AJ Burnett Signs 1yr Deal With Phillies

[Burgh Sports Rule]

From Pirates Prospects.com

AJ Burnett has signed a 1yr deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Terms not disclosed:

Well, that ends that.

My thoughts:

AJ Burnett either got paid a ton of cash or he just wanted to screw over the Pirates because, this Phillies team is older than dirt & they flat out stink! So, it wasn't about winning for AJ.

From the Pirates perspective, I think we have to look at this more to the point of the Pirates just possibly being sick & tired of AJ & his antics.

Yes, they talked AJ up to the press & talked of what a warrior & a great leader that AJ was but, privately, I think they were just sick of him.

From the way he showed up his manager & his teammates on the mound, to his bitching about defensive shifts.

In the end, the Bucs I think, anyway just said he's 37 yrs old, he's too expensive at his age, we would be paying for past performance, rather than current or future production & he is just a Big Pain In The Ass!

I think all of these things played a a part in the Pirates & AJ moving on.

Thoughts...

Burgh

 

[thedddd]

Who knows about his antics and what they didn't like with him and maybe it was enough to not qualify him an offer? But in reality they really screwed up by not doing so now even if he denied it they lost out on a compensatory pick.

 

[SFNL]

We couldn't trust him in the playoffs last year... Looked elsewhere. I don't see that changing this year if we get there again with another year of wear and tear on him. He broke down.

 

[element1286]

It's entirely possible, but I'd like to think he was a professional in most cases although emotional, and that someone like Clint could handle him.

 

[steelparrot]

16 mill being reported now

Who knows what really happened behind the scene, we would have been better with him for sure though.

 

[Darkstone42]

The mistake is now complete.

Maybe we couldn't have relied on him in the playoffs, but I don't care, because he would have helped us get there in the first place.

This looks bad, and I just hope the Pirates knew something about him that we don't. Perhaps an injury or something.

 

[sychmd]

i have written many points about why a 37 yo with only 2 good seasons, let alone his antics, wasn't worth big money.
ruben amaro is trying to keep his job so eh is throwing money at anything byrd, rollins, utley, ruiz, and overpaying in exorbitant ways.

if we gave him a QO, the phillies wouldn't have given him 16M and lost a #1. no team would for burnett.
i think he likes the team as he is the #3 there and low expectations as no one is picking them to win anything. he also is closer to home.
he didn't want the pirates and the pirates didn't want him. don't think they would have spent 7M on him. would rather let some young arms audition and shine.
this isn't our year yet anyway. find your players for 16-19. that's what this year is about.

 

[smokeyburgess]

...this isn't our year yet anyway. find your players for 16-19. that's what this year is about.

Oh ye of little faith. Some fans seem to have forgotten that the team has improved each year under Hurdle, and they had the Cards down 2 games to 1 in the playoffs last year. Why the pessimism? Why the assumption that the Pirates will regress this season? The regular lineup will only be more experienced and the pitching staff is stocked with lots of good arms, so I don't necessarily see a downturn in '14.

 

[element1286]

...this isn't our year yet anyway. find your players for 16-19. that's what this year is about.

Oh ye of little faith. Some fans seem to have forgotten that the team has improved each year under Hurdle, and they had the Cards down 2 games to 1 in the playoffs last year. Why the pessimism? Why the assumption that the Pirates will regress this season? The regular lineup will only be more experienced and the pitching staff is stocked with lots of good arms, so I don't necessarily see a downturn in '14.

Yea, I feel similar, I think the 'they are worse than the end of last year argument' is bad for a few reasons 1) the losses of Marlon Byrd and Morneau aren't big (setting aside the AJ situation for now) 2) They have two top 20 prospects that are potential stars ready to come up at some point this year 3) They are better than the beginning of last year 4) They have many younger players who can get better themselves 5) End of season rentals don't set a new baseline, and are by definition rentals, thus cannot even be interpreted as long term baselines

 

[Illinest]

There are two baselines worth considering - and that's only because playoff teams act differently.
The regular season baseline included 190 effective innings from Burnett, as well as more innings from Wandy and Cole than some of you seem to realize. Wandy and Cole can't cover Burnett's innings all on their own, and Burnett did not perform at a replacement level so you can't just call up some AAAA starter to fill in. We also most likely downgraded from Jones to Lambo. Jones had a mediocre season but Lambo could easily be even worse.
The playoff baseline included Byrd, Morneau, Burnett and Jones, and they're all gone now. Nobody of any consequence was acquired to replace any of them. The "Burnett couldn't be trusted in the playoffs" argument is a ridiculous argument. Based on 1 start? Yeah right... I didn't think he was better than Liriano or Cole but I would take him over Morton or Wandy 9 times out of 10. It would be nice if you could get through the playoffs with only two starting pitchers. Unfortunately you can't.

But you should be mad about this because the Pirates have maneuvered themselves into a position where they most likely can't spend money anymore. It's not about having a prospect who might replace a productive veteran, it's about doing everything in your power to field the best team you can. Burnett could've been afforded and he would've made the team better. You should be pissed. If you're not pissed then you're part of the problem.

 

[thecrow124]

Just a few observations. I agree with Illinest, I don't think the Pirates really wanted Burnett. I do think they offered a reasonable deal, but not in the $16 million range. I just think in the end, they didn't really want him here, specially on a one year deal......as odd as that sounds. I think they are trying to get their core group together, and that doesn't include Burnett.

I don't think the Pirates messed up the QO in that, they didn't really want him and if they had offered the QO he would have accepted. If not no one would have signed him. I do think they should have offered the QO purely from the standpoint that he makes the Pirates better.

As for the offensive positions, I don't really see how Lamborghini could be worse than Jones last season, possibly as bad, but at the very least, he has the most potential out of all of our options. If you take Lambo, Ike Davis, Mitch Moreland, and Justin Soak, how of those has the best chance to be decent....probably Moreland, but I would say Lambo is second, and costs us nothing to try there in the spring. If he looks horrible, then look elsewhere. SS is an upgrade no matter how you look at it. RF should have better production, Tabata actually looked like a baseball player at the end of last season. I think the best chance for a position to see a decrease in production is 3B. I just don't trust Pedro to be even league average ever again.

 

[element1286]

Saw some reports there is an option year too, might make me change my opinion on the deal depending on the details.

 

[Illinest]

And i saw one claim that the pirates' final offer to burnett was 12 mill.

If that's true, then it invalidates all of the supposed 'didn't want him, didn't like him' arguments because it's within spitting distance of the QO.
This was cheapness. Perhaps it was also some kind of queer ideology about "internal values", but it was mainly cheapness.

If the team pulls Wandy from a start because of "forearm tightness" and he opts for surgery - remember this.
If Liriano once again follows up a good season with a bad season - remember this.
If Searage and Martin's best efforts to "fix" Volquez are about as effective as the "fix" they performed on Sanchez - remember this.
If the Pirates' bullpen is fatigued because we couldn't adequately fill Burnett's innings - remember this.

The Pirates refused to 'risk' paying 14 million dollars to a player who eventually signed for 16.

 

[damien232307]

I seriously doubt Lambo could be worse than Jones. Jones productivity has decreased significantly over the last three years. If Lambo can't cut it I would still be ok with Gaby playing everyday. He is pretty good on defense and has at one time hit well vs righties. Now that being said I do realistically see a drop off unless Taillon and/or Polanco can come up and give the same quality as Cole. When Polanco comes up we will have the best defensive outfield of any team I can remember. If someone can remind me of a better one in the last 25 years I would appreciate it. Defensive metrics rate Marte as superior defensively and Cutch as above average and they say Polanco is better than both. That gives me hope as does the return of Wandy but I feel there is too much uncertainty to rate this team as better than 500. The Cubs and Brewers will be better the Reds have the best rotation I think and the Cards are the best team and did the most to upgrade this offseason. While we are hoping we are better three teams got a lot better and the Reds and us are hoping we improved. I am more confident in the Reds hopes than ours. I just don't see anywhere we improved and multiple places we regressed. However losing Morneau was of no consequence as he was unproductive himself.

 

[element1286]

Yep, if you can offer 12 on a one year deal, you can offer 16 on a one year deal.

 

[sychmd]

i am not pessimistic about the bucs in 2014,
i am very excited and see them as better than last year.

but the teams that win it all, don't have promising youngsters. they have a couple real stars.
beltan, molina, wainright
posey, cain, sandival, lincecum bumgardner, wilson,
and so on
we have cutch. then a couple above average players, or guys that had surprisingly good years, but cutch is our only star. burnett and liriano weren't stars.
when we have cutch, marte, cole being stars, and a great supporting cast of pen, polanco, alvarez, and taillon, then we have the firepower to win 3 straight series against another great teams top 3 pitchers.

we have some potential stars, and when they blossom into stars in 2016, then we are primed.

i believe we will make the playoffs, or only miss it because other teams have awesome years.
Dodgers, cards, Nats are stacked.
we are fighting it out with the reds, giants, diamondbacks, braves.

all this is subject to change based on injury, but assuming all teams have relatively reasonable health....

 

[Illinest]

Just think how good we'll be in a few years when Chad Hermansen gets here. I feel really good about Bobby Bradley and JR House too. They can all be counted on to be all stars, so there's no need to spend money on free agents.

 

[sychmd]

good point illest, but what FA were superstars.
if there is one that is a reasonable age and investment, i am all for it.

 

[26 elroy face]

i have written many points about why a 37 yo with only 2 good seasons, let alone his antics, wasn't worth big money.
ruben amaro is trying to keep his job so eh is throwing money at anything byrd, rollins, utley, ruiz, and overpaying in exorbitant ways.

if we gave him a QO, the phillies wouldn't have given him 16M and lost a #1. no team would for burnett.
i think he likes the team as he is the #3 there and low expectations as no one is picking them to win anything. he also is closer to home.
he didn't want the pirates and the pirates didn't want him. don't think they would have spent 7M on him. would rather let some young arms audition and shine.
this isn't our year yet anyway. find your players for 16-19. that's what this year is about.

Not making the QO was the mistake. If Burnett accepted the QO the Pirates got him below market value. If he walks you pay nothing, and get a draft choice.

 

[sychmd]

i wouldn't say the phillies spending habits constitute a measure of market value.
they are being crushed by the bloated contracts doled out to
howard, utley, rollins, ruiz
halladay and lee were bloated by reasonable risks for aces.
hamels is probably over paid with a heavy contract as well.

their GM is horrible, amaro, so i wouldn't use him as a barometer or market value.
more like desperation value.