garrett Jones seems like a cool guy and his skillset is relatively under-represented on our roster but it would be stupid to get hung up on a platoon 1B when there's a chance to get 200 quality innings into your rotation.

 

[thedddd]

I would make this deal also. Lets not forget Jones is a 31 year old career .254/.323/.450 hitter with those numbers skewed to his one good season. He has regressed every year into nothing except a platoon level player, they have too many of those already at 1B.

Not saying Burnett is a world beater but like Illinest stated if he looks good against the Astros/Cubs or some of the other weak teams a Playoff team will trade for him come dead line time.

 

[thedddd]

Also I hate using the trade dead line value but with the Pirates it is the norm. Anyway Burnett would have more value at the trade deadline than a Garrett Jones, hence my thought.

 

[thedddd]

I had no idea we had this many Bucco fans. YEAY! I'm Pix. Hello to all. Okay, intros over....


I'm all for this type of move. Keep in mind Burnett in the was in the AL East. A move to the NL, let alone the NL Central, would be good for him. It's never a bad thing to have depth, and honestly he takes the rotation from borderline to respectable. Going into this season with basically the same rotation by just replacing Maholm with Bedard isn't quite enough. Seeing the Pirates being aggressive and willing to spend money is a breath of fresh air regardless of who it is.

Pix...don't forget to join Mags W/L prediction:
http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...icial-2012-pirates-w-l-prediction-thread.html